Chapter 3

Maeve stood up slowly, looking fragile and wronged.

"Samantha, I'm sorry. This is my fault."

I didn't even look at her. I just kept packing my things, irritation building in my chest.

Blake hurried over to comfort her, then turned to me. "Don't blame her. I brought her here."

Maeve's gaze lingered on my stack of materials, something sharp flickering in her eyes.

"Samantha… Since you're not taking the exam this year, you won't need these anymore, right? My family can't afford these hardcover prep books. Could you give them to me? You're repeating the year, anyway. You can just buy new ones later."

She said it so naturally, as if everything I owned was already hers.

I looked at that innocent, harmless face of hers and let out a quiet, humorless laugh. I lifted the backpack stuffed with rare prep books and my handwritten notes.

"These are mine. Why should I give them to you?"

Right in front of them, I dumped everything into the trash can, not hesitating for a second.

Maeve's eyes instantly reddened. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she bit her lip, as if she had just been deeply humiliated.

"Samantha… How could you waste things like that? I only wanted to borrow them. If you don't want to give them to me, fine. Why embarrass me like this?"

Blake's expression darkened. He pulled Maeve behind him protectively.

"That's too far! Maeve's family doesn't have much. She just wanted to borrow your books. What gives you the right to treat her like that? You think having money makes you better than everyone? This is ridiculous!"

I looked at the two of them and suddenly felt like the whole thing was a joke.

"Yeah. I've got money, and I do think that makes me better than everyone. You got a problem with that?"

I shot Blake a cold glance.

"If you really think it's a waste, go dig them out of the trash for her."

I turned and walked out without another word. I went straight to the front counter on the first floor and tapped the desk.

"Hi, I'm ending the lease for the private room in the back corner upstairs."

The owner blinked, surprised. "But you paid for the whole year. If you cancel now, the deposit won't be refunded."

I pulled out the spare key and set it lightly on the counter. "That's fine. Keep the deposit. End it today. You can send someone up to clear out the trash."

He looked confused, but still handled the cancellation quickly.

By the time I got home, I hadn't even taken off my shoes when Blake called. The moment I answered, his voice came through, tight with anger.

"Samantha, what's your problem? Throwing your stuff away is one thing, but why did you cancel the room?"

He was breathing hard, as if he had been humiliated.

"Do you know how upset Maeve was when the owner came up and kicked us out? You weren't like this before! When did you get so cold and selfish?"

I held the phone away from my ear until he finished yelling, then said evenly, "Don't you think you're getting something wrong here? I paid for that room. If I want to cancel it, why would I need your permission?"

There was a pause on the other end. His tone softened, slipping back into the way he used to handle me.

"I know you're upset about staying back a year with me, but Maeve didn't do anything wrong. Taking it out on her isn't fair."

I let out a small laugh, my voice flat. "Don't think so highly of yourself."

Before he could respond, I hung up and blocked his number.