001

Richland University.

At one of the biggest halls on the school premises, a very big party was happening. Today is the birthday of one of the most popular girls in school.

"Shentelia, here is a limited edition Rolex watch, happy birthday."

"Happy birthday! I have transferred a sum of one hundred thousand dollars to your Cash app... enjoy."

"You look so beautiful today! Happy birthday."

One after the other, students passed their gifts to the celebrant, Shentelia Wright, who stood in the middle of the dance floor, accepting the gifts with a smile on her face.

She is one of the most beautiful girls in Richland and also a very popular social media influencer, model, and actress. She has long blond hair, blue eyes, and luscious pink lips that made her hard to resist.

She is gorgeous!

And this gorgeous beauty turns out to be the girlfriend of Zane, an average Joe in terms of wealth.

Zane stood in a corner of the big hall, looking at his girlfriend with a sad smile on his handsome face.

Seeing others gifting his girlfriend gifts worth thousands of dollars made him sad as he couldn't afford them.

He is just an orphan with no sustainable source of wealth who had to juggle many jobs at the same time in order to survive the harsh life of Richland University, where most of its students are sons and daughters of wealthy families, making the cost of survival extremely expensive.

"Zane, where is your gift for Shentelia?"

As he stood there, a young man approached him with a friendly smile and asked. Zane recognized the owner of the voice, and it was none other than his best friend, Julius.

"I will give it to her later," Zane responded.

"You are afraid you would be shunned by these geezers if you gift her something cheap in public, right?" Julius giggled.

Zane smiled wryly. He indeed has a gift with him, but it is a lot cheaper compared to the other gifts.

"Yeah, I know she would accept my gift, but I don't want to embarrass her by giving her something so cheap in the midst of so many expensive gifts,"

"I understand. Haha, most times I wonder how you manage to win such a beauty."

"Cause of my grades, I guess," Zane replied with a smile. Although he is poor and always busy, it didn't stop him from topping his class.

He is very proud of it, he believes such features would win the right type of girls, and Shentelia was the right one.

While they were discussing, they noticed the other students gathering around and cheering loudly.

"Look, Brandon is proposing!"

"I need to record this and post it online. The richest man in school is proposing to the most beautiful lady."

"Say yes."

Amidst the party, a commotion occurred as students formed circles around two people.

"Why the heck is that bastard using Shentelia's party to propose, and who the heck is he proposing to?" Julius frowned.

"Let's go check it out."

Both of them strolled towards the gathering.

In the middle of the circle formed, a young man dressed extravagantly knelt on one knee while confessing to a very beautiful blonde.

"Become my girlfriend, Shentelia, and I will spoil you with a lot of expensive gifts and guarantee you a luxurious lifestyle that your boyfriend can't afford," Brandon proposed.

"Say yes!"

"Say yes!!"

The crowd cheered.

"Brandon is the son of the richest actor in Richland City. If she accepts his proposal, her chance of obtaining lead roles in movies would be higher," some discussed.

"I heard she has a boyfriend!"

"You mean Zane? That geezer who has no money to his name. I saw him taking out trash from the girls' dorm today, who knows if he is even present at the party."

"Shentelia is better off without him, he has nothing to add to her that she doesn't have already. In fact, his presence would only bring more misfortune for her."

No one noticed the person they talked about was watching and hearing everything they did and said.

As for Zane, he was standing there short of words.

Brandon is one of the many people who bullied him and made his life miserable.

He has known for long that Brandon is jealous of him for winning the heart of one of the school's top beauty with his intelligence, but he never guessed he would propose to her and even shame him publicly.

"Zane, don't worry, she won't accept," Julius noticed the sad look on his buddy's face and told him that to cheer him up.

But he soon found out he was very wrong.

"Yes, Brandon, I accept to be your girlfriend," Shentelia accepted his proposal.

Brandon smiled brightly and stood up, placing his hands on her waist and he drew her close to himself.

"Wow!"

"She accepted!"

"I can't believe I witnessed the greatest proposal in Richland's History!"

"Latest couple in town, congratulations!"

Zane and Julius stared at Shantelia with dumbfounded expressions.

"Shentelia!"

Zane called out, causing the attention of everyone to focus on him.

"Zane, what are you doing here?" She asked with a shaky voice.

She was shocked to see him here.

"The geezer is even here?"

"Look at his cheap clothes, how could someone like this afford Shentelia?"

"Is he going to stand up against Brandon? Hehe, it is going to be a shitshow soon."

The crowd was hyped, waiting for a good show.

"Shentelia, I can't believe you of all people would do this to me," Zane let out in a heartbroken voice.

"Zane..." Shentelia lowered her voice.

Brandon frowned and stepped forward.

"Who the heck are you to speak to my girlfriend in such a manner?" He yelled.

"Your girlfriend? Don't make me laugh," Zane fiercely reacted to Brandon.

He is sick and tired of getting controlled by these kinds of people, they don't work for crap and only enjoy their parents' wealth, yet they get to be treated better.

"I never expected you would stoop so low to confess to my girlfriend," Zane continued.

"Wow, he is challenging Brandon!"

"Brandon is dangerous, no one ever disrespects him and goes scot-free."

"How dare you disrespect me? It seems you have forgotten who I am," Brandon threatened.

Zane stood his ground before Brandon, he looked at Shentelia who had her head bowed behind Brandon, and his emotions flared up even more.

"I don't give a heck about you, Brandon! You can go to hell for all I care."

The whole crowd went silent following his response, they could not believe Zane would dare to speak to Brandon in such a manner.

"Zane, please leave, don't cause trouble for my boyfriend," Shentelia spoke up, her words shocking Zane even more.

"You heard her, leave," Brandon added.

"Shentelia, why? I thought you said you love me," Zane's eyes reddened with different emotions, including sadness, anger, and disappointment.

"I never did," Shentelia revealed.

"I only pretended to be in love with you because I needed someone to take care of my assignments and exams," she continued.

"Do you think I, a renowned actress, would sincerely fall in love with you? Stop dreaming, Zane. Now that I have Brandon, I no longer have need for you, get out."

The more she spoke, the more heartbroken Zane became, and the wider the smile on Brandon's face as he placed his hand on her waist, drawing her closer to himself.

"Zane, know your place, you are a nobody," Brandon smirked.

"Fuck you!" Julius, who was standing beside Zane, couldn't take it anymore.

He stepped forward and threw a punch at Brandon's face. However, suddenly, from nowhere, two muscular men in black suits stepped out and stopped his punch. They are Brandon's well-trained bodyguards.

"Take care of these losers," Brandon commanded his bodyguards, and they immediately sprang into action.

"Fuck you!" Julius gritted his teeth and cursed out, but he was pushed back with a strong punch to the face.

Zane was standing, looking at Shentelia who smirked at him. The look on his face was that of extreme sadness.

He was still looking at her when he felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

"You have erred against the young master! You deserve to die!"

Said the bodyguard as he landed another punch on Zane's face, causing him to fall to the ground with a bleeding nose.

"Take these two fuckers out, they are ruining the party with their poverty," Brandon commanded, and the two guards dragged both of them outside.

Zane was weak and couldn't fight back.

All his life, he has always been weak and never fought back.

However, he felt better after standing up to Brandon today, but he knew his life would be hell from now on.