Chapter 3

Hearing the mockery around her, Hailey glared at the guys.

"Mind your own business! This is a family matter!"

The girl from next door blushed furiously, mumbled a quick "I'm leaving," and bolted out of the cafeteria.

Staring at Hailey's self-righteous face, I didn't even have the energy to get mad.

On move-in day, I saw her struggling with several heavy bags and helped her carry a trunk up the stairs.

Back then, she had stared at the Audemars Piguet watch on my wrist, asking what brand it was.

I answered casually.

Ever since then, she had begun incessantly pitching her older brother—who worked at an auto parts factory back home.

She kept rambling on about how "devoted" and "protective" he was.

I had assumed she was just making weird jokes and brushed it off.

I never imagined she was a total psychopath who had trapped herself inside an insane fairytale delusion.

"Hailey, keep my name out of your mouth," I said coldly.

"There's three thousand dollars loaded on this card. If you touch a single cent, I will pull the security footage and call the cops for petty theft."

Leaving her with that, I grabbed my card and turned away.

As soon as I stepped back into the dorm room, my phone buzzed with a text from my dad.

[Sweetheart, the renovation smells have completely aired out of your penthouse.]

[Go check it out this weekend. Let me know what furniture you want to add, and you can move in next week.]

A wave of sweet relief washed over me.

Finally, I could say goodbye to this miserable rat hole.

I tossed my phone onto the desk and opened my drawer to grab my AirPods.

My hand froze.

The red velvet box containing my Cartier Love bracelet was gone.

It was my eighteenth birthday present from my mom—custom engraved with its own serial number, worth over twenty-five thousand dollars.

I tore the room apart searching for it, but found nothing.

Just as I pulled out my phone to dial 911, a notification popped up in the campus trade chat.

Someone using a burner account had posted a listing on the local campus resale board.

[Urgent sale: Authentic Cartier bracelet, mint condition with box. Asking $5,000 cash. Local campus pickup only.]

I immediately took a screenshot.

Then, I replied directly to the listing: [I'll take it. Meet me in five minutes outside Dorm Building 3.]

The seller replied instantly: [Great. Heading down now.]

I grabbed my phone and walked down to the entrance of the building.

Less than five minutes later, Hailey crept out from the stairwell.

She was clutching the red jewelry box, nervously scanning the courtyard.

I stepped out from behind a pillar and snatched the box right out of her hands.

Hailey jumped a mile, her face draining of color the moment she realized it was me.

"Ch-Chloe?! What the hell are you doing?! Give that back!"

I flipped open the lid and inspected the inner engraving.

"Yours?"

"The inside of this band is engraved with my initials: C.V. Did your broke-ass brother buy this for you?"

Hailey choked, her eyes darting frantically.

"I... I just borrowed it to wear! You're Trevor's future wife, so your stuff is practically mine!"

"I was just short on cash this week! I was going to pawn it for a bit, and once Trevor gets his paycheck, I'd buy it back and return it to you!"

The sheer audacity of her logic made me want to laugh.

She wasn't just delusional—she was completely illiterate when it came to the law.

"Taking something without asking is called grand larceny."

"A piece of jewelry worth over twenty-five grand is enough to land you in a federal penitentiary for years."

I pulled out my phone and waved the screen in front of her.

"Do you think the police will buy your 'future sister-in-law' fairytale, or my official purchase receipts and the security cameras?"

Hailey completely lost it, lunging forward to claw at my phone.

"Don't call the police! Chloe, please! I can't have a criminal record!"

"If Trevor finds out, he'll beat the shit out of me!"

I stepped back, easily dodging her flailing arms.

Seeing that I wasn't backing down, she stomped her foot in panic and immediately dialed our dorm advisor, Ms. Gable.

Within ten minutes, Ms. Gable rushed over, out of breath.

The moment she saw me, she began lecturing.

"Chloe, look, Hailey made a mistake, sure."

"But you're both freshmen. Getting the police involved right at the start of the year will ruin your own reputation too!"

"Besides, the bracelet wasn't actually sold, was it?"

"Hailey just had a momentary lapse in judgment. Just treat it like she borrowed it. You girls need to learn to forgive and forget instead of calling the cops over every little thing."

I stared at the advisor's slimy, dismissive face.

"Ms. Gable, an attempted theft of a twenty-five-thousand-dollar luxury item is what you call a 'momentary lapse in judgment'?"

"By that logic, whenever anyone on this floor needs cash, they can just ransack my drawers?"

Ms. Gable's face darkened.

"Watch your tone, young lady! I am trying to protect the both of you!"

"Our department is up for an accreditation review this term. If a criminal scandal like this breaks out, it ruins the honors standing for the entire class!"

"Hailey comes from an underprivileged family. You come from wealth—can't you show a little basic empathy for a classmate?"