Chapter 2

Chloe was sweet, just like her name—sweet-looking and with a voice as sugary as honey.

The first time I saw her on campus, she stole my heart.

I was a year ahead of her in college, her upperclassman mentor. After we met, she constantly came to me asking for study tips and academic help.

I grew up poor, so I poured my soul into academics, achieving top marks in our department.

Whenever I finished helping her with an assignment, she would look up at me with wide, sparkling eyes: "Austin, you're amazing."

She claimed she was a sapiosexual, drawn only to smart, capable men.

I fell hard for her, but I didn't dare confess.

My father had died when I was young, leaving me and my mom to depend on each other.

I worked myself to the bone to earn a full scholarship and get to where I was, yet there was still an insurmountable chasm between Chloe and me.

Her father was a renowned biology professor, and her mother owned a high-end luxury spa.

One of her designer handbags cost more than my living expenses for an entire year. Countless wealthy guys were chasing her; I felt I had zero chance.

Yet Chloe began clinging to me more and more.

She would even pout and play cute without realizing it.

"Austin, if I solve this practice problem, will you buy me an iced boba?"

I would keep a calm face, but my heart had already melted into a puddle.

The turning point came when I was helping her edit her senior paper at a local café.

Chloe accidentally grabbed my cup and drank from it, only realizing it after she swallowed.

Her face instantly turned bright red, nervously peeking at my expression.

Seeing that I didn't mind, she suddenly gathered all her courage and blurted out, "Austin, go out with me!"

She was so flustered that she didn't realize she had shouted, turning every head in the café our way.

It felt as if fireworks were detonating inside my chest. In sheer disbelief, I said yes before my brain could even process it.

Back then, I naively thought Chloe and I would last forever.

Until Tyler kept barging into our lives. He wasn't a student at our university; he went to a nearby trade school.

Whenever Chloe and I went out on a date, he would shamelessly sit right next to her, demanding that she buy him drinks and food.

And Chloe indulged him every single time.

Later, when we moved in together after graduation, Tyler would crash at our apartment for days.

Whenever he wanted the latest iPad or phone, Chloe whipped out her card without hesitation.

I held my tongue once or twice, but eventually, I reached my breaking point and confronted her.

Chloe only defended him, saying Tyler was her savior and that I needed to be more understanding.

"Babe, there's nothing romantic between us! He saved my life. I can't just turn my back on him."

Hearing her call me babe with that pleading puppy-dog look, I backed down. I only warned her that gratitude needed boundaries; otherwise, it would only feed his entitlement.

She gave me lip service, nodding along, but she never took a word to heart.

Every time, she coaxed me into swallowing my pride.

I was soft-hearted. Chloe was my first love. When Tyler wasn't around, she was sweet and attentive, constantly whispering that she loved me, teasing me until my ears turned red.

A mix of affection and patience kept me holding on until today.

Looking at the last photo of me and my mom on my phone, and then thinking of Chloe out partying and kissing another man, I couldn't endure it any longer.

Maybe this relationship had been a mistake from the start. As long as Tyler was between us, we had no future.

Right then, my phone buzzed with a text from Chloe: "I just went out for a little fun with friends. Do you really need to be this dramatic and dump me over it?"

I had no desire to be swayed by her words ever again.

I deleted our photos, blocked her number, and decided to start a brand-new life.