Confessions of a Fake Sweetheart

[Hayes skipped class by jumping the fence in the back courtyard, and he fell into the lake! What do we do? He can't swim!]

I was the dead-broke scholarship kid living on a full ride at this Ivy League prep school. And today, holographic comments suddenly floated past my eyes.

[Where is the female lead? Someone save him!]

[She called in sick today. She is not at school. Ugh, what a waste. Whoever saves him is going to score major points with him.]

I wasn't the heroine of this story. I was just a nobody. Right now, I propped my chin on my hand and kept listening to the math lecture.

Hilarious. What did I care about his favor? I wasn't going to jump in there. He was the main character anyway.

It wasn't like he could actually drown. I was no sweet, innocent angel. I only cared about two things: cold hard cash, and perfect test scores.

The holographic comments kept rolling past my face.

[Whoever saves him is definitely getting a massive cash reward from his family. Wonder who will get that lucky. With how filthy rich his family is, even a small payout is enough to set someone up for life.]

A cash reward?!

I shot up from my seat.

My chair tipped backward and slammed into the floor with a massive crash.

Chapter 1

The whole class turned to stare at me. Up at the front, the math teacher froze. He furrowed his brows. "Is there a problem with how to draw the auxiliary line?"

I sniffled, forcing my voice to crack. "But sir, the drowning passengers on the Titanic will never get to draw auxiliary lines again."

He told me to get out.

I walked out the door with my head hanging low. Then, I booked it! I sprinted down the hallway as fast as my legs could carry me! I rushed to the back courtyard at top speed.

Sorry, sir! I was born to love money, and I am not sorry at all!

I stared at the landscape lake. Sure enough, Hayes was thrashing around in the water. He was about to sink to the bottom and become a very expensive floating corpse. On the bank, some nerd in khaki pants was crying as he dialed 911.

He couldn't swim and was about to go yell for help.

No need to yell. Your savior is here!

I screamed Hayes's name at the top of my lungs, then dove straight into the water.

I swam toward him at lightning speed. After a ton of struggling, I finally managed to drag him to the shore. I shoved him onto the grass first, then started pulling myself out. I was panting heavily, climbing up, when a pair of sneakers covered in a luxury designer logo stopped right in front of my face.

I followed the shoes up and locked eyes with Hayes.

What the His clothes were bone dry. He hadn't fallen in?

I scrambled to my feet and looked at the guy I had just dragged out of the water. It was some random teenager. It definitely wasn't Hayes.

The holographic comments flew past my eyes

[Huh? Why isn't the guy in the water the male lead?]

[Sorry, my bad! I thought it was him I got the wrong guy.]

[User above, so you're the one spreading fake news, huh?]

[Look, Hayes is so hot! That nose bridge, those long eyelashes. Oh, speaking of long]

[Massive.]

Hayes's husky voice, dripping with old-money arrogance, snapped me back to reality. "Hey. Before you jumped in there like a lunatic, why did you scream my name?"

I stared at him. His dark hair fell across his forehead, casting a small shadow over his sharp, expensive-looking eyes. He tilted his chin up, looking down at me with that signature sneer every rich kid seemed to have.

My eyes dropped to his left hand entirely on their own. A ring sat on his long, well-defined fingers. It looked insanely expensive.

Damn it. My money addiction was acting up again.

This guy was a certified spoiled brat. When I didn't answer, he clicked his tongue and stepped closer. "Speak."

Hell, what was I supposed to say? That I ate a one-dollar Taco Bell meal, got food poisoning, and now I could see holographic comments?

Chapter 2

A one-dollar poverty meal was probably like an alien language to this old-money heir. It would be a miracle if he understood. But hey, there was a reason I was ranked first in our grade. I had brains.

I blinked my wet lashes. I forced my expression into a calculated mixmostly frantic panic, a heavy dose of pure adoration, and just a touch of starstruck awe. "AhI'm sorry. I don't know why, but the second I saw your face, my brain just short-circuited. I couldn't even speak."

He froze. Slowly, the annoyance in his eyes faded. The corners of his lips twitched up into a smug, cat-like smirk.

Oh, so the rich boy was a sucker for flattery.

