Chapter 1

No wonder the graceful Natalie Pearson, the cold and stunning campus queen, Valerie Cross, and today's freshman, Annie Porter, had all inexplicably fallen for Blake Ramsey after going on a single date with me.

The comments kept scrolling, full of praise for Blake and insults aimed at me.

[The villain, Mack Sheldon, is still trying to fight it. He doesn't even know he's just a tool.]

[Right? The harder he tries to be charming, the more the female leads fall for Blake. I'm dying laughing.]

I drew a deep breath and forced down the shock and anger rising in my chest. If that was how it worked, then I wanted to see whether this system was truly unbeatable.

I refused to believe my charm fell short of his. No trashy system was going to win against an all-out pursuit.

Blake pulled out that dating booklet again to console me.

"Mack, that freshman didn't know what she had. She's the type who falls for whoever's new. Just keep putting yourself out there and you'll find your true love!"

This time, I shoved the booklet away and fixed my eyes straight ahead. "I don't want those. If I'm going after someone, I'm going for the hardest target there is."

Blake froze for a second, and a flash of barely contained glee passed through his eyes. "Mack, you're finally back on your feet! Who do you have in mind? I'll back you up all the way!"

I spoke the name slowly, one syllable at a time. "Helena Beaumont."

She was the youngest visiting professor at Bellingham University, ice-cold and untouchable. She was the dream girl of countless guys on campus.

If ordinary girls could all be manipulated by the system, then what about Helena, the youngest and most unattainable visiting professor at Bellingham? She was famously immune to every approach, hard or soft. Nothing came before her research.

Blake practically jumped out of his seat, nodding over and over. "Yes! Professor Beaumont is perfect! You can totally win her over!"

Of course, he was thrilled. The moment I won Helena over, she would become the biggest catch in his collection.

…

Over the next month, I pulled out every stop I had. Every morning at 6:00 am, I showed up outside Helena's lab with a fresh cup of pour-over coffee at the perfect temperature.

I stayed up night after night grinding through dense research papers, just so I could hold my own in one flawless exchange with her during class.

I kept up the image of a guy who was broke but unbreakable. My white dress shirts had been washed so many times they had gone pale, yet they were always spotless and neatly pressed.

Finally, Helena's wall of ice began to crack. That evening, she handed me a key inside the lab.

"This is the key to my apartment. Tomorrow's the weekend. Come over. There's a set of core data I want to go over with you privately."

Her eyes were calm but warm, filled with admiration she did not bother to hide.

My heart pounded against my ribs. I nodded, hard.

At that moment, I thought I had won. I thought my all-out pursuit had actually shattered that godforsaken system.

…

The next morning, I changed into a clean, sharp casual outfit and let myself into Helena's apartment with the key, full of anticipation. Yet the second the door swung open, every drop of blood in my body went cold.

Blake was lounging on Helena's couch in a pair of pajamas. She walked out of the kitchen carrying two mugs of warm milk.

The moment she saw me, the warmth drained from her face and her expression went ice-cold. "Who told you you could come in?"