Chapter 3

The next morning, I asked Louis for a day off. I took a long-distance bus for more than two hours and arrived at the entrance of Sylvia's college.

I followed the signs and found the admissions office. A young female teacher was sitting inside.

After explaining my purpose, she asked me to provide Sylvia's name and ID number. So, I handed over Sylvia's information.

The female teacher lowered her head and searched for several minutes, her brows gradually knitting together. "Are you sure she's a student at our school?"

She double-checked her computer. "We don't have anyone by that name at our school."

I pulled out my phone and found the photo of the college acceptance letter Sylvia had sent me.

The female teacher took it, and after just one glance, her expression changed. She pointed to the official seal in the photo. "Our college's official seal doesn't look like that. Also, last year's acceptance letter numbers were written in a completely different format."

My fingers began to go numb.

The female teacher handed my phone back to me. "Have you been scammed?"

I was at a loss for words.

…

After leaving the admissions office, I sat down on the steps by the side of the road. Loads of students walked past me with backpacks slung over their shoulders and bubble tea in hand, chatting about where to go for dinner that evening.

I dialed Sylvia's number.

This time, she answered almost instantaneously. "What's up, Shawn?" she chirped.

I asked, "Where are you?"

"I'm at school."

"Which school?"

The laughter on the other end of the line disappeared.

I continued, "You're not even a student at the college you told me about."

The line went dead silent.

After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly burst into tears. "I'm so sorry, Shawn."

Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if she was waiting for me to lose my temper first.

"Did you not attend college?" I inquired, clutching my phone.

"I didn't make the cut for college."

I closed my eyes, suppressing the anger roiling in my chest. "So, you forged an acceptance letter to trick me."

"I don't have a job, and there's no one to take care of me. What am I supposed to do, starve?" she asked unapologetically.

I was stumped.

Moments later, I asked, "So, you were the young lady I saw at the mall the other day?"

I heard her catch her breath on the other end of the line. All of a sudden, I felt like a total clown.

"Sylvia, as of today, I won't be transferring any more money to you," I declared.

I sat at the entrance of the college for a long time. I didn't leave until night fell and the streetlights flickered on one by one.

By the time I returned to my rental, it was already 11:00 pm. The moment I opened the door, my phone started buzzing incessantly.

A stranger had sent me a screenshot on WhatsApp. It was a screenshot of a post with a long headline. "Exposing the Creep Who Sponsored an Underprivileged Female College Student for Seven Years and Cut Off Her Allowance Out of Spite Just Because She Rejected Him."

I tapped on the post. At the very top was a photo of Sylvia's red, teary eyes. "I always thought he genuinely wanted to help me until he started constantly dropping hints that he wanted me to meet him and even made some requests that I couldn't accept. After I rejected him, he cut off my financial support. I haven't had a proper meal in three days. I don't know how much longer I can hold on!"

There were already hundreds of comments under the post. Someone called me a pervert, while others said there was no way a man could support a young woman without ulterior motives.

I clutched my phone so tightly that my knuckles slowly turned white.