I held my breath, forcing the blood to rush to my cheeks until they burned, and kept laying it on thick. "II thought you were the one who fell in. So I just jumped. It's my fault I didn't look closely.

Just the thought that it might be you in that water I couldn't think straight. I'm sorry. You probably think I'm a total creep."

The young master clearly didn't know how to hide his emotions. His eyes blew wide.

He probably never imagined a girl would throw herself into a dirty lake just to save his life. He jerked his head away, dodging my gaze. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, then lifted his wrist to check the time. Except, his watch was on his left wrist, and he had raised his right arm.

He kept his eyes glued anywhere but on me.

But his tone was still harsh. "Boring! You're not my type. Give it up."

The second the words left his mouth, I slumped my shoulders and dropped my gaze to the floor like a kicked puppy. "I understand. I'm sorry, I crossed a line. Since that's the case can I keep your ring? Just as a memento of my first and only love."

I tilted my head up at him.

My gaze was burning, affectionate, and hyper-focusedlike a Wall Street wolf watching a stock surge, or a homeless guy spotting a fully loaded meat pizza. Not to mention, the corners of my eyes were red (from choking on water), and tears were streaming down my face (damn it, the water in that artificial lake was mixed with goose crap and made my eyes burn like hell).

He flinched like my tears physically burned him, snapping his gaze away as if he'd been electrocuted. His jaw clenched, a muscle feathering in his cheek. He hastily yanked the ring off his finger and shoved it toward me. A rush of red crept up the tips of his ears, but he still refused to face me.

"Whatever."

I took it with both hands. My fingers brushed against hisjust a spark of warmth.

His brow twitched, and the red on his ears bled all the way down his pale neck.

I gave him a deep bow, slapped on a heartbroken expression, and ran off.

The wind roared in my ears.

I gripped the ring so hard my nails dug into my palms, just to keep myself from laughing out loud. The inside of the band was engraved with the Cartier logo! This thing could sell for tens of thousands of dollars, easy! Who else understood the pure salvation of feeling that cold platinum and diamonds against their skin?

I was too busy sprinting away to look at the holographic comments

[Who is this chick? She isn't in the main cast.]

[Why is she holding back a laugh? Wait, does she not actually like Hayes?]

[She totally just swiped his ring! She literally has dollar signs in her eyes. Holy crap, this is exactly what I would do if I got transmigrated into a book.]

[LMAO she is securing the bag.]

[The most productive side character ever.]

[Damn, she actually uses her brain. No wonder she's ranked first in her grade.]

[Hahaha, Hayes is currently asking his bros if he was too harsh! He's telling them this girl risked her life to save him, but he brutally rejected her confession. He's worried he broke her heart and she might do something drastic. His best friend just told him he's going to hell. Hayes is already feeling guilty!]

Chapter 3

[Hayes's IQ is TBD, but hey, he's got a good heart.]

Before the final bell even rang, I had already fenced that ring. Twenty thousand dollars, straight into my account. After school, I didn't go back to the trailer park. Instead, I headed to the rundown internet cafe down the block, a dump reeking of cheap smoke and packed with street punks.

I scarfed down my cheap takeout box and immediately started boosting accounts in video games for extra cash.

Going home wasn't an option. I had to wait until my parents were dead asleep before I even thought about sneaking back in. Because whenever that drunk and that fat woman saw me, it was like a bankrupt redneck spotting an IRS agent. They hated my guts.

Even though I was smart, obedient, and had straight As since I was a kid.

Maybe it was because I didn't have a dick. Nothing I could do about that.

But hey, they didn't love me, but someone did. For example, last month, a fifty-year-old, violent old redneck reeking of cheap beer came to our place to make a deal. He offered them five hundred thousand dollars to buy me as his wife the second I graduated high school. My parents agreed without missing a beat.

But last week, I made a deal with them. If I could hand them half a million dollars before graduation, they would give me my birth certificate and Social Security card, cancel the deal with the redneck, and let me walk free. So, I was working my ass off to get that bag.

Like right now. I was boosting a 3D game account. I got motion sickness from 3D graphics, so I dry-swallowed a heavy dose of Dramamine, slapped an anti-nausea patch behind my ear, and forced myself to the disgusting bathroom to dry-heave every thirty minutes.

