The $300,000 Breakup Text

Let's break up.

The text from my boyfriend flashed on my screen. I immediately typed out a reply.

[System Notification: This user has blocked you.]

He didn't even give me two seconds to process it. My phone buzzed again. A bank notification overlaid the chat screen.

[Direct Deposit: $300,000.00]

I opened the banking app. In the memo line of the transfer record, there was only one phrase.

[Memo: Voluntary gift.]

Chapter 1

Reality was a cheap, twisted soap opera. Three days after my boyfriend dumped me over text, I saw him again.

My new roommates and I were having dinner when he walked in, carrying a massive bouquet of roses and a customordered cake.

The tall, handsome guy stared at my new roommate, Harlow, his eyes dark and burning with intense devotion. "Happy birthday."

I blanked for a second. Today was my birthday, too.

Harlow's eyes sparkled. She glanced around the table before taking the roses. "Thank you."

"Wow, that's Harlow's childhood friend, right? He is so hot," a roommate whispered.

"I'm obsessed. That 'you're the only girl in the room' gaze? I've only seen that in movies."

"So thoughtful and attentive. Perfect boyfriend material."

Another roommate leaned in to fill me in on the gossip. "Jade, you weren't in the dorm last night, but this guy actually used a highend courier service to deliver a massive care package to Room 307."

"It had premium handmade chocolates, painkillers, and even a Hermes cashmere throw blanket."

I nodded, my voice perfectly neutral. "Yeah. Perfect boyfriend material."

They lit the candles. In the warm, hazy glow, Harlow closed her eyes to make a wish.

Beside her, the tall guy stood with his arm resting lightly behind her waist. He lowered his eyes, his gaze heavy and possessive, locked onto her profile.

Harlow blew out the candles, and someone flipped the lights back on.

As the birthday girl cut the cake, Brooks smiled and took each slice from her, handing them out to everyone. They moved together with practiced, flawless chemistry.

When he held a plate out to me, Brooks's smile froze.

I took the plate. "Thanks."

He snapped out of it, his voice dropping to a flat, cold tone. "You're welcome."

Harlow tugged at his sleeve. "You're being too cold to my roommate," she murmured.

He lowered his gaze. "No need to be overly friendly."

He was right. We were just strangers now.

Between the library and my parttime shifts, I was always running.

One night, a massive thunderstorm hit. I missed the last bus back to campus and had to grit my teeth, gripping my cheap umbrella as I walked through the torrential downpour.

As I cut through a desolate stretch of road, I spotted a brutally mangled car. I didn't know much about cars, but I knew enough to recognize something insanely expensive.

Slumped in the driver's seat was a young man, blood streaming down the side of his face. He was unconscious.

The gas tank had ruptured. A dark slick of fuel was spreading rapidly across the wet asphalt.

I dialed 911 from a safe distance, then sprinted over and yanked the warped car door open. "Hey! Hey, can you move?" I slapped his cheek.

His eyes fluttered open, glassy and unfocused. "Leave me it's dangerous. Run."

Even bleeding out in a wrecked car, he was trying to warn a stranger. He was a good guy.

I grabbed him under the arms and hauled him up. Growing up doing heavy labor meant I had plenty of brute strength.

We stumbled forward together.

The blinding rain lashed against my face, forcing my eyes shut, but I just kept my head down and dragged him away from the wreckage.

Chapter 2

Finally, we put enough distance between us and the mangled wreck.

"Are you Wonder Woman?" The freezing rain seemed to have sobered him up a bit. "Dragging a giant like me this far."

I had a choppy short haircut and was wearing an oversized hoodie. For my own safety on a pitchblack road, I kept my mouth shut and focused on walking.

He didn't seem to mind my silence. He leaned his heavy frame against me.

"Are you even of age? You're tiny. Let me use your phone to make a call."

I did as he asked, pulling out my cheap, cracked secondhand phone.

His jaw went slack. "When I'm healed up, I'm buying you a new phone."

The call connected. Instead of a concerned voice, the crisp clinking of crystal wine glasses and soft jazz drifted through the cracked speaker.

"Mom."

A woman's voice cut through the music, sharp and impatient. "Brooks, what is it now?"

"Mom, I crashed the car."

"Where are you?"

He propped his head up, squinting at his surroundings. "1200 Orchid Avenue."

"Bullshit. What would you be doing all the way out there? Is this another excuse to ask for money? Go bother your father!"

The line went dead.

He let out a selfdeprecating laugh. "The boy who cried wolf one too many times, I guess."

I asked if he needed to call anyone else. Before he could answer, the screen flickered and died.

The torrential rain had drowned the cheap battery.

