Chapter 1 The Hardest Target

Only now did I understand why Arthur, with his polished gentleman charm, Julian, the untamed campus king, and now William, the younger guy from today, had all mysteriously fallen for Lucinda after dating me.

The floating comments kept scrolling, packed with praise for Lucinda and venom aimed at me.

"Shannon, the evil supporting character, is still trying to fight back. She has no idea she's just a tool."

"Exactly. The harder she works to turn on the charm, the higher the male leads' affection for Lucinda goes. This is killing me."

I took a deep breath, forcing down the shock and fury rising in my chest.

If that was how it worked, then I wanted to see whether this so-called system was really flawless.

I refused to believe I was less attractive than Lucinda. No stupid system was going to beat genuine love.

Lucinda pulled out that dating prospect book again, putting on her usual comforting act. "Shannon, that underclassman was immature. He falls for every pretty face he sees. As long as you keep trying, you'll find your true love."

This time, I shoved the booklet away and lifted my chin. "I'm not looking at those. If I'm going after someone, I'm choosing one with the highest difficulty level."

Lucinda froze for a second, but I saw the barely concealed delight flash in her eyes. "Shannon, you're finally getting back on your feet! Who are you planning to go after? I'll support you however I can."

I said the name slowly, one word at a time, "Ryder Hayes."

Kingsley University's youngest visiting professor. He was cold, abstinent, a titan in academia, and the dream man of countless female students.

If ordinary guys could be controlled by the system, what about Ryder, the youngest and most notoriously untouchable visiting professor at Kingsley?

He was famous for being completely impossible to sway. Apparently, nothing but academics mattered to him.

Lucinda nearly jumped with excitement. "Yes! Professor Hayes is perfect! You can absolutely win him over!"

Of course, she was excited. If I succeeded, Ryder would become the biggest catch in her collection.

So, I pulled out every stop over the next month.

I would show up outside Ryder's lab with a hand-poured coffee at the perfect temperature at 6 a.m.

I stayed up late digging through countless dense academic papers just so I could have one flawless intellectual exchange with him in class.

I carefully maintained the image of the poor but resilient innocent girl, wearing white blouses so overwashed they had faded, yet always spotless and neatly pressed.

With time, Ryder began to soften.

That night, he handed me a key in his lab. "This is the key to my apartment. Tomorrow's the weekend. Come over. There's some core data I want to discuss with you privately."

His gaze was deep and unexpectedly gentle, his admiration completely undisguised.

My heart pounded so hard it hurt. I nodded without hesitation. At the time, I thought I had won. I thought my all-out pursuit of true love had actually broken that damned system.

…

The next morning, I deliberately chose a simple dress, my heart full of anticipation as I unlocked the door to Ryder's apartment.

However, all the blood in my body turned to ice the second the door opened.

Lucinda was sitting shyly on Ryder's couch, wearing an obviously oversized men's dress shirt, her bare legs exposed.

Ryder stepped out of the kitchen holding two mugs of hot milk.

The warmth vanished from his face the instant he saw me. His expression turned glacial. "Who said you could come in?"