Chapter 3

I was so sickened that I couldn't eat a single bite all night.

Early the next morning, Sean called me into his office.

Pointing to my graduate school recommendation form and Outstanding Graduate nomination, he said sharply, "Olivia, making a scene at the engagement party yesterday created a terrible impression.

"Jarrett is our department's student representative. He's about to start an internship at a top municipal agency. If you insist on spreading rumors to ruin his reputation, you'll be destroying his entire career before it starts.

"The department board will need to reconsider your graduate school recommendation."

I squeezed my hands into tight fists. "Are you threatening me?"

"I'm teaching you how to act like an adult," Sean said, taking a slow sip from his teacup.

"I've met Sienna. She's a sensible woman. Since you already have so much, you should be gracious enough to let go. Don't throw away your future over a guy."

I snatched my application off his desk and looked at him coldly. "I don't need to sell my dignity to buy a future."

I wanted to believe standing my ground meant something.

Instead, before I even made it down the campus greenway, a notification popped up showing money had been drained from my account.

It was the joint account Jarrett and I shared, holding 5,000 dollars I'd saved over the years through part-time jobs.

Grandma's health had taken a turn recently, and she was hospitalized back home. That money was meant for her surgery.

I called Jarrett immediately, cutting straight to the point. "Where is the money from the account?"

Jarrett sounded entirely justified. "Sienna's brother needed to pay his tuition, so I lent it to her. Olivia, it's not like you need that much money right this second anyway. What's wrong with helping her family out?"

I shook violently, overcome with rage. "That's my grandma's surgery money! What right do you have to touch my savings?"

I thought hearing that would make him hesitate, even just a little.

Instead, he blew a heavy sigh into the receiver. "Olivia, stop using your grandma as an excuse. She's been sick for a while. What's the big deal if her surgery is pushed back a few days?

"If Sienna's brother can't pay his tuition, he'll be expelled. That affects the rest of his life. Can you stop being so selfish for once?"

The heartbreak hit so hard I barely had the breath to speak. "Give me back my money, Jarrett. Right now."

He let out another sigh, forcing a patient tone to soothe me. "I already transferred it. I can't pull it back now. I'll make it up to you next month when I get my internship paycheck. Stop making a scene, okay? I'm really busy today. I've gotta go."

Listening to the dial tone, I sank onto a wooden bench along the walkway, gasping for air.

But the blows didn't stop there. Moments later, a new post popped up on my Instagram feed.

Louie had posted nine photos. In the pictures, Jarrett and Sienna were wrapped in each other's arms, beaming with pure bliss.

The caption read, "True love conquers all. These soulmates are finally together."

Below it was a long trail of likes and congratulations from our classmates.

As I scrolled through the comments, a text arrived from an unknown number.

"Olivia, Jarrett said he got tired of wearing his Casio watch, so he gave it to me. You don't mind, do you?"

That Casio was the 18th birthday present I had given Jarrett.

I didn't mind at all—because now, I didn't even want the man himself.