How did You Meet?

- Hui Villa -

After taking a tour around Jason's villa, Jason and Alfred decided to take a shower first. On the other hand, Bryan had already taken a shower at his apartment, so he decided to accompany the girls instead. While he kept the girls company in the living room area, his eyes couldn't help but wander to Jessica.

'She looks awfully familiar.' He thought to himself.

From the corner of Celinda's eyes, she's been observing how Bryan's gaze was consistently landing back on Jessica. A grin curved on her lips as she reached out to pinch the side of his waist. He whimpered and turned his attention to his girlfriend's burning stare.

"Do you like what you see?" Celinda whispered with her chin pressing in her palm.

At this moment, Jason exited his room and walked down the stairs to join the conversation. He noticed the anger in her sister's gloomy expression. "What's wrong?" He asked, shifting everyone's attention towards the couple.

"No. It's just.. she looks really familiar. I've seen her before, but I forgot where." Bryan scratched his head awkwardly.

Selina clapped her palms together and stood up. "Ah! Sorry! I forgot to introduce them to everyone. Bro, she is Jessica, my best friend. We met in college, and you've seen her a few times in the past. Sitting on her left side is Kyla, her bodyguard. On her right is her personal assistant, Li Yi Wei. They're all friends and somehow knew me."

Suddenly, Bryan jolted up from his seat. "Ah! I remember her! She's the girl who proposed to you in college! That's why she looks familiar!" He said these words so loud that Alfred heard it from the second floor's hallway.

Alfred was wiping his wet hair while walking out of Selina's room when he heard Bryan's voice from below. He looked confused when he heard about a proposal. Then, he saw Bryan facing Jessica's direction and caught a hint of whom he was referring to. His eyes darkened slightly, but the glint quickly disappeared.

"What are you guys talking about? So lively." Alfred's chuckle was deep and dangerous.

Jessica giggled sillily as she clarified the situation with her arms circled around Selina. "Aiya! So, this is what I'm most memorable for! It's true I proposed to Selina and she accepted it, but it was all an act. There was a stalker who kept bothering Selina. One day, he knelt down on campus and blocked Selina's way. He took out a diamond ring to ask her to marry him."

"Pffft." Selina interrupted and waved her hand casually in the air. Wrapping her arm around Jessica's waist, she continued. "And then, Jess walked between us, took out a candy ring and asked me to marry her. Of course, I had to say yes to her! So, Jess and I were a well-known pair on campus after that. Bryan watched the video his friends sent him, but I didn't bother clearing it up because he never asked."

Jason's worried expression disappeared after hearing their story. "So, it's like that." He breathed in relief.

"Yes! Hahahaha! What? Did you think you would stand a chance if I actually proposed to my baby doll?" Jessica teased him after seeing how nervous he looked.

"Of course! Hahaha." Jason walked over to the end of the couch and slowly pulled Selina into his embrace. With one arm around her waist, he perfectly protected her from Jessica.

"Pffft. Alright. Alright! I'll stop the tease." She waved her hand in a fanning motion as she uncapped her mango mogu mogu drink. Alfred also released a silent sigh when he heard her explanation. He was glad the girl he liked wasn't interested in girls. If she was, then he would be unluckier than those who lost five streaks in a lottery spin.

Taking the empty seat next to Jessica, Alfred joined the fun. He remembered Jason's advice in pursuing after a girl. Therefore, he wanted to use this opportunity to get to know her better. Seeing how close she was to Selina, a question popped up in his mind.

"How did you two meet and become this close?" Alfred asked.

Laughs escaped Selina's lips as memories of their first encounter surfaced her mind. At the same time, Jessica faced Alfred with a cheery smile. "You really want to know? Then, it's story time!"

- Flashback -

During the sophomore year at University V, Jessica and Selina were both in the same Economics course. As one of the top students in the school, Selina was already accustomed to student gossip wherever she went. Her academic papers were used in many major departments as an example for others to study.

Though she had excellent grades and a rare talent in art, she never tried making friends with anyone in class. She was quiet and only spoke when the professor asked an inquiry that nobody knew the answer to. Due to her distant aura, many classmates began spreading rumors of her cheating during exams and purchasing papers from online to achieve such grades.

Soon, a group of bullies formed and began teasing her. Eventually, rumors circulated to professors and the principal's ears. During Economics class, one of the main gossip girls stepped in front of the entire class and wanted to prove Selina as a fake honor student.

Using baseless rumors as her backup, the girl named Emma Watsons began listing incidents that were spread in her gossip group chat. She cleared her throat and slapped the chalkboard.

"Everyone! I've thought about this for a while. I came to a conclusion that it is unfair to hardworking students like us to score lower than a fake honor student. This student is none other than Selina Gu. All her term papers were plagiarized content and purchased through an online webpage. Only professional writers could write the way she does in her essays."

Banging her palms on the wooden desk at the center of the room, Emma made sure everyone's attention was on her. She smiled confidently and continued her speech.

"Second of all, she always walks in and out of every department to help professors organize their lessons. She has many opportunities to steal a copy of exams and do it beforehand. This explains why she scores such skyrocket numbers while we have much lower scores. Is this fair to us? A cheater like her should be expelled and not favored as an honor student here!"

Classmates began pondering whether her words were true. Their eyes landed on Selina, who was engrossed in her textbook as if she hadn't heard a word from Emma's mouth.

The professor furrowed his brows as he strode to the center of the room to dissolve the situation. "Alright, class. What Miss. Watsons had said does not have any evidence. Miss. Watsons, if you have any type of evidence to prove Miss. Gu is cheating her way through classes, then you may present it to the principal. If not, then please take your seat and let class resume."