I tapped the useless power button a few times, then shoved the phone back into my pocket under his intense stare. "You're paying for the repairs," I muttered.

"It's a piece of junk. Why are you so protective of it? What's your name? Text me your address later, I'll just ship you a new one."

The guy literally couldn't shut up.

The weight on my shoulder suddenly doubled. I turned my head. He had passed out again.

I didn't want to get tangled up in whatever richkid drama he had going on, so I just kept quiet and held him up.

By the time the ambulance sirens wailed in the distance, the rain had dialed back to a steady drizzle. Brooks was unresponsive, pale from blood loss.

The paramedics hoisted him onto a stretcher and shoved him into the back. "Family member? Hop in!" one of them yelled at me.

I gripped my empty pockets and stepped back, shaking my head. "I'm not family."

A sleek luxury SUV screeched to a halt behind the ambulance.

A woman dripping in expensive jewelry threw open the door and scrambled straight into the back of the rig. Her panicked voice drifted out through the open doors. "Brooks! Are you okay?"

I turned and walked away.

As I went to grab my discarded umbrella off the wet asphalt, my foot brushed against something heavy.

A shattered, highend luxury watch. Must be his.

The following month, I picked up a new tutoring gig. The hourly rate was insanely high.

My student was a young boy named Rowan. He was neatly groomed, dressed in crisp, preppy clothes, and extremely polite.

He looked strikingly familiar. Where had I seen him before?

The massive suburban mansion was dead silent. It was just him and the housekeeper, lacking any real warmth or life.

He was brilliant and cooperative, just far too quiet for a kid his age.

The housekeeper, Robin, was incredibly kind to me. Every session, she would bring in freshly cut fruit and brew a pot of herbal tea.

We chatted sometimes. I learned she had a teenage daughter.

Even though her family wasn't wealthy, she and her husband were deeply in love, and their home was a safe haven.

She told me I felt like family to her. She asked where I was from and who my parents were.

Something about my answer must have triggered a memory, because her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. I had lied to her.

One evening, after my session ended, Robin walked me out to lock the front gates.

Out of nowhere, a massive stray dog lunged out from the bushes. She stumbled backward, her face draining of color, and badly twisted her ankle.

I caught her before she hit the concrete, slipping my arm around her waist to help her limp back inside the house.

Chapter 3

I asked Robin where the firstaid kit was and grabbed it. Her ankle was already swelling to the size of a baseball.

"Robin, you need to stay off this for at least a week."

She shook her head with a bitter smile. "Thanks, Jade. But this is a disaster. Rowan refuses to eat takeout."

Thinking of that painfully quiet little boy, I snapped the firstaid kit shut. "If you trust me, you can sit back and supervise. I'll cook dinner."

"Of course, of course," Robin agreed quickly.

She sat at the kitchen island, prepping the vegetables while I handled the stove. We fell into an easy rhythm.

"Jade, I honestly had no idea you were this capable. You cook better than I do."

I pulled a golden, crispy roast chicken out of the oven. The rich scent of butter and rosemary filled the massive kitchen.

"I worked backofhouse at a restaurant one summer, so I picked up a few tricks."

All my parttime jobs had two strict goals: learn a new survival skill or get paid a premium. Naturally, I usually picked the latter.

A hearty family dinner, quick and simple.

I said my goodbyes and left Robin my number, telling her to call if she needed any help around the house.

But Robin was a proud woman. She didn't bother me once.

A week later, when I showed up for my next session, she was fully recovered. I quietly resigned from the tutoring gig shortly after.

"Wow, rich people are insane. Someone posted a massive cash reward to find a busted watch."

My roommate shoved her phone in my face, showing me a viral post. It had the date, the location, and a picture.

Well, jackpot. The shattered watch I picked up had an owner.

After classes, I contacted the owner.

The world was a sick joke.

The owner was Brooks. He was leaning against his luxury car near the campus gates, dressed in a sleek black buttondown.

He looked me up and down with arrogant, dismissive eyes. "How did you get my watch? What kind of reward do you want?"

I had zero interest in playing his games. "Fifty bucks."

Fifty bucks was exactly what my phone was worth.

He let out a cold scoff. "My watch is barely worth that now. The only reason I posted the reward was to bait out the thief who took it."

Hearing him accuse me of stealing made my jaw clench.

I just wanted enough to replace my trash phone, but if he was going to force the issue of who saved his life, fine.

I fished the dead, cracked phone out of my pocket and shoved it right in his face. "Fifty bucks for the phone repair. Pay up."

"As for the watch, I picked it up off the asphalt after the paramedics threw you in the ambulance."

"Holy shit! You're the tiny guy?!" His jaw practically hit the pavement