After reprimanding Evonne, I immediately swiped my card to seal the deal.

I had had my eye on this particular piano since last April, but every time I had money, I ended up using it to cover Evonne's expenses. Also because of her, I had not touched a piano in ages, and my Grade 9 piano skills wasted away.

Seeing me sitting in front of the piano I had just bought, Evonne's expression darkened. "Chase Shannon, who taught you to use such tactics to get my attention? Don't you find it disgusting?"

I shot her a glance. Pressing down on the piano keys, I started effortlessly playing a piece called "Romeo and Juliet" by Tchaikovsky, all while smirking at her.

Evonne, never having seen me this cold toward her before, instantly crumbled. "Fine! Keep up with your despicable tricks! Let's see if I fall for them!" she shouted.

"Let's go, Ange. I'll talk to Mr. Gadsby about getting you a piano." Evonne dragged Angelo out of the music store. She probably thought that our music teacher, Jules Gadsby, would still listen to her. She seemed to have conveniently forgotten that I was the one who hired Mr. Gadsby.

To show Evonne my sincerity, I gave up my competition spot and arranged for her to study under Mr. Gadsby. Yet, she immediately turned around and gave that opportunity to Angelo, even openly taking him to the lessons.

On top of all that, Evonne mocked me, "Do you think I succeeded because of your sacrifices, Chase? Don't insult my efforts with your self-righteousness.”

I hadn't gotten angry after hearing this. Instead, I grinned and coaxed her, then went to Mr. Gadsby to pave the way for her.

After finishing "Romeo and Juliet" on the piano, I informed Mr. Gadsby to revoke all of Evonne's privileges. I looked forward to seeing how much her "hard work" would pay off. I wanted to see how much her efforts were worth.

When classes breaked for lunch at noon, Evonne and Angelo, drenched in sweat, blocked my way. Evonne looked humiliated. "Send the piano over and I'll forgive you this time," she demanded.

I was so irritated that I could not help but scoff. Had Mr. Gadsby's cold responses made her delusional?

Evonne looked even more humiliated upon hearing my response. "Don't ever use such disgusting tactics ever again. Ange is a pure man, and seeing you do what you do too often will change him."

Screw me… I must've been blind in my previous life to ever think Evonne's disgusting face could be even remotely compared to my ideal woman.

"Evonne, do you see that dog outside? When it gets food, it bows in thanks. As for you, you're worse than a dog. Not only do you demand food, but you complain about it being cold, then throw it in the face of the person who fed you."

Evonne frowned. "Chase Shannon, this is your last chance."

"Bah! If it's such a good chance, why don't you give it to your father? He might even bow in gratitude," I replied with a scoff.

Evonne clenched her fists. "Fine, I'll wait for you to come crawling and begging at my feet."

Hearing this, I could not help but curse her in my heart, thinking I had been truly pathetic in my past life. Any moment Evonne showed even the slightest hint of a frown, I would instantly get on my knees and beg to please her. That was why she still thought she could control me.

As our schoolmates returned to the classroom with their meals, my family housekeeper Mary Cervantes squeezed through the crowd with a cheerful smile, bringing our lunch.

"This is yours." Mrs. Cervantes tossed a lunch box at me. She then turned around and fawned over the pair with two neatly presented boxes. "Mr. Zambrano, here's your pork ribs and popcorn chicken. And Ms. Shannon, your truffle pasta."

Looking into my lunchbox, I found only bland, boiled broccoli and some meat scraps. In my previous life, I thought it was my favoritism that made Mrs. Cervantes so attentive to the two of them. It was only at the end that I discovered she was not only Angelo's biological mother, she was also Evonne's father's mistress. She was the one who had stolen confidential documents from my mother's study and helped Evonne to bring down my family's business.

This time, she would never have such an opportunity again.

"Mrs. Cervantes, why is my meal so pathetic?" I slammed my silverware down on the table.

Mrs. Cervantes said in a lecturing tone, "Mr. Shannon, you're always so irritable. That's why you should eat more light foods. You indulge too much, and it's made your complexion dull. I just want to nourish you back to health. How could you be so unappreciative and throw your temper at me?"

Angelo looked displeased. "Chase, I know you look down on us working-class folks, but you shouldn't insult your elders."

"An elder? Does a mere housekeeper working for my family deserve to be called my elder? Do you think a turkey will turn into a peacock just by raising its tail?"

