Chapter 1The Billionaire Who Felt My Pain

I was born with a highly sensitive personality. When someone says something harsh to me, I want to cry. When someone scolds me, I want to die.

But later, a billionaire heir told me:

"You are my princess. I'd give you my life!"

Because we're sensates, every emotion I feel is amplified a hundredfold for him.

When his childhood friend made me cry, he tearfully terminated all business partnerships with her family.

When his mother slapped me and yelled, "Here's five million dollars—leave my son now!"

I was terrified, and the next second, he had a full-blown panic attack and sent his mother to a nursing home.

From that day on, everyone knew his life motto:

"If she sheds a single tear, I'll burn down a city!"

But his first love, who had just returned to the country, didn't know. She kicked down my dorm room door with her people:

"How dare a beggar like you seduce Gideon!"

The next second, I was dragged toward a dark room, feeling like my life was over...

The grip on the back of my neck was tight.

As two bodyguards in black suits dragged me toward the abandoned warehouse, students along the way craned their necks to watch.

Their whispers felt like tiny needles drilling through my ear canals into my brain.

My hypersensitive nerves instantly snapped taut. My fingers clutched at my shirt hem desperately. My heart pounded so hard it felt ready to explode, and my nose stung with the threat of tears.

I'd been like this all my life.

If someone casually said something harsh, I'd ruminate on it for three days. If someone gave me an impatient look, I'd blame myself endlessly.

Not to mention being dragged through a crowd like this, with the entire building's eyes glued to me. The shame instantly washed over my head.

"Still putting on that sullen face? Who are you showing off for?"

"Why are you crying? Are you trying to scam me or something?"

Lindsay walked up to me in her four-inch stilettos, her fingers painted with bright red nail polish. She raised her hand and—SLAP—struck me across the face in front of everyone.

She was Gideon Ashford's recently returned first love, the spoiled heiress everyone at school knew about.

Ten minutes ago, when she'd kicked down my dorm room door, I'd been working on my thesis. I hadn't even finished typing a sentence before she dumped half a cup of iced Coke over my head.

"How dare a beggar like you seduce Gideon?"

Her voice wasn't quiet. Everyone on the entire dorm floor stuck their heads out to watch.

Those stares—curious, mocking, eager for drama—swept across my face. Instantly, I felt both humiliated and furious. The words of protest stuck in my throat. I couldn't open my mouth.

Just as I tried to force myself to speak, a surge of tears rushed straight to my brain. The next second, tears filled my eyes.

"What are you doing! I've already called the police!"

My roommate Willow rushed over to stop them, but a bodyguard behind Lindsay shoved her hard against the wall. Her phone crashed to the ground with a loud clatter, the screen shattering into pieces.

Lindsay scoffed, stepped over my scattered belongings, and ordered the bodyguards to keep dragging me.

"The police?" She laughed arrogantly.

"Go ahead and call them. Even if you report this to the United Nations, it won't matter. My family donated the new lab building to this school. What are you compared to that?"

I looked at my thesis papers and materials, now covered in muddy footprints.

The grievance hit its breaking point instantly. I couldn't hold back my tears anymore. One drop fell onto the back of my hand with a soft plop.

I bit my lip, trying not to cry out loud, but my condition made it impossible to control.

When Lindsay saw me like this, she mocked me directly:

"Oh, what kind of damsel-in-distress act is this?"

Just as she raised her hand, her slap about to land on my face—

A voice suddenly rang out from the hallway: "Stop!"

The man leading them was Gideon Ashford's executive assistant, Ethan Mitchell.

Behind him stood four uniformed security guards in a neat row.

Ethan looked at Lindsay with a cold laugh, his voice icy enough to freeze:

"Miss Lin, I advise you not to act rashly."

"If anything happens to Miss Carter, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear the consequences."

Lindsay froze for two seconds after hearing this, then burst out laughing. She even stepped forward, not the slightest bit afraid.

She pointed her finger at Ethan's nose, her sharp nail almost touching his face, her tone so arrogant it was practically smoking:

"Who the hell are you? A dog raised by the Ashford family dares to block my way?"

"You're not afraid of biting off more than you can chew. I've known Gideon for over ten years. You're just an employee—how dare you bluff using his name?"

As she cursed, she reached out to push Ethan's shoulder, glaring at him imperiously:

"Get the hell out of my way. Don't hold up my business. When Gideon gets here, I'll have him fire you on the spot!"