I Dream-Manipulated My Cold Crush To Win Him, But He Saw Through Me All Along Chapter 03

I Dream-Manipulated My Cold Crush To Win Him, But He Saw Through Me All Along Chapter 03

I barely set foot inside my dorm room before Grayson’s message buzzed in.

[Naomi, why’d you return my jacket?]

My finger hovered over the keyboard, and the subtitles popped up again.

[The male lead definitely got relieved.]

[Duh. Who wants to be dragged into those nasty dreams every single night?]

[He’s pretty sharp, figuring out it was the side character’s trick this early.]

The last line hit me like a brick. My thumb went dead on the screen.

When did Grayson even figure it out?

Then it clicked. I remembered something from last month.

It was a holiday. I’d gone to visit my parents in the next town and brought back a ton of local snacks.

I handed them out to my dorm mates and my classmates. Grayson got his share too.

But somehow word got back to him that other people got the same thing.

He stormed over, face like thunder. “Why do they have the same stuff? The things you give me are supposed to be exclusive!”

I rubbed my temples. “You like this stuff, so I brought you some. That’s all.”

His face went purple. He choked on his words for a second before spitting out, “Who even wants it? I was just being polite.”

I shrugged. “Fine, fine. I didn’t know you had this whole spoiled-prince complex.”

That set him off completely.

“I don’t have a complex! And I don’t want your stuff! I’m not like some people who go around playing saint to everyone.”

He’d always been like this—stubborn as a mule. I was used to it.

But I wasn’t wrong for giving gifts to my friends.

I wasn’t about to bend over backward for him.

We glared at each other for a tense minute.

Grayson gritted his teeth. “From now on, don’t you dare touch my stuff ever again.”

I didn’t read into it at the time.

So I just gave a half-hearted “Fine.”

He slammed the door on his way out.

And threw one last line over his shoulder, “Don’t expect to see me tonight.”

I was too pissed to connect it to our dreams. I thought he meant we weren’t going to the dining hall together that night.

So I shot back, “Like I’d even want to see you!”

…

It all clicked into place now.

He must have known my secret back then.

And if he already knew, why did he let me keep taking his things for the past month?

Maybe the subtitles were right.

Maybe it was all just out of respect for our parents.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

Stared down at my screen and typed: [Got it. I won’t cross the line again.]

The “Grayson is typing…” bubble flickered forever.

Finally, just this: [Whatever. I didn’t want to lend it anyway. I just didn’t want you to embarrass yourself in front of everyone.]

Reading those cold words, I could already picture the sneer on his face.

My nose stung with sudden heat.

I used to lie to myself and tell myself he was all talk.

Now I saw the truth.

Every word he ever said was exactly what he meant.

The comments piled on:

[The male lead only saw her as a friend. She’s the one who built a fantasy out of nothing.]

[Seriously, no one thinks this side character is insane? She’d been secretly using his things since middle school and took her dream tricks way too far in college.]

[That’s why the male lead kept his mouth shut. He was just taking the L.]

I read every line without a word, sniffled, and kept typing.

[Okay. I understand.]

He seemed to be debating what to send back.

But I didn’t wait. I fired off the next message.

[Actually, send me his Instagram handle.]

Grayson: [?]