"Chase Shannon, you've gone too far!" Angelo's cheeks flushed with anger.

Seeing this, Evonne immediately shielded him and glared at me. "Chase, apologize to Ange immediately."

I sneered. "It's clear that you're the peasant here, yet you insist on acting like the master. Aren't you tired of this, Evonne?"

A crowd started gathering in the classroom, and the classmates who had always fawned over Evonne and Angelo, without any prompting, immediately stepped forward to criticize me.

"Evonne and Angelo have always felt sorry for you, Chase, which is why they asked the housekeeper to bring you a meal too. How could you be so ungrateful?"

"Exactly. Everyone knows you're just pretending to be some rich kid but can't even afford food. If Evonne had not enlisted you as her little sidekick, you'd have starved to death by now."

"A sidekick? Me?" I stared at the gossipers across from me. "You're the ones who are spreading these rumors?"

With an air of entitlement, Evonne threw in a casual remark, "And you've been doing a good job in this role, haven't you?"

To hell with "doing a good job." I was not about to expose Evonne's true colors so easily, but I wasn't going to let this slide either. I turned to Mrs. Cervantes and demanded, "I want pork ribs today. Go handle it."

Mrs. Cervantes' face turned pale.

As the tension hung in the air, Angelo, afraid that the truth would come out, quickly switched his lunchbox with mine. "Chase, I'll let you have my meal today, but you should watch your attitude from now on."

Angelo was still planning to eat food from my house in the future? He could dream on!

I grabbed the lunchbox and quietly dug in as our classmates looked at me in disapproval.

"Some people are truly shameless. How could he have the nerve to eat Angelo's food? And how does Angelo tolerate this? He's way too classy."

"This housekeeper has probably come all the way from the Shannon residence. Could Evonne be the daughter of the Shannons?"

"Even if she isn't, she must be close to them. Chase has offended the Shannons, so his future is probably screwed."

I called my mother during the afternoon break, telling her to install security cameras at home and keep an eye on Mrs. Cervantes. She did not ask why, just agreed without hesitation.

Hearing my mother's response, a heaviness pressed down on my chest. She had given me everything unconditionally, yet what had I given her in return? Evonne and her little boyfriend deserved hell for what they did!

"Mom, for this year's underprivileged students Shannon Corp. visit, add Evonne to the list," I suggested. I had been covering Evonne's expenses for the past two years. If I didn't give her a reminder soon, she would probably forget her real identity.

When I returned to the classroom, a group of people was surrounding Angelo, offering him comfort.

Later that afternoon, as I expected, Angelo placed dead last in the piano competition.

The moment Evonne spotted me, she rushed over and said angrily, "Ange lost the competition. Your plan succeeded. Do you think this will make me give up on Ange and fall for you? Chase Shannon, just wake up and stop dreaming."

I rolled my eyes. "Who stuffed your head with all this nonsense? With Angelo's toe-level piano skill, this result was inevitable."

Angelo roared, "Chase Shannon! Is shirking responsibility all you do?!"

"Responsibility for what? I don't remember lending you the feet you used to play the piano," I replied.

Angelo fell silent, and his lackeys immediately jumped in to attack me.

"Chase, do you think you can hide what you've done just by omitting it? If you hadn't frozen Evonne's account, she would've bought Angelo a better piano."

"Exactly. Evonne treats you like her butler, yet you stab her in the back. That's disgusting."

I turned to Evonne and asked, "Your account? I have control over your money?"

"Well, duh. If it's going to be spent on me eventually, why can't I go ahead and make a withdrawal in advance?" Evonne responded shamelessly as if this was the world's natural order.

As my hand trembled in anger, I looked down at the finalized underprivileged students list for the Shannon Corp. visit. After glancing over it, I nodded slightly in approval and told them to send it out. If Evonne had shown even a shred of decency, I would've let her off for a couple more days. But it was clear to me now that she was dancing with death.

A minute later, some of our classmates received a text from the school on their phones. One of the underprivileged students shouted excitedly, "I made it onto the list for the Shannon Corp. visit!"

"Me too! What a great opportunity!" Another person cheered, but he then glanced over at Evonne in confusion. "Evonne, why are you at the top of the list? Are you an underprivileged student too?"

"What?" Evonne, who had been leaning against a desk, was shocked and lost her balance. She fell to the floor, her face as pale as a sheet.