I Helped Him Get Into an Elite University—Then He Dumped Me Before Day One Chapter 01

I Helped Him Get Into an Elite University—Then He Dumped Me Before Day One Chapter 01

I took over Adrian Sterling’s mess of a life, and everyone assumed it was because I was hopelessly in love with him.

When he got into fights and skipped class, I was the one who copied notes for him.

I spent three years playing the loyal little doormat and practically killing myself to get him into an Ivy League school, only to be dumped right before freshman year.

He spoke with the same arrogant superiority he always had. “I know you’ve liked me for a long time, but your whole life revolves around studying. Compared to Hannah Brooks, you’re way too stiff. Let’s break up. I want to be with Hannah.”

Everyone was waiting to see me fall apart.

Instead, I glanced at the fifty million that had just appeared in my bank account and said with complete sincerity, “Okay. Congratulations.”

What no one knew was that the only reason I had taken Adrian on, no questions asked, was because his mother had offered too much money to refuse.

Now that the payment had come through, it was time for me to leave.

***

“She got dumped by the hottest guy in school, and all she said was congratulations?!”

“She hung up in less than a minute. That fast. Do you think she snapped from heartbreak?”

“Doesn’t look like it. She was way too calm. Honestly, it looked more like she’d been waiting for him to dump her.”

At that, someone cautiously glanced at Adrian. He had his new girlfriend in his arms, but his handsome face had gone dark with displeasure.

The same person hurried to correct himself. “Claire’s liked Adrian for years. Everybody knows that. There’s no way she really doesn’t care. She’s probably just bottling it up.”

“I guarantee it, she’ll come running back within three days, begging Adrian not to leave her!”

Adrian’s expression eased a little. “If she comes back and begs, I might consider forgiving her. Depends on how she does it.”

I knew nothing about their little conversation. I was already dragging my suitcase toward the train station.

And even if I had heard their mockery, I would have done nothing more than give them a cool, indifferent smile.

If my parents had not believed there was no point in educating a daughter, and that I should be married off young while I could still bring them money…

If my admission letter had not been torn to shreds…

If my drunken father had not beaten me until I was barely alive, only for Adrian’s mother to appear at that exact moment and offer me a deal, promising to pay my high school tuition and give me fifty million more if I could get Adrian into a top university…

Then I never would have followed that delinquent school king around like a dog, showing up the moment he called and doing everything for him without complaint.

For three whole years.

I used every method I had to turn that rebellious, impossible academic disaster into a top student and get him into one of the best universities in the country.

Now the job was done, the money was mine, and I could finally leave. I was too happy to care that he had gotten himself a new girlfriend.

From the very beginning, all I had wanted was to claw my way out of hell and win a wider life for myself.

Love had never had anything to do with it.

When school started, I never showed up at the university that had admitted me.

My parents would never have let me go. A daughter with an acceptance letter from a prestigious school could be married off for a lot more money.

So if I was going to leave, I had to disappear completely.

Over those three months of summer break, I took the IELTS, got my French up to B2, and completed all the arrangements to study in France.

Just as I boarded my flight to Paris, Adrian sent me a text trying to patch things up.

[Why did you block every way I had to contact you?]

[Claire, are you seriously still sulking after all this time? Even if Hannah and I are together now, we can still be friends. Stop making a scene and unblock me.]

Even through text, he sounded as condescending as ever.

It was as if he had already decided that, just like I had for the past three years, I would come wagging my tail back to him no matter how selfish he was or how badly he trampled on my feelings.

I pulled the SIM card out of my phone, snapped it cleanly in two, and tossed it into an airport trash can.

With it, I threw away every humiliation, every compromise, and every ugly memory tied to that past.