Chapter 2

"Since you think it's such a small amount, then pay me back."

I held out my hand toward Carol. "I'll even round it down for you. Let's say it's 20,000 dollars."

Carol stared at me fixedly, searching my face for any sign that I was joking.

When she found none, panic finally flashed across her eyes, though she still forced herself to stay composed.

"Jacob, I didn't expect you to be this materialistic. I'm honestly so disappointed in you! I won't argue with you over what happened today, but you seriously need to reflect on yourself!"

As Carol stumbled away, tripping over her own feet, I couldn't hold back my laughter anymore.

She was trying to gaslight me, huh?

She could dream on!

…

That weekend, I didn't stay in the dorms. Instead, I went back to the 5,000-square-foot luxury apartment that the original Jacob's parents had bought for him near campus.

As I lay on the genuine leather sofa with a glass of 1982 Lafite in hand, I finally felt like the hero of a power-fantasy novel I was meant to be.

Suddenly, a highlighted post popped up on my phone screen.

It was from the campus forum.

"Why Did Jacob the Fool Suddenly Lose His Mind?"

I raised a brow and tapped into the thread with interest.

There, students were enthusiastically discussing my "heroic act" of feeding the sandwich to a stray dog yesterday. Someone had even started a betting pool.

"I'll bet a dollar that Jacob takes Carol to a fine dining restaurant and begs for her forgiveness."

"I'll put ten dollars on tomorrow. Jacob will be crawling back with tears in his eyes, apologizing to Carol."

"Count me in for tomorrow too!"

Over 500 comments poured in, and every last one of them was just itching to see me make a fool of myself.

I sneered and posted from my main account.

"I'll bet you 10,000 dollars. I'm not going to do it."

The comments section instantly exploded.

"Holy shit! Is that the real Jacob?"

"Do you guys actually believe him? When has he ever changed? Carol gives him the cold shoulder for two days and he's already crawling back on his knees."

"Exactly! Last month, Carol said she didn't want to see him, and he ended up standing outside the girls' dorm all night long."

"Oh, and don't forget the month before. Carol casually said she wanted cake from that famous bakery in Pennystone. He skipped class and waited in line for three hours, only for her to turn around and go eat with Matt instead."

The more I scrolled, the more my expression soured. The original Jacob had truly simped in a way that was almost impressively pathetic.

But here was the kicker. His background was ridiculously overpowered.

Not only did he have a billionaire father and a mother who was literally a global icon, but he also had seven older sisters who were all ridiculously successful in wildly different fields.

Honestly, even when I was the hero of a power-fantasy novel, the writers never pushed the plot this far. This was just absurd.

And yet, despite being handed a billionaire heir's identity on a silver platter, the original Jacob had somehow managed to morph himself into the most spineless, self-destructing simp in existence.

"What an absolute waste."

I rubbed my temples and finally understood why nothing was more frustrating than watching someone throw away a golden opportunity.

Right then, a new post suddenly appeared on the forum.

"Latest update! Carol and Matt are shopping at Central Plaza right now!"

I tapped into the thread.

In the attached photo, Carol was clinging to Matt's arm as they stood in front of a luxury boutique counter, smiling sweetly together.

I narrowed my eyes. Just as I was about to close the app, a bank notification suddenly popped up.

"Alert: Card ending in 8888 authorized a transaction of 19,800 dollars."

Another alert appeared.

"Alert: Card ending in 8888 authorized a transaction of 5,340 dollars."

"Alert: Card ending in 8888 authorized a transaction of 23,000 dollars."

I stared at the screen for two seconds before it finally clicked.

To please Carol, the original Jacob had actually given her the supplementary card linked to the black card his eldest sister gave him.

Meanwhile, forum insiders were posting live updates.

"Carol just dropped 23,000 dollars on another watch for Matt. She didn't even flinch while she swiped the card. What a badass!"

I laughed.

Carol wasn't content with just bleeding my bank account dry. Now she was helping herself to anything she could get her hands on.

I smirked slightly and dialed the bank's number.

"Freeze all supplementary cards under my black card account now."

Didn't Carol love pretending to be rich?

This time, I would let her put on a real show.

Less than three minutes after the call ended, more than a dozen new posts suddenly flooded the campus forum.