Chapter 1

At my boyfriend Jayden Rowe's birthday party.

I'd been drugged by Shirley Fox, his little childhood sweetheart.

My whole body burned. I grabbed his collar and pressed myself against him.

Shirley peeked out from behind his shoulder and clicked her tongue.

"What did I tell you? She'd use the excuse of needing an antidote to force you into bed with her."

Jayden flung my hand off hard, his face full of disgust.

"Amelia Summers, are you really this cheap?"

He grabbed the scholarship student, Martin Harding, from behind him and shoved him at me, sneering.

"If you're so desperate for a man, then sleep with him."

Shirley, all shy, pressed a box of condoms into my hand.

"You take one box, Jayden and I take the other. Let's have a contest and see who uses more."

Jayden pulled Shirley close, threw a scornful glance at Martin and me, his voice indulgent.

"You have that little faith in what I can do? Hmm?"

The two of them walked straight into the room without sparing me a thought.

The itch gnawing at my bones left no room to think.

I dragged Martin into the room next door.

If he was so set on doing this.

Then I didn't want him anymore.

01

When I woke, my waist and legs ached, weak and loose.

But deep in my bones there was a pleasure I couldn't deny.

"I'm sorry." Martin's face was full of apology.

I looked at that face, his eyes hidden behind his bangs, and felt a tangle of things.

"It's fine. It wasn't your fault."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the clothes I'd flung everywhere the night before, now folded neatly on the sofa.

I looked at him, startled.

He explained softly, "I woke up early, so I straightened them up."

I gave an awkward little "mm" and started to get up to dress.

The moment my foot touched the carpet, my legs gave out.

Martin reached out and caught me steadily from the front.

That familiar scent from the night before wrapped around the two of us.

The memory of last night sent blood rushing to my cheeks.

I shoved him away, grabbed my clothes, and went into the bathroom.

I'd just washed up and gotten dressed.

Then Jayden sent me a string of voice messages.

"Amelia, I know I'm the only one in your heart. There's no way you'd actually sleep with Martin. Just admit you lost."

"When you're up, come help Shirley wash off. I wore her out last night, she doesn't have any strength left."

The pleasure in Jayden's voice came through in every word.

In the background I could hear Shirley whining and complaining at him.

"You're awful, you don't even know how to be gentle, hmph..."

The last few seconds of the message must have been sent by accident.

Just the wet sounds of the two of them tangled together.

I gripped the phone tight, then slowly let it go.

I didn't reply.

I set the phone aside and fixed my hair.

Last night was Jayden's birthday party.

I'd wanted to surprise him, and never expected Shirley to come out of nowhere.

She'd gotten someone to tamper with the drink I was having.

I didn't know a soul here, so all I could do was go to Jayden.

I just never thought I'd end up as part of their bet.

Jayden and I had been together for two years.

We'd already agreed we'd get married the moment we graduated.

He'd even had me start working on the wedding design.

Last night, he'd chosen to believe that childhood sweetheart of his, the one who'd just come back.

Without the slightest thought for whether I was safe.

He'd even turned it into a bet for a laugh.

I took a deep breath and opened the door.

Only to see Martin still standing there, waiting for me.

He was tall.

A little taller than Jayden, even.

He was just very thin, from years of not eating well.

His bangs covered his eyes, so you couldn't make out his real face.

But even from the lower half, you could tell he was good-looking.

And he was a top student on top of that.

No wonder, even though Martin's family was from deep in the mountains.

At school there were still girls who chased after him.

"Are you all right?" Martin's voice was low.

I froze for a second, then took out my phone.

"Let's add each other."

Martin was just like Jayden had said, obedient.

Once the request went through, I sent him five thousand outright.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Martin went still for a moment, and the air around him dropped a few degrees.

"I don't want it."

He tapped to return it.

I sighed, wanting to say something more.

But Martin cut me off first.

"Let me drive you back to school."

Martin's voice was hoarse, with a stubborn edge.

I could only agree.