I waved at the group behind me, keeping my smile easy.
"Not at all. I'm just an ordinary office clerk. My family has an old house—nothing special—plus a bit of savings with my parents' help. To this day I don't even have a girlfriend. Can't compare to people like Alex who've actually made something of their careers."
Sophia nodded slightly, then shot Elisa a look.
Elisa jumped up immediately. "John, Sophie's back! Put in some effort, okay? We all believe in you!"
After dinner wrapped up, the classmates filtered out one by one. In the end, only Sophia, Elisa, and I were left.
Elisa seemed determined to play matchmaker. She dangled her car keys in front of me. "John, I drank tonight, so I can't drive. I'll just grab a cab. You didn't drink—how about you take Sophie home?"
Sophia grabbed Elisa's hand, her gaze warming as it landed on me. "Elisa, don't bother with a cab. John can drop me off first, then take you, and drive your car back on the way."
But while they were working out the logistics, I scratched my head. "I... don't have a driver's license."
Elisa gave me a look of pure disappointment. "That's true. It's normal for someone of your status not to have a license."
Sophia seemed to take that as confirmation—he can't afford a car, so why bother learning?
With Elisa playing matchmaker, Sophia climbed onto my e-bike.
Riding with the girl I'd crushed on all through high school, I was buzzing. Along the way, we talked a lot. She asked roughly how much I had saved, and if I bought a house, what area I'd choose.
A little over a million in savings. If I bought, it'd have to be somewhere farther from downtown.
After I dropped her off, she actually said the feeling of riding an e-bike and catching the wind was pretty nice. She asked if I'd be willing to pick her up on the weekend to go out and have fun.
An invitation from the girl I'd crushed on for years—I wasn't about to refuse.
Just like that, back and forth, we talked more, and the contact became more frequent.
Finally, on New Year's Eve, we made it official.
Sophia posted a photo of us together on her feed, announcing it to everyone.
The comments piled up underneath:
"Wow~ I didn't expect you two to actually end up together!"
"A match made in heaven!"
"Sophie, you really upgraded—endless good days ahead [jealous]."
Her high-profile announcement actually flattered me. Made me feel like I'd found the real thing.
On the hundredth day after we went public, Sophia came to me, phone in hand. "John, LV just released a limited-edition bag. They say there are only ten in the world. It's so pretty!"
I took her phone. The price: $400,000 retail, plus another $200,000 markup to actually snag one.
I already knew about this bag from internal channels. I'd even had the department store secure two at the inflated price. I thought about just bringing her to the store, letting her pick one—but I worried that revealing my identity would ruin the surprise I was saving for the wedding.
She pouted at me. "John, can you buy it for me? They're almost sold out! How about this—after we get the bag, we get engaged?"
I thought it over a moment longer. In the end, I decided to keep the surprise.
"Hurry and try to snag it," I urged. "A global limited edition won't last."
But when Sophia used my phone to click buy, the screen flashed: Sold Out.
