Zoe was stunned by what I said.

"Don't... don't talk nonsense. How can I not love you?"

"Do you love me?"

I uttered a cold laugh before I continued to sneer, "Then please recall, how many times have we held hands, cuddled, and kissed since we confirmed our relationship?"

Zoe's face darkened as she snapped, "Did you suspend my card just because of such trivia?

"Fein, how can you be so petty?

"I have already promised to take everyone to Bali. You suspended my card, then how can I explain it to them? Do you want to embarrass me?"

"Fine, I can put all this aside. Let's cut to the chase," I said, "I can restore the supplementary gold card as long as you announce our relationship in the presence of the whole class."

Zoe's face instantly froze.

"What? I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to make you look good in front of our classmates, yet you refused to agree to such a small request as making our relationship public. How can you say you love me?"

"I...I'll think about it."

"You don't have to. I can tell from your hesitation that you don't have me in your heart at all."

I paused and said coldly, "Zoe, let's split..."

Before I could finish my words, the rooftop door was kicked open with a bang.

Three boys walked toward us with unfriendly looks.

The one in the lead was Terence Sweeney, who was the class monitor, student union secretary, and one of the campus hunks.

In my previous incarnation, under Zoe's constant persuasion, I had asked my father to recruit Terence into the company as a middle manager.

Unexpectedly, Terence and Zoe had colluded to steal secrets, putting the company in an irretrievable situation.

In the end, the two of them had been at large and lived together happily, while my parents and I had all died a miserable death.

My fury burned at the thought of this.

To suppress it, I could only clench my fists so hard that my nails dug into my flesh.

The three boys quickly walked up to us. Terence asked with a fierce face, "Zoe, is Fein harassing you again?"

Zoe glanced at me gloomily and said we were just having a casual talk.

"Humph, is there any need to talk to a cheap simp like him?" Terence sneered with a dirty look at me, "Fein Summers, I know very well what you are up to.

"Wake up. Zoe will never have her eye on you. Look at you. You'd better know yourself!"

"You lunatic."

With these two words, I left without looking back.

Zoe seemed to want to say something but finally chose to remain silent at the sight of Terence.

In the next few days, everyone was busy preparing for the graduation dance.

They were occupied ordering outfits, finding dance partners, and setting up the stage.

Only I acted as if nothing had happened and didn't care at all whether I had a partner or not.

After what had happened on the rooftop, Zoe had given me the silent treatment.

She didn't mention the gold card while I didn't mention breaking up. We just stalled.

One afternoon, my classmate Fannie Lee came to me and invited me to her birthday party.

Fannie and Zoe were besties who shared the same dormitory.

She had always loathed me and treated me coldly with contempt since I had persistently pursued Zoe.

It was self-evident that she had some ulterior motive for inviting me to her birthday party.

It was the first time Zoe had ever wanted to take an opportunity to make peace with me.

No matter what conflicts we had had before, even if she was at fault, I was the one who had always taken the initiative to give in and humbly plead for forgiveness.

Without squandering my money on luxury bags and expensive jewelry for her, I could never expect her to be nice to me.

That was also why my classmates had looked down on me.

I had been such a simp who was so eager to please her.

I had cherished Zoe as a treasure while she had treated me as a nobody.

No, even worse than a nobody. I was nothing more than her exclusive cash machine in her eyes.

A cash machine that didn't need a password and would be responsive to all her requests.

I accepted Fannie's invitation after a few seconds of silence.

Fannie looked unsurprised and said with a smile, "7 pm tonight. Don't be late.

"You should know that Zoe doesn't like unpunctual ones."

Humph.

I couldn't help but utter a snorting laugh when I heard this.

As expected, I was still the same Fein in Zoe's eyes, the simp completely infatuated with her.

She thought she was giving me a way out with magnanimity and mercy by willingly taking the initiative to make peace.

She would always be the high and mighty queen while I was just a humble slave begging for her mercy.

...

In the evening, I arrived at the private room reserved by Fannie ahead of time.

Before entering, I could hear the conversation and chuckles coming from inside.

"Zoe, I still don't get why you want me to invite Fein over.

"You didn't agree to date him just because he has been fawning over you for four years, did you?"

"Of course I didn't."

Zoe flatly denied it.

"I let him attend this party just because he is our classmate."

"Aren't you afraid that he will take this opportunity to profess his feelings to you in front of so many people?"

"Don't worry. He won't have the guts to do such an embarrassing thing."

"I don't think so. By the way, Zoe, now that no one is around, tell me the truth. How far have you and our monitor have gotten?

