Chapter 2

I felt my shoulders getting lighter.

Picking up my phone, I unlocked it.

At the very top of my WhatsApp chat were four familiar profile pictures.

When I asked them about which university they were going to apply to yesterday, they had only sent me emojis to humor me.

I clicked on Tyler’s chat. He was a delinquent who wanted to control everything.

I deleted his contact and the chat.

The chat disappeared, and I felt my world getting quieter.

Noah was a sweet-talking but ruthless gaslighter.

His profile picture was a selfie of him smiling brightly.

I deleted him too.

Meanwhile, Ethan was a stubborn person who got violent whenever things did not go his way.

His profile picture was a backshot of him playing basketball.

I deleted him.

The last was Mark. He knew me the best but was also the quietest.

He never stopped them and never helped me.

I deleted him as well.

Once that was done, I felt as if I had gone scorched earth on my past; I had said goodbye to those ridiculous teenage years of them leading me around by the nose.

Then, I scrolled down to find a number labeled as Professor Grant before calling him.

Samuel answered in an instant.

“Layla.” His voice was cool, like moonlight shining on a swamp. My heart felt at ease the moment I heard him.

I smiled and said jovially, “I got dumped, Samuel.”

He stayed quiet for a while before he chuckled.

“Is that so? Then, I’ll have to congratulate you for finally breaking free of your shackles and regaining your sense of self, Layla.”

This man could always see through me.

“Aren’t you surprised?” I asked.

“Your light should never be smothered by a pile of trash,” he said firmly but gently. “I’ve been waiting for you to push aside all those problems around you, and you did it.”

I felt touched, and my nose stung, but I did not cry.

He was right. They were not worth it.

“So, Miss Top Scorer, when are you coming to the capital? Let your boyfriend treat you to a celebratory meal,” he suddenly said teasingly.

I laughed. “When have I ever said that I’d be your girlfriend?”

“Hmm?” His voice went up in amusement. “Who was the one stammering yesterday into the phone that she’d think about it?”

“You took advantage of me when I was down, Samuel!”

“No. I swept you off your feet at your moment of weakness,” he corrected languidly.

[So, the female lead actually got together with the professor a long time ago? Wait… they’ve been in contact with each other all this while?]

[Swept you off your feet! I love it! Professor Grant, you have so much rizz!]

[Those four idiots thought that the female lead couldn’t live without them. But she hasn’t just broken free of them. She’s even found herself a top-notch boyfriend! This feels great!]

Yes. It felt great, unprecedentedly so.

After hanging up, I looked out at the blue sky.

My new life had just begun.

After the end of the opening ceremony, Samuel held my hand as we walked on the university’s shaded path.

It was the beginning of autumn. The sun shone through the gaps of the leaves like scattered gold.

“Penny for your thoughts?” he asked me.

“I’m just wondering where I would be right now if I hadn’t met you.”

That was indeed something I had wondered about in the past.

Without Samuel, I might have actually enrolled in that local university because of that ridiculous promise.

Then, I would only be able to watch my childhood friends flirt with Rose in the capital. Meanwhile, I would wither away and be trapped in place.

I would have become the miserable and hateful tool the chat said I would be.

“What nonsense.” Samuel stopped walking and stared at me seriously. “You’re a diamond. Even if you’re covered in dust, you’re still a diamond. Without me, you’d still come around and shine. I was just lucky that I discovered your brilliance before anyone else and took you back home.”