Breaking the Facade, Becoming the School's Sweetheart

As a low-income student who's specifically recruited by the elite college this year, I can still feel my hands trembling as I clutch the letter that tells me I get to study for free.

Not only are my tuition and miscellaneous fees waived, but I also get to receive 30 thousand dollars' worth of student grant per year. I even get to have free access to the leather seats inside the library, the equipment inside the gym, as well as the aerial garden on the roof.

The best surprise for me has to be the cafeteria. All low-income students get a 50% discount on their meals, but the quality of their food doesn't decrease at all. Best beef is used in the steak dinners offered by the cafeteria, whereas a seafood platter showcases the entire huge lobster. Even the most basic mac and cheese meal has different types of freshly grated cheese baked into it.

As I sit in the brightly lit classroom and look at the rich students around me, who wear custom-made uniforms and have branded watches latched around their wrists, all I have is one thought.

I must be on good terms with them.

But my seatmate, who's also a low-income student, isn't as thrilled as me. In fact, she just looks at the people around her with disdain in her eyes.

After the first lesson, a rich student arrives at our table. He might not sound polite at all, but at least he's not putting on airs.

"Do any of you have time to head over to the cafeteria and buy me breakfast?"

I'm about to respond to him when a shrill voice booms out next to me.

"You're so annoying! What, you think you rule the campus since you're rich? Had I known that this classroom is filled with useless scions like you who just waste their lives away on nothing, I wouldn't have enrolled in this college in the first place!"

The classroom went dead silent. One could almost hear a pen drop.

The lazy look on Steven Bart's face vanished at once. His expression darkened. I jumped to my feet and tugged on Cecily Young's sleeve, then turned to him with an awkward smile.

"She's just… I'll go instead, Mr. Bart!"

The gloom on Steven's face eased a little. He pulled out his phone and exchanged numbers. "I'll text you the list."

I clenched my phone and was about to leave when Cecily suddenly grabbed my arm, her nails nearly digging into my skin. "Are you crazy? Why would you want to run errands for a spoiled rich brat like him?"

"Excuse me?" I frowned and shook her hand off, countering, "You don't want to do it? Fine. But don't stop me."

Her face flushed red before quickly turning pale. She raised her chin and snorted coldly. "I'm not spineless like you. I came here to learn, not to serve a bunch of parasites!"

Those words finally set Steven off. He took a step forward and looked down at Cecily from above, his voice cold.

"You don't like it? Get out. Do you think your tuition waiver and scholarship just fell from the sky? The so-called parasites you look down on donate enough money to the faculty every year to cover ten years of your tuition."

He pointed at her backpack, a custom version specially approved for low-income students, three times more expensive than a regular one.

"The clothes you wear, the things you use—all of them are paid for with the money you despise so much. Don't even try to act morally superior while you're here. It's too late."

Cecily's lips trembled, but her eyes stayed stubborn. She lifted her chin and argued, "I came here for the teachers. If it weren't for the good faculty, I wouldn't want to stay here! You can donate all the money you want, but you'll never stop being idiots!"

Watching her act so brazenly haughty, I finally lost my patience and snapped, "Do you have any shame at all? The college waives your tuition and provides you with financial aid, and you don't even feel grateful at all.

"Instead, you're here nitpicking and acting superior. If you get in my way again, I won't be so nice the next time."

She bit down hard on her lower lip, tears threatening to roll down her face. In the end, she held back her tears, flung my hand away, grabbed her backpack, and stomped toward the door.

As she passed Steven, she hurled one more insult. "Just being in the same classroom as people like you makes me feel dirty!"

The door slammed shut with a bang. I quickly turned to the other students with an apologetic smile. "Don't mind her. She's just not right in the head. She's got nothing to do with me, by the way."

I turned to Steven. "I'll buy your breakfast right away. I'll be quick!"

With that, I clenched my phone and ran toward the cafeteria. I couldn't let that ungrateful leech ruin the chance I had miraculously received.

…

I was the eldest daughter in my family and had a younger brother who bled me dry.

On the day I turned 18 years old, I received my first birthday present. It was an order to marry Howard Backman, a disabled man from my hometown.