But I never gave up. I stayed glued to that screen, clicking away.

I had just stumbled back from the bathroom after a dry-heaving session. The second I sat down to keep playing, an ice-cold voice dropped from above my head. "You actually dared to sell the ring?"

I flinched hard. Whipping my head around, I slammed right into Hayes's cold, arrogant, stupidly handsome face.

He let out a dark chuckle. "Heh. So you're just a scammer. If my buddy hadn't seen my ring listed on eBay, I never would've known your true colors.

You dare play me? Do you know I could get you kicked out of school with a snap of my fingers? All that crap about liking meit was all fake!"

I bit down hard on my inner lip to drain the color from my face, forced out a few tears, and gave a bitter little smile. A hard tremor wracked my shoulders. "I wish it was fake, too."

He froze, his eyebrows pulling together. "What is that supposed to mean? Hey why are you crying?!"

I kept my mouth shut, letting the tears stream down my cheeks.

"Spit it out!" he demanded, stepping closer.

Holy shit, rich boy, stop rushing me! Don't I need a second to make up a lie?!

I sniffled, my breath catching in my throat. "I sold the ring to buy information from someone. Information about you."

That threw him off. "Information about me? What information?"

I ducked my head, wiping my eyes, and kept my voice small. "Someone in the school's anonymous gossip group said that if I gave them twenty thousand dollars, they'd tell me your favorite video game." I pointed at the 3D shooter on the monitor.

"He said this was your favorite. I came straight to this cafe after school. I wanted to learn how to play it as fast as I could."

It was the hottest game on the market right now. Eight out of ten guys played it. I was taking a massive gamble, but I bet my life he played it too!

His expression flatlined. When he finally spoke, he sounded lost. "You don't even carry twenty grand on you for school? You had to sell a ring for that?"

What the hell? Was that even English? I swear to God, I was going to murder these trust-fund babies!

I gave another self-deprecating smile. "I'm a scholarship kid. Twenty grand is what my dad makes in a whole year."

He nodded slowly, barely grasping the concept. Then, his eyes flicked to the anti-nausea patch behind my ear, then down to the Dramamine pills next to the keyboard. It finally clicked for him

Chapter 4

His thin lips parted. The furious fire in his eyes flickered, dying out as his shoulders stiffened. He stammered, "You you get 3D motion sickness You took meds and slapped on a patch, and you're still playing even though it makes you sick?

Just because just because it's a game I like?"

A flush spread across his cheeks, and a tiny spark danced in his eyes. "You like me that much?"

I bit down hard on the soft flesh inside my cheek until I tasted a hint of copper. I ducked my head, clenching my fists until my knuckles turned stark white. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reached so far out of my league.

I just I just thought you were different from everyone else. I don't know why, but whenever it comes to you, I always act like an idiot. You don't have to worry about me scamming you. I could never bring myself to lie to a guy."

He aggressively ran a hand through his dark hair, messing it up and exposing his sharp, pale forehead. After a long pause, he finally spoke. "So that's how it is Oh. Whatever.

I I didn't mean to misunderstand you, I just Whatever, I don't even care if you like me or not! I'm busy!"

He spun on his heel and bolted, his figure disappearing through the door like a fleeing suspect.

The owner of the rundown internet cafe, Nadia, walked up beside me. She stared out the grimy glass window, watching Hayes. A chauffeur in white gloves was bowing as he pulled open the car door for him. He got in.

He seemed preoccupied, his face still flushed as he leaned back absentmindedly into the backseat of the supercar.

The driver respectfully asked for directions. He just gave a dismissive nod, and the car pulled away. This was the slums. The people on the street had probably never seen a setup like that in their lives.

They kept turning their heads, staring cautiously.

Nadia clicked her tongue twice. Her tone was teasing. "A Pagani Huayra. That's not a car you can buy just by having money.

What's the deal, Vesper? You bagged yourself a trust-fund baby?"

I didn't answer. I just sat back down in front of the computer.

The next day after school, I got cornered in the bathroom. The girl blocking my way was someone I didn't recognize. I did a quick sweep of her outfit: a Miu Miu rhinestone hair clip, a mini Herms backpack, and a pair of Prada kitten heels.

