"It's you!"The moment Lila saw Grayson, she froze."It's you?"Grayson was a little speechless. How could that girl from Dicos turn out to be Indie's roommate?"What? You two know each other? That's fantastic!"Indie was also stunned. Indeed, it looked like these two actually knew one another—she hadn't expected this."Yes, of course we know each other," Lila said with a mocking smile at the corner of her mouth. "Do you know who he is? He's the very boy who stole my food at Dicos!"
Ah!Everyone was struck silent. For a moment, no one dared speak, as if the air had frozen. It felt impossible to say anything appropriate in this atmosphere.
Miles's face flushed no longer, nor did he look embarrassed—angrily he snapped at Grayson, "Grayson, you couldn't even afford a meal, yet you never told your brothers! You really don't think of us as brothers!""Yeah, Grayson, that was not right of you," Tyler chimed in."Grayson, sit down," Jace intervened, trying to smooth things over. "We'll make it up to you this time. And Lila, you two meeting like this—what a coincidence, right?"
Grayson said nothing and sat down. But Lila stood up."Forget it. I'm not eating anymore. I have something else to do—I'm leaving."She grabbed her bag and walked off.
Lila had her own thoughts. She had genuinely hoped to meet a boy tonight—and she'd imagined Jace's dormmates were all tall, rich, and handsome, that she might find a boyfriend. She pictured the four of them—Jace, Sierra, herself, and her new boyfriend—going out together happily. But instead, the dorm had Miles and Tyler. And she had pinned all her hopes on this so‑called Grayson, only to find…
The disappointment was too great. She simply had no mood left. Lila turned on her heel and took a couple of steps—then a young man suddenly blocked her path.
He was short, but dressed fashionably, wearing a Rolex on his wrist, two glasses of red wine in his hand.
"Miss, my friends and I are playing 'Truth or Dare,' and I lost. My dare is to invite a beautiful lady to have a glass of red wine with me. May I have that honor?"
He spoke in a somewhat flippant tone—presumably the sort who swaggered about. Yet judging by his clothes, he was clearly wealthy.
But Lila, though fond of second‑generation rich, wasn't one to accept every approach. After all, she herself was a "white‑collar beauty"—rich and fair. And on top of that, she was already in a bad mood over the Grayson incident.
"No, thank you," she said icily.
The young man, previously smirking, froze—his expression instantly changed. He had been sure of success, only to be rejected! Embarrassed, he felt he'd lost face. Though he used the excuse of a dare, his true motive was flirting with Lila. Her flat refusal humiliated him.
"Come on, miss, that's harsh—too cold‑hearted!" he said and reached out to grab her.
Lila was startled—and even angrier.
Smack!She slapped him hard across the face. "Back off!"
The young man, unprepared for the blow, stood stunned. At the table, Jace and Indie saw what happened and were just about to intervene, but Lila seized her chance and slipped away while he was dazed.
After Lila left, everyone fell silent. The atmosphere was awkward. Miles, Tyler, and Jace all wanted to say something in Grayson's defense—but though Lila had been wrong to storm off, it was awkward to criticize her in front of her girlfriends. Everyone wanted to save face.
Besides, Grayson's food‑stealing episode was hardly a topic to revisit. Grayson, sensing this, found an excuse and left too. He knew staying would just make everyone uncomfortable.
He returned alone to the dorm, thinking over today's events and his breakup with Sienna—both driven by money. If Sienna had known that he actually had money, she wouldn't have left him. If he could show himself as a real second‑generation rich, Lila's attitude might have been much better too. Perhaps it was time to reveal his true wealth.
Yet, truth be told, Grayson kind of liked things as they were. By pretending to be poor, he'd become good friends with Miles and the others. That friendship wasn't sustained by money, but a genuine bond. They all knew he was the poorest of the bunch—really poor. And by playing the pauper, Grayson had experienced the disdain and hardship that rich kids never faced, giving him true insights into life.
In fact, Grayson's personality disliked the arrogance of second‑generation rich. He preferred his current low‑key, simple life. If someone treated him well now, that kindness was real—like from his classmate Chloe.
But was he wrong? Should he be more arrogant?
Lost in such thoughts, the dorm door opened—Miles and Tyler came back in."How'd it go?" Grayson asked.
