Chapter 2

"You don't want to sign? Are you trying to drag the rest of us down?"

Tristan sent another voice message, his tone cold and hard. "You can't make anything of yourself, so now you're taking it out on me for getting with your girlfriend, is that it?

"This is about everyone's future." He shifted to a voice that made it sound like he had the entire class at heart.

"Aaron Pruitt's mom works at an electronics factory, assembling thousands of parts every single day. Her neck condition is so bad she can't even afford to get it treated.

"Amber Loring's parents wake up before dawn to sell fish at the market, just waiting for her to make something of herself so she can support the whole family.

"Zane, hate me all you want, but can you put aside your pathetic little grudge this one time and stand with the rest of us?"

He paused, then twisted the knife. "Or is it that you just can't stand seeing anyone else do well?"

That was all it took to set the entire class off, especially the ones he had called out by name.

"Zane, you make me sick. It’s no wonder Megan cheated on you. You're nothing but a jealous loser!"

"If you want to stay broke, fine, but don't drag the rest of us down with you. Who do you think you are?"

"It's 50 million dollars. Are you blind or just heartless?"

Tristan switched to a resigned, magnanimous tone. "Come on, guys, don't go after him. He just hasn't seen the world yet. The 50 million dollars probably scared him.

"There's no need to go to his house and make him sign, and there's definitely no need to bother his family.

"I just hope our class can stand together. We'll always be like family."

I nearly laughed from the sheer absurdity of it. He was deliberately planting the idea for everyone to show up at my door.

Sure enough, the moment he finished, messages flooded the chat.

"Megan, let's go to his place together. Even if we have to pin his hand down, we're making him sign!"

"Let's go. Hop on your scooter and come get me. Five minutes and we'll be at his place." Megan did not hesitate for a second.

They were actually planning to come after me.

I held my phone, tempted to call the police, but it was too late in the evening. Filing a report now would turn into an ordeal that dragged well past midnight and would ruin my focus for tomorrow's exam.

"Zane, still up?" Mom knocked on my bedroom door just then. "The exam is tomorrow. Don't stay up too late studying."

I called back to her and turned off the light.

There was no point in picking a fight I could not win. All they wanted was for me to sign the agreement with Sage.

"Don't bother coming. I'll sign."

I followed the guide Tristan had posted in the group chat, screen-recorded the entire process, and signed the 50-million-dollar exam-skip compensation agreement with Sage.

"Zane Archer, signed."

I completed the final entry in the chain.

"See? Was that so hard?" Megan's message dripped with sarcasm.

"You always have to be the special one. We practically had to beg you. You really think you're somebody s[ecoa;, don't you?"

"Everyone, meet at Grandview Mall tomorrow at 8:00 am. Buy whatever you want."

"Yeah, exactly. We'll have 50 million dollars any day now. We couldn't spend it all if we tried."

"Zane, don't you dare sneak off to the exam hall tomorrow. If I don't see you at the mall, the engagement is done for real, and I mean it."

"If you even try going, we'll kick you out of this class for good." The class president, Marcus Henning, sent the message with an angry emoji attached. "We don't want a traitor."

I turned off my phone.

I could not have cared less. Every single one of them was a complete idiot.