Perfect. One of the untouchable elites. Definitely not someone a sewer rat like me could afford to provoke.

She grabbed me by the collar and shoved me against the tiled wall. "Are you the one trying to seduce Chanel's fianc?"

Chanel. Chanel Zhu. She was the female lead of this book. And Chanel's fianc had to be Hayes.

Though, to be fair, they weren't officially engaged yet. It was just a verbal agreement their families made when they were kids.

I widened my eyes, throwing both my hands up in surrender. "I didn't! I'm a lesbian."

Clearly not expecting me to drop a bomb like that, she froze. Her brain actually started loading.

I struggled just a little. She snapped at me impatiently, "Hold still!"

I didn't listen. I kept squirming until I managed to pick something up off the floor. I offered it to her with a strained effort. "When you grabbed my collar, your hair clip fell out."

She blinked in surprise.

I stared at her, my gaze deeply sincere and affectionate. "It brings out the color of your eyes beautifully. It would be a shame if you lost it."

Her eyes slowly grew chaotic. There was anger aimed at me, but also a hint of being touched, and a dash of reluctance. It was like she was fighting a holy war in her head over whether to punch me or not.

Honestly, she didn't need to hesitate that much. After all, I was the one who swiped her clip and tossed it on the floor. Surviving in a gutter like the trailer park, I could pull off petty theft blindfolded.

Chapter 5

Finally, she snatched the hair clip. She scoffed, letting go of my collar. She threw out an awkward warning, "If I were you, I'd run. They're coming over here soon."

She walked to the door clutching the clip, then tilted her chin up and tossed another line over her shoulder. "Oh, just saying, I'm in Class Six."

I slapped on a dazed, utterly smitten smile, but my brain was spinning at warp speed. She told me to run? After she left, I had barely scrambled to my feet when the bathroom door got kicked open again.

It was the female lead, Chanel. A few people trailed behind her, guys and girls.

Chanel's gorgeous, expensive-looking face was ice-cold. "Are you the one trying to seduce Hayes?"

Before I could even open my mouth, they shoved me to the floor. Big surprise, I got beaten black and blue.

Holographic comments flashed rapidly above my head

[Holy crap, a school bully can actually be the female lead?]

[User above, did it ever occur to you that this is a psycho-heroine trope? It literally said at the beginning that the female lead, Chanel, is an unhinged psycho with zero morals. If you don't like it, click out.]

[Exactly! Our baby Chanel's motto is 'As long as I'm happy, it doesn't matter who suffers.' It's so badass!]

[I just scrolled back to check the previous chapters. This canon fodder, Vesper, is seriously tragic. She's the real biological daughter, and the female lead Chanel is the fake one. The Zhu family knows this, but they love the fake daughter so much they have no plans to swap them back.]

Wait? I'm the real biological daughter?

[That's nothing, there's even worse. Chanel was jealous that Vesper was the real daughter, so right before Vesper took her SATs, she hired someone to break her right hand. Vesper forced herself to fill out the scantron with her left hand and still took the SATs.]

So she was the one who did that?

[That's nothing, let me tell you something even worse. Chanel gave that violent redneck five hundred grand so he'd go buy Vesper as his wife. The down payment was five hundred grand, and Vesper's family agreed in a heartbeat.]

I stared at the holographic text in shock. I couldn't even feel the pain in my body anymore.

[This bitch is disgusting. Sorry, I'm giving this book a one-star review.]

[Then get out, a pig used to fast food can't appreciate caviar anyway. They literally gave a trigger warning at the start saying the female lead is a psycho. You chose to read it, and now youre whining.]

[Hahaha, Vesper: If suffering is a talent, I am a prodigy.]

[We just want to see the psycho drama ????. Plus, Chanel is ranked second in the grade and she's gorgeous. Watching an unhinged beauty do whatever she wants is just so satisfying.]

What the actual fuck!

Female lead, if you want to be a psycho, go be crazy at someone on your own level! Chasing a sewer rat like me down to beat me up, what the hell is that? You got some kind of rat-hating fetish?

Maybe the sheer rage gave me a burst of adrenaline. I hurled off the hands pinning me down. I slammed into Chanel and bolted for the door.

A sharp, tearing pain ripped through my scalp.

