Chapter 1

1

My boyfriend dumped me because he thought I was poor.

He cheated on me with my college roommate.

Then, he had the nerve to mock me.

"You have no money, no looks, and no body," he sneered. "How do you even have the guts to be friends with a rich girl like Lyra?"

What he didn't know was that all of her money was borrowed from me.

……

"Girls, I'm officially off the market!"

As soon as the semester started, my roommate Lyra Lane made a high-profile announcement.

She claimed she had scored a billionaire's son as her boyfriend.

The other two roommates scrambled to look at their couple photos.

"Wow, your boyfriend is so hot!"

"Handsome and loaded? I'd literally die for a guy like that! I'm so jealous, Lyra!"

"Pretty girls really do have all the luck. Unlike me, ugh."

When the photo reached me, I had just finished my work and took a casual glance.

One look was all it took to send me into a state of shock.

Holy crap.

Wasn't that my boyfriend?

The guy in the photo was Dustin Duke, my high school classmate.

He had great grades and we were pretty close back then.

During junior year, he pursued me for a long time.

He seemed sincere, so I agreed to be his girlfriend.

We had similar SAT scores and ended up at the same university.

His family lived in a small, rural town. Over the summer break after graduation, we didn't see each other much and barely talked.

To be honest, he wasn't just short on cash; he was genuinely poor.

If I hadn't seen how hardworking and ambitious he was, I would never have dated him.

How did he become a billionaire's son in just two months?

And how did he become my roommate Lyra's boyfriend?

I was completely stunned.

Lyra was still bragging. "His dad is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, making tens of millions a year. His mom is a university professor and she's stunning."

The other two roommates kept sucking up to her like a professional hype squad.

My lip twitched.

His dad actually ran a small fish stall, and his mom was a preschool assistant.

The lies were so thick I didn't even know where to start.

After thinking it over, I asked, "How did you two meet? School just started."

"The freshmen group chat," she replied. "Aren't you in it?"

I shook my head.

I had been busy all summer and hadn't paid attention to the social groups.

"I'm an admin," Lyra said breezily. "I'll invite you."

As soon as I joined, the chat was flooded with a long line of digital cash gifts. The notes on the envelopes varied.

"Thanks for the blessings, everyone."

"Just a small treat. Boba on me tonight."

"Sharing my good luck. Hope you all find your soulmates soon."

"If we actually get married, everyone here is invited to the wedding."

I looked closer. The person sending the money was Dustin Duke.

Seeing Dustin sending cash, Lyra quickly grabbed a few gifts herself. Then she turned to us with a shy, modest look.

"Oh my, Dustin is being so flashy. It's honestly so annoying."

The roommates continued their flattery. "Ugh, I'm so jealous!"

The group chat was moving so fast with messages from other students.

"Dustin is a king!"

"I'm definitely coming to that wedding!"

"Whoa, I just got thirty bucks from one envelope!"

"So much cash! I'd literally shine Dustin's shoes!"

I opened my private chat with Dustin.

Our last conversation was from a week ago, the night before move-in day.

I had asked if he wanted to grab dinner since we hadn't seen each other in ages.

He told me he had to hang out with his new roommates to bond and would see me later.

I thought back to that night. I had eaten with my other two roommates, but Lyra wasn't with us.

When we asked where she was, she said it was a secret.

Does that mean they were already hooking up back then?

I'm not a hopeless romantic, but I couldn't handle being cuckolded. I took a screenshot and messaged Dustin: "What the hell is this?"

I waited for ten minutes, but he didn't reply.

Instead, he was incredibly active in the group chat, flaunting his fake romance with Lyra.

I walked into the bathroom and called him.

He must have been mid-text because he accidentally answered the call the second it dialed.

The first thing I heard was him muttering, "Oh, shit."