Chapter 2

"Do you think you're doing right by your parents? Open up! What are you hiding in there for?" Fiona shrieked.

I ignored her cutting words and calmly texted, "Good sir, I am your long-lost dance partner!"

I then sent over my ID, along with a video of me playing the harp at the New Year's gala.

Luke immediately replied, "You'll do. You'd better not bail on me! Let me be clear. I only need you as a plus one for the banquet. There will be no funny business! Don't pull the same stunt as she did!"

Then, he sent me a screenshot.

I opened it out of curiosity. To my surprise, the person he was referring to was none other than Fiona.

It was the same Fiona, sitting on her high horse, firmly telling me not to go through with the arrangement. She had added Luke the first chance she got.

She had even sent him a heavily edited and revealing photo of herself. Her choice of words was bold and filled with innuendo. It was obvious to a blind man that she was willing to do more than just accompany him to the banquet.

When Luke declined her offer, she even lowered the price by half.

Unfortunately, she was still rejected.

Now I understood why she was trying so hard to stop me. This right here was the real reason.

When Fiona realized I wasn't responding, she finally lost her temper and roared, "I'll report you to the faculty for improper conduct and get your scholarship revoked if you do this!"

I yanked the door open.

Fiona, who had been leaning against it, lost her balance and fell hard on her ass.

I didn't have my guard up in my past life. So, she successfully snatched my phone, retracted my message, and even blocked Luke on my behalf.

Naturally, I was pissed. However, I didn't bother confronting her since we were roommates.

As a result, another woman from our university was picked.

That same young lady proudly posted a picture of the 100 grand she received the very next day.

Back then, Fiona had feigned concern as she comforted me, saying gently, "There's no way a guy would give her that much money just for being his plus one. She must've slept with him! That's no different from selling her body.

"Renee, you have to be better than this! You would've lost your chastity if I hadn't stopped you. A woman's chastity is her greatest asset. No good man would ever want you if you've lost it."

From then on, Fiona had the gall to call herself my savior.

However, it didn't end there. Mom suffered a stroke two weeks later. Fortunately, it was treatable. Unfortunately, the surgery cost 15 grand.

Sadly, we only managed to gather five thousand dollars even after pooling together all our savings and borrowing from every friend and family we had.

We were exactly ten grand short. I regretted it so badly that I wanted to kill myself.

Still, I scrambled to find ways to gather the money.

Out of nowhere, an anonymous account uploaded an AI face-swapped picture of me posing seductively.

The caption even read, "Add me. 30 dollars per session." They wrote my contact information below and highlighted that I was a student at Beaumont University.

In the end, they attached Mom's medical records to prove that I was indeed in need of money.

The post went viral, sparking a campus-wide scandal. People eventually discovered that I had tried to add Luke as a friend.

"Women like her sell her body so often that karma's finally catching up to her."

"Let's support her business. 30 dollars is a steal."

"Students these days are unbelievable."

"I can't believe that I'm in the same school with a legend like her! Then again, I've always wondered how those women could afford their makeup and nails."

I became the university's pariah. People mocked me wherever I went.

Mom also missed the optimal time for treatment because of this scandal. To make matters worse, her condition deteriorated rapidly because of me.

Tormented by her illness, she eventually chose to give up on treatment and ended her life by ingesting pesticides.