Zea's POV
Back at the dorm, I gathered up all my luxury clothes and designer bags and took them to a secondhand shop to sell them.
With the cash, I bought a few plain outfits that cost less than ten bucks each and switched to basic skincare products worth nothing over twenty bucks.
Once I was done, I transferred all the money in my account to my mom, leaving only $200 for myself as my living expenses.
But just as the transfer went through, my phone started ringing.
It was Jericho Hampton, sounding frantic.
“Zea! What happened? Why’d you transfer all the money out? You can’t just do something like this without talking to me first. That’s our joint account, you know. You emptied it without even saying a word!”
He called it a “joint” account, but I was the only one putting money into it. Jericho had never deposited a single cent.
He was a student my family sponsored, barely scraping by on his allowance. But he had a massive ego and was obsessed with appearances. He loved playing the rich guy, constantly treating his roommates to meals. And when the money ran out, he just dipped into mine. Worse, he always made up some excuse, pretending he didn’t love me enough to accept my money, like I was forcing it on him.
Blood boiling, I let out a cold laugh. “Jericho, do you even hear yourself? Yeah, it’s a joint account, but how much have you ever put in? Do you seriously think my money is just part of your personal assets now?”
After saying that, there was a rare moment of silence on the line. He probably didn’t expect me to say that.
Ever since he saved me from a few thugs two years ago, I’d practically treated him like royalty—whatever he asked for, I'd given it without hesitation.
But now? I wasn’t having it.
When I didn’t say anything else, he tried to soften his tone.
“Zea, come on. You know I didn’t mean it that way. I just... I was worried you wouldn’t have any money left. If you—”
But, fed up, I cut him in, “Oh, you’re worried I won’t have money? Great. In that case, why don’t you return all the money I spent on you? My family won’t be sending me big transfers anymore, so I could really use it.”
At that moment, he started panicking. I could hear the panic pitch his voice higher.
“But that was your gift to me! You can’t just take it back. Zea, your family can’t just cut you off like that. Why don’t you try sweet-talking them into sending more?”
“Are you deaf? I said, give the money back. Or I’ll tell my family exactly how you’ve been living off me,” I threatened.
Right after I said that, I got a transfer notification of $40,000
Then Jericho’s voice came back on, forced and bitter, though he was clearly trying to sound nice.
“That’s everything I have right now. I’ll start picking up work in the next few days and pay back the rest as soon as I can.”
If this had been before, the thought of him working part-time would’ve broken my heart.
But now? I felt nothing.
I even gave him a gentle reminder. “Make sure to get more than one job. If you’re late on payments and I happen to get annoyed, I might just slip up and let something ‘accidentally’ reach my family.”
As soon as I hung up, I couldn’t help but imagine how he looked right now and shout, “That felt amazing!”
That scumbag thought he could take everything from me? No way. Whatever he took, I’ll make him spit it back out every last bit.
With only a little money left for living expenses, I decided to get a part-time job. So I went to look for Anastasia Mitchell, our class rep, who was known for working while studying.
She happened to share a dorm with Sheila, and sure enough, Sheila was there when I arrived.
When Anastasia heard I was looking for work, she kindly offered to introduce me to her boss at the BBQ shop where she worked.
But Sheila wasn’t having it.
“Zea, part-time jobs are exhausting. You might not be able to handle that. I really think you shouldn’t go. I’ll talk to my parents and get them to send you more money.”
Even so, I didn’t even spare a glance at her. I was too busy scanning the BBQ shop owner’s WhatsApp QR code.
But that must’ve rattled her because she suddenly lunged at me and tried to grab my phone.
“I told you not to take on a job! I’ll give you money! Don’t you understand plain language?”
Only then did I look at her, and then I said, “Sure. I need forty grand. You giving me that?”
She froze, so I snatched my phone back.
