A rich kid offers to pay anyone who'll be his companion to a ball ten thousand dollars.

My roommate stops me from responding. "He's just a rich guy fishing for fun—he's using money to play around with women! Are you going to offer yourself to him for money? We can't be gold diggers!"

My mother is sick, though. She needs my scholarship money to save her life.

To my devastation, my roommate latches onto a school board member and takes away my scholarship. She even mocks me. "With your looks, you could've sold yourself for money. Here's a hundred bucks to compensate you."

That's not all—an AI face-swapped picture of me are posted online. Countless people harass me because of them.

My mother doesn't want to drag me down, so she takes her life. I break down and choose to jump off a building.

When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to the first day of the semester. The rich kid is looking for a female companion. I immediately say, "I'm the companion you've been looking for, sir!"

"God, here's another poser!"

My roommate, Fiona Sharpe, grinned as she shoved her phone at us. Its screen showed a student chat group where a bold message stood out. It read, "Urgently looking for a female date—must be attractive—to accompany me to a banquet. You'll receive ten grand upfront as payment."

Perhaps the person who sent it was worried that no one would believe him as that message was accompanied by a picture of a young man decked out in designer brands, leaning against the hood of the latest Rolls-Royce. He was also sporting a Rolex Submariner "Hulk" on his wrist.

The replies he got were filled with nothing but mockery.

"Did a scammer targeting those bougie kids accidentally wander into our group?"

"Dude, talk about desperate! Are you looking for a date or just someone to sleep with?"

"How much do you actually have on you right now?"

The author of the thread immediately defended himself. "I'm being serious! One of the banquet's requirements is to bring a plus one, but I don't have a girlfriend. So, I thought I'd ask here since this group has more women. I'm looking for a legit date. I'm not interested in anything else!"

Alas, the ridicule only intensified.

"Why are you struggling to get a girl if you're that rich? You could easily get an influencer or minor celebs to be your plus one."

"That's out of the question. My old man would kill me!" he replied.

Unfortunately, his dramatic response only invited more jeers.

It seemed that he eventually became fed up with all the insults because he stopped replying soon after.

However, I knew that he was being truthful.

My heart pounded against my chest as I fumbled for my phone and hastily typed a "1" under the message.

Before I could add anything else, Fiona lunged at me in an attempt to snatch my phone away. "What are you doing? You're not actually thinking about doing this, are you? Renee, we're strong, independent women! You can't be such a gold digger!"

I yanked my phone back with all my might.

Fiona shot me a look of utter disappointment. "Delete it before anyone else sees this! You've totally lost your mind just to satiate your greed. You might not care about your image, but I certainly do! What would people think about our dorm?"

Then, she reached out to grab my phone again, but I was too fast for her. I clutched my phone to my chest and stormed to the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

I saw a friend request on the screen. The sender even sent me a wall of text.

"Hi, I'm Luke Carrell. You believe me, don't you? I will find a plus one from this university just to prove those suckers wrong! You'd better take a bunch of pictures to prove them wrong. How dare they call me a scammer!"

I ignored Fiona, who was desperately trying to break down the door, while I accepted his friend request.

Meanwhile, Fiona twisted the doorknob violently and screeched, "I know you can hear me! Delete that comment now! I'm doing this for your sake! If he really were some rich scion, he'd have women throwing themselves at him! That's clearly a scam! All you're doing is selling yourself for nothing!"

"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.

I applied for leave to return to my hometown so I could arrange Mom's funeral.

I only wanted to apply for a leave of absence, but the university expelled me due to my "terrible conduct that affected the university's image."

The scholarship funds that I had planned to use for Mom's funeral were also revoked.

I fell to my knees in the office, pleading with the faculty to return my scholarship. That was when I saw Fiona.

She was clinging to one of the university's shareholders as she mocked, "So what if you've got both the brains and beauty? You've thrown away your dignity just for money!

"You probably aren't aware of this, but you could've gotten that ten grand. My mother works as a cleaning lady for the Carrells, so I knew that Luke was filthy rich."

Her eyes turned venomous as she continued, "You're just a little prettier than I am. So why did he reject me but add you on his own volition? If I couldn't get what I wanted, why should you have been able to get it so easily? Anyway, I got the scholarship today, and I'm feeling fantastic. Here's ten bucks."

She pulled out a ten-dollar bill from what was supposed to be my scholarship fund and threw it at my face.

Then, she leaned in and whispered in my ear, "Just sell your body if you're desperate for money. I was kind enough to Photoshop your face and get you good buyers. You really should be thanking me."

That was when everything became clear to me. Fiona had orchestrated nearly all of my misfortune. I was in such a state of despair that I leaped off the university rooftop moments later.

However, when I opened my eyes, I realized that I had returned to the day that Luke posted his recruitment notice.

Fiona had stopped me in my past life for fear that I would easily get my hands on that ten grand. Well, I was going to do just that and save Mom!

I lowered my gaze to Fiona, who was struggling to stand. Her face was twisted in pain.

I parted my lips and said coldly, "Go ahead and report me. I refuse to believe that the faculty will revoke my scholarship just because I got myself a part-time job."

Fiona, caught off guard by my confidence, muttered under her breath, "Stop lying to yourself. A plus one? More like a high-class escort."

Then, she seemed to regain her confidence the longer she spoke as she added, "As your roommate, I'm just trying to steer you away from making a mistake. Why are you being so stubborn?"

Luke then sent me a message saying that he would arrive at my dormitory soon. I ignored Fiona and got ready to leave.

Luke was already waiting next to his Rolls-Royce.

Unfortunately, the pest, Fiona, blocked my way at the dorm entrance, gripping my arm tightly. "I can't just stand idly by as you ruin your life! Are you seriously going to sell your body like that?"

When she noticed that she had gotten everyone's attention, a flicker of satisfaction appeared in her eyes as she donned a worried expression. "You can't sell your body just because you're desperate for money! You're my roommate. If you really need help, I'm willing to starve myself just to help you."

She acted as though she was doing this for my sake.

Just then, an irritated voice cut through the air. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? I'm just looking for a plus one! What do you mean by selling her body? Are you trying to get my ass beat?"

The person speaking was furious and frustrated. Soon, a tall figure appeared before us.

Fiona instinctively flinched when her eyes landed on Luke.

Meanwhile, Luke hadn't even recognized her due to the heavily edited picture she had sent him.

When Fiona realized this, she immediately regained her arrogance. "How am I in the wrong here? Why do you need to find a pretty female university student you don't even know just to be your plus one?"

Then, she pointed at Luke and said disparagingly, "Do you think you can do whatever you want just because you're rich? How dare you offer ten grand just to buy a woman's chastity!"