Chapter 4The Fake Heiress and the Empty Mansion

To describe how I felt at that moment, "thunderstruck" would be an understatement.

It wasn't that I was deeply in love with Ethan. I just couldn't accept two things:

First, my terrible judgment in picking a spineless opportunist.

Second, that this opportunist gave up on me for a clumsy, tacky fraud.

He hadn't even reaped the benefits Chloe promised, yet he defected so easily!

If he bothered to check the prices of the gifts I gave him over the past two years, he wouldn't be acting so smug!

I turned and walked away. I knew Ethan and I were done.

I have relationship OCD. I cannot accept a scumbag who keeps his options open.

Ethan chased after me. On the way, he desperately tried to explain.

"Aria, listen to me. When Chloe asked if she could pursue me, what was I supposed to say? I just said it was her freedom, nothing else. Please don't be mad. I won't accept her, I only love you." Ethan pulled on my arm, dragging me all the way from the admin building to the academic building.

"Let go! Let go!"

I was furious. Did this scumbag think I was in kindergarten? Did he think a few sweet words would trick me into coming back?

I yanked my arm, which he was pulling painfully tight, but I couldn't shake him off.

Just then, someone walked out of the academic building.

He walked right up to us, grabbed Ethan's wrist, and with a swift internal rotation, pinned him down.

"Ow! Who the hell are you?!" Ethan, pinned and his arm in pain, screamed wildly.

The guy didn't let go. Instead, he turned and asked me: "Are you okay?"

Only then did I get a good look at him. He had clean, short hair, wearing a white lab coat over a hoodie. A pre-med student.

His face looked familiar.

Wasn't he the guy who defended me on the campus forum?

"Caleb!" I blurted out.

He paused, seemingly surprised I knew his name.

Then he nodded at me, glanced at Ethan pinned under his grip, and asked: "What should we do with him?"

I looked at Ethan.

Ethan quickly pleaded with me: "Aria, trust me, I'll explain everything clearly, okay? What happened earlier was really a misunderstanding. Tell him to let me go first!"

I felt a deep sense of sorrow.

Did this two-faced man always think I was an easy mark?

I didn't plan on letting him off easily.

He dared to play me, I'll make sure he regrets it.

I pulled out my phone and recorded Ethan looking pathetic.

As I recorded, I said: "Ethan, we've been dating for two years, and I still have feelings for you. If you repeat what you just said on camera—say that Chloe is harassing you one-sidedly, that you have no feelings for her, and that you will absolutely never accept her—if you say it, I'll forgive you."

"Ethan, do you dare say it?" I pushed the phone closer to his face so he could see his humiliated state in the video.

His expression went from red to pale, and pale to red.

I knew exactly what he was thinking.

He was currently pinned down, stripped of all dignity and grace. If he actually said those words, forget about the "billionaire's daughter," no girl with any self-respect would ever go near him again.

And he didn't want to miss out on the "billionaire's daughter."

"Aria! There's nothing to say." Ethan looked away. "Let's break up."

Finally getting the expected result, I scoffed and calmly stopped recording.

"Let him go," I said coldly.

Freed, Ethan, probably too ashamed to look at me, kept his head down and ran off.

Actually, I wasn't as calm inside as I looked on the outside.

In that moment, I really wanted to rush over and kick him to the ground.

And scream at him: Idiot!! I'm the actual heiress you're trying to climb up to! You were one step away from the opportunity of a lifetime, but now you've missed it forever!

But I didn't.

My "campus goddess" persona couldn't shatter.

I told myself to look on the bright side. Seeing his true character before my feelings got too deep was a blessing in disguise.

I turned around, intending to thank Caleb, but a gust of wind blew sand into my eye. I couldn't help but rub it.

Caleb mistakenly thought I was crying.

"Don't cry, he's not worth it," Caleb said suddenly. His voice was slightly hoarse, but inexplicably pleasant to listen to. "He'll regret losing you."

Heh. I thought to myself, this guy looks cold, but he's actually quite caring.

"I know," I said.