Chapter 2The Big Buyout

The moment I hit send, it was marked as read.

My curiosity was completely piqued.

I had pretty much met all of Ethan's friends. Who exactly was secretly harboring a crush on me?

After a few seconds of silence in the chat, a flurry of messages arrived.

"What do you mean?"

"You want me to be your boyfriend?"

"Stop joking around. To tell you the truth, Ethan and I are good friends."

"I would absolutely never do anything to betray him."

"Okay then, bye," I replied.

After sending that, I closed the app, put my phone away, and went straight to sleep.

The next morning, the first thing I did was open my account to check my DMs.

Just as I expected.

Not only had he sent a barrage of messages, but he had even tried to voice-call me multiple times.

"What the hell do you mean, 'bye'?"

"Explain yourself!"

"Are you serious about looking for a boyfriend, or are you just acting out in anger?"

"Come to think of it, I guess I could work."

"But I refuse to be the other man. You have to make it official!"

"Why aren't you answering?"

"Are you asleep?"

"Or are you chatting with other guys?!"

One missed voice call.

"I already said I'm down. Don't look for anyone else."

Two missed voice calls.

"Fine, I'll be the other man. It's not like Ethan is a saint anyway. Last time we were in Tokyo, he went to a maid cafe behind your back."

Five missed voice calls.

"Are you still there?"

"It's getting late. Get some rest. Goodnight."

A few minutes later, he sent a heart emoji, followed by a blood-pumping photo of his abs.

In the photo, he was wearing sweatpants, lounging casually on a bed, his long legs stretching out endlessly.

Under the natural light, his skin had a healthy, tanned glow.

The veins on his arms were bulging, and his long, slender fingers were resting in a spot that was very hard to ignore.

This was a blatant seduction!

I silently downloaded and saved the photo.

Blushing, I thought to myself, "He's definitely packing."

While I was brushing my teeth, the doorbell rang downstairs.

My housekeeper answered it and immediately let out a gasp.

"Maya, come down quick! Look at this massive bouquet of roses."

Roses...

How cliché.

I took my time going downstairs.

I walked over with a look of disdain and briefly glanced at the card.

Then I suddenly noticed a delicate jewelry box sitting on top of the flowers.

I opened it and gasped—it was my bangle!

This was the last gift my dad gave me before he died.

After he passed, his company faced a massive financial deficit. I gathered everything of value I owned and put it up for auction.

That included this bangle.

I remember it was bought by a foreign buyer for almost half a million dollars.

Ethan's friend somehow managed to track down the buyer and bought it back for me.

I sniffled and opened his chat.

"I got the package. Thank you for getting it back for me. Could you give me your bank account number?"

I couldn't cough up that much cash all at once right now, but I could definitely manage it if we set up a 12-month installment plan.

"I don't want your money. I just want you."

...

I expected him to decline the money, but I didn't expect him to be so blunt about it.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard, trying to figure out how to respond.

Just then, a call came in.

It was Ethan, reminding me not to forget to go to his friend's birthday party with him today.

"Don't wear anything too revealing. Remember to wear a binder; it makes you look smaller and better."

I agreed to everything he said.

Then I turned right around and picked out a low-cut evening gown from my closet.

When I arrived, Ethan was laughing and chatting with a group of people.

The second he saw my outfit, his face fell.

He immediately pulled me aside.

"Why did you show up dressed like this?"

I ignored Ethan and looked past him into the distance.

Amidst a sea of wandering and suggestive glances, I unexpectedly collided with a pair of deep, dark eyes.