"Sigh, they didn't go for us," Miles said dejectedly, booting up his computer to game. "Avery and Maya weren't as haughty as Lila, but they're not our type. They talked about travel, gourmet food, luxury cars, watches—we couldn't keep up."
"Honestly though, Jace's girlfriend Lila was pretty nice—kept saying nice things about us, and she even arranged to go out for dinner next week," Tyler said, sitting on his bed to play on his phone.
"That's good," Grayson smiled sincerely, hoping his two friends would find girlfriends. "But I'm not going to that dinner next time."
"Damn, Grayson, if you don't go, what's the point? Forget Lila—she's nothing!" Miles said while gaming."By the way, Grayson, you still need money? I can spare you some," Tyler offered.
"No need. I don't need money anymore."
Grayson, uninterested in games, took out his new iPhone—something Sienna had scorned but he'd never used before—and opened WhatsApp. At that moment, a message popped up in the class group:
"Hey hey hey, family! I'm live‑streaming today—come boost my viewers! Love you all. Here's my stream link…"
As soon as it posted, the group blew up.
"Holy—Lexi's live‑streaming?" Miles glanced at his phone and yelled."No way! Freebies!""Really live? Big‑boobed beauty is streaming—Grayson, go watch!"
Lexi was the class beauty—cute in an innocent‑looking way you might mistake for a high‑schooler at first glance, yet with a fully developed figure that earned her the nickname "Big‑Boobed Beauty." She loved anime and hung out with her own circle, so she hadn't mixed much with Grayson's group. She's streaming? They had to check it out.
Grayson signed up for an account and clicked in. Lexi looked stunning in her natural beauty, wearing elf‑ear accessories, pouting and acting cute, bouncing around with energy that made viewers envious.
"Hi, babies!" Lexi waved.
"Hello, Big‑Boobed Beauty!" Tyler grinned, waving at his phone screen, although Lexi couldn't hear him.
"So lame," Miles teased Tyler, but his eyes never left the screen.
Lexi sang a little song, swayed her hips, then wailed, "Oh my, there's no viewership—who'll send me gifts?"
Checking the viewer count, Grayson saw thirty‑three people, mostly classmates. The chat stream read things like: "[Lexi, guess who I am?] [Lexi, it's Professor Smith from Urban Studies—did you finish your homework?] [Big‑Boobed Beauty is finally live…]"
Then the system popped a message: "The user who said 'Big‑Boobed Beauty is finally live…' has been muted by the streamer."
"Damn—I got muted!" Tyler's loser traits showed through.
"I want gifts, I want gifts!" Lexi shouted."Not even a rose from classmates!" she pouted.
Virtual roses cost five dollars each. This tactic worked. Soon:
[ChrisT89 sent a rose][Maddie_Luv sent a scarf][Lexi, it's me—EthanLee 😎][JazzyJay dropped a rose 🌹][Leo_X sent a warm scarf 🧣][Lexi, hey! It's your boy Nate!] …
"Thanks ChrisT89, thank you Maddie_Luv, thank you JazzyJay, thank you Leo_X…" Lexi thanked each sender with a cute pose.
"Aah! She thanked me!" a pig‑like shout echoed down the dorm hallway.
One after another, more five‑dollar roses and ten‑dollar scarves flew in. Then the system announced:
[DebtCollector420🎓 sent a scarf!]
"Who's 🎓 DebtCollector420🎓?" Lexi laughed, covering her mouth."It's me, it's me!" Tyler was frantic, like an ant on a hot pan."Damn, Miles, help me send a message that 🎓 DebtCollector420🎓 is me! I'm muted, can't type!"
Miles gave Tyler a disdainful look, then typed on his own phone: [DebtCollector420🎓 is Tyler].
"Thanks, Tyler," Lexi said—Tyler was over the moon.
"Hey, even loser Tyler's sending gifts—I can't fall behind!"
Then a user named "PranksterKingpin" suddenly wrote in the chat. Tyler's face flushed—being called a loser in front of the whole class was unbearable."Mind your manners." Miles jumped in to defend his friend.Then the system displayed:
[PranksterKingpin sent a supercar!]
And at that moment, the live stream room exploded with excitement.