Chapter 5

The day before school started.

Nina sent me a string of screenshots.

They were chat records from the high school class group.

Chloe Summers had posted a photo of herself and Nicholas standing at the Harvard University gate.

She leaned against his shoulder and smiled brightly, with the caption:

[Thank God you’re here with me!]

A bunch of people teased them underneath.

[Perfect match! Harvard University’s best couple!]

Nicholas also rarely showed up, and his tone was very relaxed:

[Don’t talk nonsense. We’re friends.]

Then someone asked:

[Hey, where’s Serena Hayes? Didn’t she also apply to Harvard Law? Why haven’t we seen her among the freshmen?]

Chloe replied instantly:

[Maybe she’s still losing weight, hahaha. After all, there are plenty of pretty girls in law school. If she shows up at 250 pounds…]

A string of laughing-crying emojis followed.

Nicholas’s reply came right after:

[She’s probably still throwing a tantrum. She’ll be here in a couple days.]

Someone chimed in:

[Nicholas, you know her pretty well.]

He replied:

[We grew up together. How could I not know what she’s like? She’ll calm down after making a fuss for a couple days.]

I stared at that sentence for a long time.

“How could I not know what she’s like?”

Nicholas Reed.

You really do not understand me at all.

You do not know I have already slimmed down to 110 pounds.

You do not know I am already in California, three thousand miles away.

And you know even less that the Serena Hayes who used to chase after you is long dead.

I closed the screenshots and calmly packed the clothes I would wear tomorrow.

White shirt, black suit pants, blond hair.

That was enough.

September first.

Stanford University freshman welcome ceremony.

The campus main auditorium was full of freshmen.

The freshman representative speech for the School of Computer Science was scheduled for last.

I was the last person to go on stage.

Backstage was noisy, and the students in front of me were so nervous their palms were sweating.

Instead, I was very calm.

Five foot nine.

One hundred ten pounds.

My white shirt was tucked into high-waisted trousers, and below my waistline, it was all legs.

When the staff member in charge of the microphone adjusted the equipment for me, they could not help freezing for a moment.

“You’re… a freshman from the School of Computer Science?”

I smiled and said nothing.

The last thought that passed through my mind was—

Nicholas Reed was probably still waiting in the Harvard freshman group to see my name.

Then keep waiting.

“Next, please welcome the freshman representative of the School of Computer Science—Serena Hayes.”

I stepped into the lights and walked onto the stage.

The moment the spotlight fell on me.

Thousands of people in the audience lost their voices at the same time.

It was not silence.

It was suffocation.

As if everyone had forgotten how to breathe at the same time.

Five foot nine.

One hundred ten pounds.

White shirt, black trousers, ponytail.

No heavy makeup, no fancy dress.

Only a clean, simple face.

And the tiny mole at the corner of my eye.

I walked step by step to the podium.

The silence lasted three seconds.

Then the auditorium seemed to explode.

Screams, applause, and whistles rose one after another.

They mixed together, shaking the whole auditorium with echoes.

Someone stood up.

One row.

Two rows.

Ten rows.

People in the back kept raising their phones to take photos.

When I reached the podium, I stood still.

I tilted my head slightly.

The light covered my whole body.

I smiled.

The shutter sounds were as dense as a rainstorm.

I suddenly remembered what Nicholas said at prom three months ago.

“She’ll never lose weight in this lifetime.”

“If she looks even half as good as the cheer captain after losing weight, I’ll livestream myself eating crap.”

At this moment, I stood before thousands of freshmen.

I stood where the spotlight was brightest.

Nicholas Reed.

You owe me an apology.

But.

I no longer need it.

After the welcome ceremony ended.

Nina’s messages hit me like bombs.

[Your photos are being shared everywhere online!!!! I can’t hold it in anymore, I’m posting them in the class group!!!!]

I had not even had time to reply.

She had already posted them.

In the screenshot was her caption:

[@everyone Nicholas Reed, you said if she looked half as good as the cheer captain after losing weight, you’d livestream yourself eating crap.]

[Come on. Take a look. Is this enough to be half?]

The photo was taken at the welcome ceremony just now.

Under the lights.

White shirt, black trousers, the moment I tilted my head.

Five foot nine.

One hundred ten pounds.

A mole at the corner of my eye.

Then the group exploded.

Messages flooded the screen like a tidal wave.

[???????? Who is this???? Is this Serena Hayes????]

[No way!!! This isn’t Harvard University!!! It’s Photoshopped, right!!!]

[Wait… is this Stanford????]

[@Nicholas Reed Where are you?! Come out!! Do you admit what you said or not!!!]