"Have the two of you done it?"

"You obscene girl, do you want me to strangle you?"

Zoe snapped, embarrassed and annoyed, but did not deny it.

I only had a cold smile left on my face.

We had been in a relationship for over half a year, but I had only held her hand three times, hugged her once, and never even been allowed to kiss her on the face.

All these were already great charity toward me in her eyes.

Instead of going into the private room, I found a smoking area at the end of the corridor and puffed on one cigarette after another.

I didn't return until it was after 7:10 pm.

The dishes had all been served and everyone in the private room had started eating.

Zoe and Terence sat together, looking as close as conjoined twins.

It was not until Zoe saw me that she subconsciously distanced herself from him.

Fannie scolded, "Fein, didn't I tell you to arrive at 7 o'clock? Why are you so late?"

I explained with a calm look that I had been stuck in a traffic jam.

"Everyone knows there will be traffic jams on weekends. Why didn't you take the bus here earlier?" a fat girl snapped with displeasure, "It's so impolite of you to make all of us wait for you."

Everyone knew I was a simp, but none of them knew I was from a rich family.

It was because I had never flaunted my wealth, and the gifts for Zoe had all been given in private.

Firstly, I didn't want to keep a high profile at college. Secondly, Zoe had said that she would never accept my gift for her in the presence of others.

Besides not wanting others to know about her relationship with me, more importantly, she had done so to maintain her image as a rich and beautiful girl.

I didn't refute what the fat girl said and just replied that the bus had indeed been too slow.

Just as I had sat down and before I could pick up the flatware, Terence suggested that I should drink three glasses of alcohol as a punishment for being late.

As the monitor and student union secretary, he had always had a high personal prestige, so the whole class did not dare to disobey him and all echoed.

Fannie called the waiter and asked him to bring a few bottles of beer.

"Hey, hey, hey, beer is not good enough. Waiter, bring us five bottles of your most expensive wine."

The waiter said with hesitation, "The most expensive wine costs more than 20,000 dollars a bottle. Are you sure you want it?"

Terence slammed the table and said, "Cut the crap and go get them!"

I received a message on my phone when the waiter went out.

It read, "Restore the gold card, and I'll announce our relationship to everyone when Fannie cuts the cake."

I looked up and met Zoe's eyes.

She looked like a proud swan as usual. I bet she was already certain in her heart that I would compromise.

I smiled and didn't reply to the message. I just put down the phone with a slight nod.

Zoe's face was finally no longer cold.

When the red wine was served, I told the waiter that I couldn't accept it and asked him to bring me a bottle of beer.

The fat girl immediately sneered with apparent contempt on her face, "You can't drink the wine that is worth more than 20,000 dollars but choose to drink beer that only costs a few dollars a bottle. What a cheap man you are!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Terence and Fannie even laughed to tears.

Zoe looked at me with a meaningful look in her eyes.

She also curved her lips into a smile to follow the crowd.

After the waiter left, a girl asked tentatively, "Fannie, the wine alone costs more than 100,000 dollars. What are we going to do when we pay the bill later?"

By convention, for a birthday party like this, the birthday person would usually pay, or those who attended would go Dutch.

Fannie looked at Zoe, and Zoe said generously, "Don't worry. It's on me."

Everyone was delighted and showered Zoe with compliments, making her puffed up with complacency.

Even Terence, who was sitting beside her, was filled with smug satisfaction as if he shared the same glory with her.

Everyone was tipsy after drinking.

Terence began to peel shrimp for Zoe personally and even brought it to her mouth.

Zoe was probably also too heady to remember my presence, so she unconsciously opened her mouth to bite it.

The intimacy between the two of them disgusted me.

I remained unmoved, sipping my beer alone and watching them quietly.

Eventually, I couldn't bear it anymore and got up to leave.

Everyone was busy drinking without noticing me.

Zoe was carefully wiping Terence's grease-stained mouth with a tissue.

Her eyes were glistening with such sweet gentleness.

I gave a cold snort and turned around to leave.

Just as I was home, I received a message from Zoe.

"Fein Summers, what the hell are you doing? Why can't I use the card?"

I could imagine how furious she was even though I couldn't see her through the phone.

I didn't even bother to reply to her and simply blocked her.

I slept exceptionally soundly on this first night after my rebirth.

...

The next day when I returned to school, I was surrounded by a group of people the instant I entered the classroom.

Terence and Fannie were in the lead, glaring at me viciously.

Fannie was the first to rage, "Fein Summers, can you be a man?

"Not only did you fail to keep your promise to Zoe, but you also blocked her. How dare you?"