Chapter 3

I looked at him, completely baffled.

He adjusted his sleeves. "I heard everything. You sounded so pathetic on the phone. Begging her, saying 'please don't.'"

"As men, we need to stand on our own two feet. Don't let a woman control you."

"If you treat a girl too well, she'll just walk all over you!"

He gave me a disdainful look, then pulled Dylan over. "Make sure you never end up like him."

Dylan nodded understandingly, looking at me with contempt.

The two of them walked out to grab dinner together.

"Since when does being in love mean you can't be independent?"

I laughed it off. I pulled out my phone to order some takeout.

Just then, I received a call. The caller said they were from *The Gilded Lily*, and my delivery had arrived downstairs. They asked if they could bring it up.

It had to be Chloe. I had casually praised their food once.

She went ahead and bought a fifty-thousand-dollar VIP membership just so they would deliver to my dorm.

After I agreed, four servers came up carrying several luxury food containers. My desk was barely big enough to hold them all.

"Lucas, let's eat together. There's way too much food," I said, noticing Lucas was eating instant ramen and crackers. I remembered his parents didn't send him any allowance, and since the semester had just started, he hadn't found a part-time job yet.

"No... that's okay. I'm full," he declined quietly.

I got up, pulled him over, and made him sit down. "Just think of it as helping me out. It'll go to waste otherwise!"

Lucas was an honest, reliable guy, but he had a gambling father and a sick mother.

To get into this university under such circumstances was a miracle. Unfortunately, in my past life, his mother passed away, ruining his already impoverished family. His gambling father kept bleeding him dry.

With no other choice, he had planned to sell his body to support his younger siblings.

When Tyler found out, he mocked him ruthlessly. "With your looks, you want to be a gigolo? Since you're just a country bumpkin with baggage, why don't you just be my dog? I'll pay you fifty bucks a month, as long as you obey me, haha..."

The next day, Lucas disappeared. I later heard he went back to his hometown and committed suicide.

Seeing my insistence, Lucas accepted the fork I handed him.

He carefully picked up a slice of beef, his eyes shining. "This is amazing! How could anyone ever let this go to waste?"

I smiled and told him to eat more.

"Man, that smells incredible," Dylan and Tyler walked back in.

"This restaurant is insanely expensive. I went there once with my family. A single dish easily costs over a hundred bucks," Dylan remarked, spotting the packaging.