Chanel twisted a fistful of my hair and jerked me backward. She sneered, looking at me like I was literal trash. "Did I say you could leave?!"

I locked my eyes onto hers. I jerked my head down and bit brutally into the back of her hand. Hot blood instantly flooded my mouth. I ripped a chunk of her flesh clean off.

A blood-curdling shriek ripped from her throat as the color drained from her face.

She flung me away, her right hand gushing blood. This was probably the worst physical injury she'd ever suffered in her entire privileged life. Her lackeys flew into a total panic. Someone scrambled to dial 911 while others frantically looked for something to stop the bleeding.

Chapter 6

I seized my chance. I locked my eyes on one of the guys who had just beaten me and delivered a brutal kick straight to his crotch.

He let out a pathetic howl.

I bolted.

It was pouring rain outside. Footsteps splashed behind methey were giving chase. Through the thick, blurry curtain of rain, I spotted two figures ahead. It was Hayes in his prep school uniform, and his chauffeur holding a massive black umbrella over him.

School had just let out. He was probably heading home. To me, he looked like a literal savior.

Perfect! My walking, breathing medical insurance!

I threw myself directly into Hayes's chest. Covered in bruises and soaked to the bone, I faked passing out.

Hayes caught me in a frantic grip. His chest heaved. His raspy voice was tight. "What happened to you? Vesper!"

He snapped his head toward the driver. "Call the private doctor! Now!"

I leaned against Hayes's solid chest. Through a tiny slit in my eyes, I saw Chanel bursting out into the rain.

A harsh tremor wracked her lips as she stared at us, the nails of her flawless French manicure biting into her palms until they nearly drew blood. Out in the downpour, her hand was still gushing blood. Some suck-up guy offered her a piece of gauze.

She snatched it and slammed it into the mud, not blinking once as she glared venomously in our direction.

The tight string snapping in my brain, I let go and actually blacked out.

When I opened my eyes again, my wounds were all bandaged up. My soaked hair was dry. I was lying comfortably in a massive, warm bed. I sat up and scanned the room.

I was inside Hayes's sprawling estate. This had to be one of the guest rooms.

It was empty.

The heavy mahogany door was cracked open just a sliver. Muffled voices drifted from the hallway. I crept out of bed and pressed my ear against the gap. Through the crack, I saw the sharp profile of Hayes's face.

His friend was sitting across from him.

I recognized the guy. His name was Blaise.

Honestly, everyone in our grade knew Blaise. Rumor had it he was an e-sports prodigy, a genius jungler. Plus, his family was filthy rich. He played professional e-sports while attending high school and had already become a massive gaming star.

With his family's trust fund backing him up, he didn't even have to study. He could buy his way into any Ivy League university blindfolded.

I straightened up and glanced out the window. A mob of fans had already gathered outside the estate gates. Guys and girls were holding up banners or waving neon signs flashing Blaise's name and his gamer tag, "Error."

Yup, definitely him.

Blaise's voice filtered through the door. "Hayes, what the hell are you thinking bringing this chick to your house? If Chanel finds out, she's gonna cry her eyes out."

Hayes tuned out the mention of Chanel, leaning back into the cushions. "Her name is Vesper. She's the real biological daughter of the Zhu family."

Blaise let out a sharp laugh. "Hey, pretty boy. A year ago, a leak dropped saying Chanel was a fake heiress and the real one was out there. You personally buried that story.

What's the deal now? Going soft? Feeling guilty about the real deal?"

Hayes spun a metal Zippo lighter in one hand. His jaw ticked. His thumb flicked the wheel, sparking a flame with a sharp metallic clink. "I only buried that news for Chanel because she kept coming to me crying.

It was pathetic and annoying."

Blaise frowned. "And this real daughter, Vesper, isn't pathetic? I just saw her. Man, covered in bruises.

This isn't the life she was supposed to have."

Blaise tilted his head, tossing a gaming controller up and catching it. He kept talking.

Chapter 7

"But hey, that's just how the world works. You got the lucky ones and the losers. Vesper's just a loser. We aren't gods, so why give a shit about her?

Besides, Hayes, don't forgetChanel is the one who grew up with us. A bottom-feeder like Vesper? I bet she's filthy, inside and out."

