Chapter 3

I quietly watched his fake, friendly face and listened to the greed in his heart grow sharper and sharper. Inside me, only coldness remained.

After the short lunch break ended, I packed my things and headed back to the cafeteria to help.

By then, the morning alumni event had wrapped up. The invited school leaders, famous business figures, and outstanding alumni all headed to the cafeteria to eat and rest.

The cafeteria was packed and lively.

There were honored guests with impressive status, along with large numbers of students and faculty members. The spacious cafeteria was filled to capacity.

Everyone carried trays, lining up for food and soup. The atmosphere was bustling.

During a gap in my work, I quietly opened my mobile banking app.

The balance page was empty.

So it had worked.

I suppressed every emotion in my chest and continued serving food and soup to leaders, alumni, and students in an orderly way.

At two in the afternoon, the cafeteria rush gradually passed. Everyone moved to the main auditorium for the distinguished alumni lecture.

I changed clothes and followed the crowd into the auditorium. Caleb and the other roommates were seated not far from me.

Halfway through the speech, the alumnus onstage was talking confidently, and the audience was listening seriously.

In the quiet auditorium, a few hushed whispers suddenly broke the silence.

"That's weird. Why can't I pay? I ordered something online last week, and payment is due today, but it says insufficient balance."

A boy in the front row lowered his voice, confused as he stared at his phone screen.

His friend immediately chimed in, panic in his voice.

"Same here! My parents sent me two thousand yesterday for living expenses. I just tried to order bubble tea, and my bank card has nothing in it. What's going on?"

More and more confused whispers rose around the room.

At that moment, a businessman in a suit seated in the VIP section suddenly stood up. He gripped his phone tightly, his face turning deathly pale.

His voice trembled uncontrollably and carried through the microphone, spreading clearly across the entire auditorium. The room fell silent in an instant.

"How is that possible... You're telling me all the money in my account disappeared at once?"

That sentence struck like thunder. Everyone stared in shock, and the room erupted.

After a brief moment of silence, the entire auditorium descended into chaos.

Cries of alarm and frantic questions rang out one after another.

"I just checked. My tuition money is gone too! I worked part-time for a whole semester to save that!"

"My living expenses disappeared too!"

It wasn't just students. Many teachers and staff members present also lowered their heads to check their phones, their faces turning grim.

"My salary for this month is gone too!"

One teacher's voice trembled, full of disbelief.

Several school leaders immediately checked their phones as well, their expressions turning solemn, brows tightly furrowed.

"What's going on? The school's corporate account for the event funds is missing several million too!"

Panic instantly swept through the auditorium. The previously orderly lecture completely spiraled out of control.

I sat quietly among the crowd and glanced sideways at Caleb.

At first, when he saw my scholarship arrive, he had been unable to hide the smile on his lips. His eyes were full of excitement at getting the money.

But when he discovered the number in his own account was skyrocketing, with money pouring in from every direction without stopping, the smile slowly drained from his face.

His face turned pale at a visible speed.

[What's going on? Why is there so much money?]

[Did all the money they lost get transferred to me?]

Caleb turned toward me in disbelief.

I met his panicked eyes.

And smiled.

Just as the chaos in the auditorium reached its peak, urgent police sirens sounded outside.

Several uniformed officers walked quickly into the venue.

"Which one of you is Caleb Foster? We received a report from the bank about an abnormal account under your name.