Chapter 2

2: 2

“Thank you, Dad.”

“If anything is bothering you, tell me. I'll always be on your side.”

Looking at the message, my eyes suddenly went hot and red. Dad had never thought much of Steve in the first place. It was only because I insisted that he agreed at all.

I just never expected that once I got Dad to open a few doors for him, Steve would change. Especially once he landed the internship at Barnes Group, he got full of himself.

He started thinking I wasn't good enough for him. But he had no idea who I really was. Even if he became a permanent employee at Barnes Group, he still wouldn't measure up, let alone as an intern.

“Dad, I can handle it myself. Don't worry, I won't let anyone shortchange me.”

Right after I replied to Dad, Steve's message came through.

“I forgot to buy the train ticket. Get one yourself.”

“And drop the private jet talk. I'm not buying it. You'd better hurry and grab a ticket, or you'll be stuck standing the whole way.”

I gave a cold laugh and typed back one line. “Don't worry. I won't be buying a standing-room ticket.”

“I try to be nice and you throw it back in my face. Fine, you're on your own. Let's see how you get back.”

Reading his message, all I felt was how ridiculous it was.

Heading back to campus after summer break, tickets were hard to come by, whether it was a flight or a train. Those two plane tickets I'd stayed up a month in advance to snag.

And he knew perfectly well how hard the tickets were to get, yet he waited until the very day we were due back to tell me he hadn't even bought me a train ticket. He simply didn't care whether I made it back on time.

He didn't care whether I'd have to stand on a train for twenty-plus hours to get to school either.

And the concern he claimed to have was nothing more than a careless heads-up telling me to grab my own ticket.

At the same time, his junior classmate Judy sent me a message too.

“Pam, thank you for the ticket. I really did want to say no, but Steve couldn't bear to see me crammed onto a train and insisted on swapping the ticket to me. Sorry to put you through the trouble.”

“Remember to pay me back.”

After I sent that message, it was time to board.

But while I was riding the shuttle bus, I passed right by Steve, and he had Judy pulled tight against him, his lips pressed to her forehead.

I lifted my phone and took a photo. Then our eyes met.