Chapter 3

Holding her wine glass, she sashayed over and looked down at me from above.

"Chloe, everyone else is securing their financial freedom. How come you haven't made a move?"

I placed my fork down, dabbed my lips with a napkin, and looked up at her calmly.

"I'm not interested."

"Not interested?"

Tiffany arched her brows dramatically, as if she had just heard the most ridiculous joke on earth.

"Are you terrified of losing money? Or... can you just not afford twenty thousand dollars?"

"Come on, we're all old classmates here. Who are you trying to kid?"

"With that pathetic job of yours, do you even get paid on time? After paying rent, do you even have enough left for groceries?"

The room went quiet. The others stopped their transfers and turned to stare at me, their faces full of mockery and schadenfreude.

"Chloe, don't be so narrow-minded. If you miss an opportunity like this, you'll be crying yourself to sleep for the rest of your life."

"Seriously. Tiffany is trying to lift you up, and you're still acting all high and mighty?"

Seeing that I didn't take the bait, Tiffany assumed she had hit a nerve, and her tone turned even more venomous.

"Chloe, I know things are rough for you, but this project is literally built for people in your shoes."

"You invest twenty grand. You don't have to sell anything, and you don't even have to use your brain. You just park the cash and collect your dividends."

"Tell you what, because of our history, I'll make a special exception. You can put down ten grand as a deposit today, and pay the rest later."

Her patronizing, charity-case demeanor made my stomach churn.

Looking at her caked-on makeup, I found the entire situation utterly surreal.

She was renting my property, running up my electric bill, and now she had the audacity to hustle me in my own living room.

I let out a soft, cold laugh and met her eyes.

"I appreciate the offer, Tiffany, but I don't have the money, and I have zero desire to invest."

"No money?"

Tiffany blinked, then burst into a shrill, mocking laugh.

"Everyone, come look! The top student from our graduating class can't even scrape together twenty grand!"

"Chloe, where did all that academic pride go? How did your life end up so pathetic?"

She took a step closer, towering over me.

"If you're doing this poorly, you should be clinging to this lifeline! Otherwise, you're going to spend the rest of your miserable life pedaling rental bikes in the rain!"

I set my fork down completely. Looking around at the room full of manic, brainwashed faces, I decided to give them one last warning.

"I'm not investing."

"And honestly, I suggest the rest of you take a breath and think. There is no legitimate investment on earth that turns twenty thousand dollars into a million with zero risk. That defies basic economics."

"You're all grown adults with bills and families. Your money didn't fall from the sky. Call your spouses or parents before you throw your life savings away."

The moment I finished speaking, the lively room went dead silent.

Everyone froze, staring at me in shock.

The smug smile on Tiffany's face curdled. Her eyes turned ice-cold.

She slammed her wine glass onto the table with a loud *thud*.

"Chloe, what are you trying to imply?"

"Are you saying I'm a scammer? Are you accusing me of conning our friends?"

She crossed her arms, glaring down at me with pure venom.

"You've read so many books you've fried your own brain. You have zero real-world intelligence."

"No wonder you're still riding a Lime bike. It's a mindset problem!"

"Your thinking is completely trapped in the lower class. You deserve to be an overworked corporate slave for the rest of your life!"

Her words were sharp, vicious, and full of naked hostility.