Chapter 2

Janine stormed forward and raised her hand to slap me.

I stepped aside and grabbed her wrist.

"Janine, you've gotten pretty bold, haven't you?" I asked. "Do you know what would happen if you laid a finger on me today?

"The consequences aren't something a second daughter of the Slater family like you could handle."

Janine's expression shifted, and a hint of embarrassment flashed across her face. "How dare you?"

In the past, I was attracted to Janine's looks, and I also liked that she never backed down.

When we were together, I always gave in to her and tried to please her.

I had never put her on the spot like this before, and she clearly wasn't taking it well.

Yet there was nothing she could do. She couldn't lash out at me right now.

After all, her family's company still depended on mine, so she couldn't afford to fall out with me.

Her face flushed with anger as she yanked her hand free.

"Watch what you say, Jensen!" she hissed.

I looked at her in surprise. "What did I say that was wrong? Wasn't it the truth?"

As the atmosphere grew tense, one of our classmates stepped in with a laugh to ease the tension.

He said, "Come on, today's supposed to be Sean's graduation party. Let's not start a fight."

"That's right. Jensen, try to calm down. You've still got quite a temper," another classmate said.

"But how did Sean suddenly get so much money? We all know the Lancasters have been really kind to you, but…"

He wasn't actually part of my family.

The classmate who spoke last seemed to realize he had said the wrong thing and quickly fell silent.

Sean recovered quickly. At that, he clenched his fists, and his eyes began to well up with tears.

"No, that's not it. It's not the Lancaster family's money. I earned it after the SATs by working at Janine's company," he said. "While I was there, I was always the first one in and the last one out.

"Janine saw how hard I worked, so she gave me some generous bonuses."

He paused, then added, "Everyone here helped me when we were in school. I just wanted to give something back."

As he spoke, his voice caught with emotion. Then he turned to me.

"Jensen, Janine and I aren't like that. How could you say something like that about me?"

His heartfelt words even brought tears to our homeroom teacher Candice Turner's eyes.

She said, "You've always been one of the most thoughtful and hardworking students in this class. The fact that you remember those who've helped you makes me very happy."

Seeing this, class president Harry Burke quickly chimed in. "Exactly, Ms. Turner. So what if someone comes from a wealthy family?

"That's still not as impressive as a financial aid student who earned everything through his own hard work."

The mood shifted instantly, and everyone looked at me differently.

"Isn't Jensen taking this too far?" someone whispered.

"Just because his family is rich doesn't mean he gets to treat people like this. Sean earned every penny!" one of our classmates said.

Another added, "Looks like money really does make people think they're above everyone else. He didn't come here for the party. He came here to pick a fight!"

I remained expressionless, acting as if I hadn't heard a word.

Janine gently patted Sean on the back and shot me a glare.

She said to him, "Come on, Sean. Let's go. Don't waste your time on this lunatic."

The two of them didn't look my way again. They focused on smoothing things over with our classmates and teachers.

Janine stayed by Sean's side the entire time. She poured his drinks and stepped in to take his place when people toasted him.

When sweat formed on his forehead, she even handed him tissues.

Their actions were so natural and intimate that anyone would think they were a couple.

At that moment, Harry seemed to intentionally stir things up again.

"Janine, you're taking all these drinks for Sean," he said. "What's going on between you two?"

"Come on, don't say things like that." Sean's ears turned red as he quickly denied it. "Janine is just kind enough to help me out. There's nothing going on between us."

Janine never tried to clear things up. Instead, she moved a little closer to Sean.

"I've always thought of Sean as a little brother. Of course I'd look out for him," she said.

The servers didn't come over to attend to me, but I didn't care. I simply found a seat and sat down.

Seeing Janine act that way, I got to my feet and clapped a few times.

"Nice! A 'little brother,' you say? Sean, you really threw quite the graduation party. I wish you all the best in your future too."

The sound drew everyone's attention back to me.

I put on a thoughtful expression and said, "Sean grew up with the Lancasters watching over him. He finally graduated, and I'm happy for him too."

"I got carried away earlier. My apologies, everyone," I added. "How about this? I'll buy everyone here a car. Everyone should have something to celebrate their graduation.

"Pick any car under 80,000 dollars, and I'll pay for it. Let's make it a graduation gift."

Then, I immediately looked troubled and turned to Sean. "Could the payment be charged to your card first? I left in such a hurry today that I didn't bring mine.

"I heard you made quite a bit from the project you worked on with Janine too. You should be able to cover it for me first, right?"