Chapter 3

Harvey froze as the realization hit him.

Taylor thought he'd known all along that she would give him her school badge. She assumed he'd deliberately made the bet with Jacob just to humiliate him.

"I didn't."

He started to explain, but as soon as the words left his mouth, something suddenly occurred to him.

Why would Taylor believe him over Jacob? Why would she ever doubt Jacob?

After a moment's thought, he simply opened his palm and held the badge out to her.

"If you don't believe me, you can have it back."

Taylor froze, barely able to believe what she'd just heard.

"What did you say?"

She still remembered how Harvey had reacted when she'd first agreed to give him her school badge. He'd jumped to his feet so excitedly that his aching muscles had made him wince, but that hadn't stopped him from grinning as he shouted, "Taylor, I'm finally one step closer to winning your heart!"

And now, he was willing to give the badge back just like that?

For a moment, Taylor's mind went completely blank.

Harvey, however, took her silence as a sign that she was still unhappy. He frowned slightly.

"Is that not enough? Do you want me to run those laps, too?"

Before Taylor could respond, Jacob subtly signaled to one of his friends, Steven Walker.

Steven lunged forward, snatched the school badge from Harvey's hand, and snapped, "You've already gotten your grubby hands all over it! Who'd want it now?"

With that, he hurled the badge into the manmade lake.

"No!"

Harvey's expression finally changed, but not because of the school badge. Steven had thrown it with such force that the bracelet in Harvey's palm—the only keepsake his mother had left him—flew into the lake along with it.

Taylor and the others left right after, but Harvey rushed straight into the water, desperately searching for his mother's bracelet.

For safety reasons, the school's manmade lake was no deeper than knee-deep. However, its bottom was covered in thick mud, making it nearly impossible to find such a delicate little bracelet. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Harvey searched until nightfall, but he still hadn't found it.

His clothes and legs were caked in mud, and sharp rocks had scraped his shins until they bled. Yet he paid no attention to his injuries. Despite the ache in his back, he remained bent over, continuing his desperate search.

But the search soon came to an end.

"Hahaha! Taylor, look! Harvey said he didn't want your school badge, but he's been secretly searching for it this whole time! All that talk, and look at him now!"

Harvey looked up to see Taylor and Jacob returning with several other classmates.

Under the dim glow of the streetlights, half of Taylor's beautiful face was hidden in shadow, making her expression impossible to read.

Harvey couldn't be bothered with them. He simply bent down and resumed searching for the bracelet.

Then Steven called out with a laugh. "Harvey, stop looking! Whatever you're searching for is right here with me!"

Harvey's head snapped up at Steven's words.

Steven pulled something out of his pocket and opened his palm, revealing both the school badge and the bracelet.

Only then did Steven seem to notice the bracelet.

"What's this extra thing doing here?"

He looked at it with disgust before tossing both the bracelet and the school badge onto the ground.

Harvey's expression changed. He stumbled forward and hurriedly picked up the bracelet, carefully checking it for damage.

The others burst into even louder laughter.

"Taylor, look! He's so protective of your school badge!"

"Too bad! What good is getting your school badge if you still haven't won Taylor's heart?"

The group laughed as they walked away.

Harvey clenched the bracelet tightly in his palm. The sharp pain finally brought him back to his senses.

Steven had never thrown the school badge into the lake in the first place, and Taylor had known that all along.

Yet she'd still stood by and watched him spend the entire day desperately searching through the freezing water.

Fortunately, the bracelet was unharmed. As for Harvey, he'd finally stopped caring, too.

Harvey didn't go home that night. Instead, he spent the night alone in the empty dorm.

…

The next morning, shortly after waking up, he discovered that the school-wide group chat was flooded with messages.

Apparently, word had gotten out that Jacob had been offered special admission to Curwell University. Students from other classes were jealous and resentful, and some had started accusing him of using Taylor to get ahead.

The rumors quickly spiraled. People claimed that Jacob wasn't just stringing Taylor along but was also keeping several other top female students in the honors class interested in him, all so he could use their connections to secure a place at a prestigious university.

The accusations grew increasingly vicious until Taylor, who rarely spoke in the group chat, suddenly sent a message.

"If I hear another one of these baseless rumors, I will get my family's lawyers involved."

The entire group fell silent.

Everyone knew Taylor wasn't just beautiful and academically gifted; she was also a member of the Burke family, the wealthiest family in Havenport. And the family's legal team was certainly not one anyone wanted to cross.

Harvey felt nothing as he read through the messages. He simply got up and headed to his tutoring job.

His stepmother regularly withheld his allowance, so Harvey had always been short on spending money at school. To make ends meet, he spent his weekends tutoring an elementary school student at the family's home off campus.

The family had always treated him very well, and since he would soon be leaving the country, Harvey naturally wanted to say goodbye before he left.

The girl's mother personally offered to drive him back to school. She was warm and friendly throughout the ride, but just as Harvey stepped out of the car, he heard someone call his name.

"Harvey?"

He turned around and saw Jacob standing there with Taylor and the others.

Jacob's gaze shifted from the luxury car behind Harvey to the middle-aged woman sitting inside. He immediately covered his mouth in shock.

"Harvey…" His face twisted with apparent anguish. "How… How could you sell your dignity for money?"