Hayes's hand, the one spinning the Zippo, froze. He pointed at the door. "Get out."

Blaise's jaw dropped. He threw his hands up. "Hey, Hayes, what did I say that was wrong? Plus, there's a mob of crazy stalker fans outside.

If you kick me out now, you're literally throwing me to the wolves"

Hayes ignored him. His jaw remained clenched tight. The butler in the tailored suit stepped forward immediately, gesturing to the door to escort Blaise out.

Blaise's face turned dark. He snatched his designer jacket off the couch and stormed out.

I silently crept back into bed. My brain spun into overdrive.

A year ago, the leak dropped: Chanel was the fake, and I was the real biological daughter. If that news had spread, the Zhu family would have been forced by public opinion to bring me home. They couldn't bury it themselves. Chanel went crying to Hayes, and he buried it for her.

A cold, venomous spike of pure hatred pierced through my chest.

Hayes, Chanel, the Zhu parentsI was going to make every single one of them pay.

I unclasped the cheap metal-bead necklace from around my neck. I snapped the largest bead open, revealing a micro audio bug. I reached down and stuck the bug I always carried right under the bottom of the nightstand drawer. It was just a guest room, but I might catch the maids talking.

Later that night, when I "woke up," Hayes asked me who beat me up at school.

I shrank back into the blankets, shivering, pressing my lips into a tight line. He declared he would investigate it himself.

I bit the inside of my cheek to hide my satisfaction. After all, it would hit much harder if he dug up the ugly truth himself.

I couldn't wait for that day.

Three days later.

As the ultimate hustle queen, I was picking up a shift at the Maple Hill underground racing track, playing assistant to the head mechanic.

It was the middle of summer. The sky was blindingly blue, the sun beating down hard. I bent over, finishing the check on a modified race car's tires. When I stood up, I came face-to-face with Blaise.

He was obviously here to race, but he wasn't wearing a fire suit. He wore a ridiculously expensive silk shirt, the top two buttons undone, giving off a careless, lazy vibe. He had that textbook sharp nose and thin lips. Messy, styled hair fell around his ears.

A diamond stud in his earlobe caught the harsh sunlight, blindingly expensive.

His eyes widened when he saw me, but his upper lip quickly curled up.

He really was the perfect picture of a spoiled, filthy-rich playboy. He scoffed. "You work here?"

I blinked at him, my eyes wide and entirely innocent. "Oh, yes. Mr. Blaise."

His brows pulled together. "You know me?"

I nodded, plastering on a starstruck, fan-girl expression. "Everyone at school knows you. You're the e-sports prodigy, after all."

He let out a cold, mocking laugh. "Don't try to kiss up to me. I'm not Hayes. That crap doesn't work on me."

I tightened my grip on the heavy steel wrench and kept staring up at him with innocent eyes. Ugh. Why did he have to pick a fight with me while I was holding a solid piece of metal? I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from cracking his skull open with it.

He suddenly took a step closer. His tone was like ice. "I was the one who told Hayes you pawned off his ring. Bottom-feeders like you, gold-digging and greedy.

I've seen a million of you."

I faked a flinch, stumbling two steps backward, and hurried to speak:

Chapter 8

"No, I've already explained that to Hayes"

He didn't even bother listening. He turned to leave.

I grabbed his wrist, and he viciously shook me off. I slammed into the concrete, scraping my knees bloody. He furrowed his brows, glancing back at me.

I tilted my head up, looking like the picture of pathetic vulnerability. Loose strands of hair clung to the side of my face, making me look utterly disheveled. I ignored my bleeding knees and just pointed at the watch lying on the ground. "Mr. Blaise, I wasn't trying to cling to you.

I just wanted to tell you that you dropped your watch."

He froze.

I stared up at him with genuine, innocent eyes. "That watch must cost a lot of money, right? It looks really good on your wrist. It'd be a shame to lose it."

He didn't speak for a second, his expression shifting rapidly.

His Adam's apple bobbed quickly. His eyes darted away, his lips pressed in a tight line, and his fingers awkwardly grabbed the hem of his shirt. It was like a layered double cheeseburger of various overwhelmed physical reactions. It actually made me a little hungry