Chapter3

"My uncle's company happens to be looking for an administrative assistant. You just need to be proficient with basic office software, and you can just go in when you have fewer classes. The pay definitely isn't high, but it's a respectable job, at least better than your old..."

He deliberately dragged out the final syllable.

Rachel pursed her lips into a smile beside him. "Right, right, Elena. If you can open up your schedule, I can ask about a front desk position at the library for you. The kind that pays by the hour. You haven't done this kind of work before, have you? It's actually not hard; you just sit there and register people coming in and out."

She paused, and her tone suddenly became overwhelmingly sincere. "After all, your math was so good back then. If you were to neglect your studies now because you're worrying about money, I would feel really bad. For a girl out there on her own, it's better to have some stability."

The people around us chuckled softly. Everyone could hear the underlying sarcasm. Josh and Rachel exchanged a look, and their expressions clearly said—see, this is exactly how she ended up.

I looked down at the steam rising from my cup and spoke in a very light tone. "No need, thank you."

Rachel shrugged. "I tried to help you. You're the one who didn't want it."

Sebastian remained silent the entire time. But I could feel that his gaze had never left me since I walked in; he gripped his wine glass so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Vanessa leaned on his shoulder, tilted her head to study me for a moment, and finally spoke with a smile.

"Elena, right? I heard about you back in high school."

"They said you tutored my boyfriend for three years, and even helped him deal with the teachers and take the fall for his punishments. That must have been quite hard on you."

"But at least you had some self-awareness. You knew you weren't good enough for him, so you ran away on your own. I thought you had gone to some particularly good school."

She curled the corners of her mouth. "So it turns out you're in the UK. The expenses over there aren't small, are they?"

I held my glass and took a sip of water. "It's fine."

"A lot of people on our end are also planning to go to the UK for grad school after graduation," she said with a smile. "But they are all aiming for Oxford and Cambridge. Do you know anyone at those two schools? It would be good for you guys to look out for each other in the future."

She spoke very casually, as if she were chatting about the most ordinary thing in the world.

Someone nearby chimed in. "It's not that easy. Those are places for top scholars."

"That's true," Vanessa nodded, then looked at me again. "The tier difference among schools in the UK varies greatly, so you really have to be careful when choosing one. But it's okay; a lower starting point doesn't mean there won't be opportunities later."

As she spoke, she suddenly changed the subject. "By the way, Elena, have you heard of E. Voss? Anyone in the math department should know her, right?"

People around us nodded. "Is that the student recently mentored by that Cambridge professor? I heard she built an incredibly accurate model."

"More than that. The key is that the professor himself has extensive connections on Wall Street. His student just has to put her name out there and companies will fight over her."

Vanessa listened to these discussions with satisfaction, a trace of casual smugness slipping into her tone.

"My father's foundation recently wanted to collaborate with E. Voss and have her help review the preliminary data models for a few projects. I asked around a lot, finally managed to find a way to her advisor, and pulled some strings to establish a connection."

When she mentioned "her advisor," she noticeably emphasized her tone, as if to highlight that this heavyweight connection belonged exclusively to her.

"If this deal goes through, and the project team is short on hands, my word carries enough weight for an internal referral."

She looked at me. "If you still haven't found a job by then, I can help submit your resume. We're alumni anyway, so I should help out if I can."

Someone nearby immediately started flattering her. "Vanessa, you're amazing, managing to connect with even a professor like that."

"Exactly, how could her resources ever compare to ours?"

Vanessa smiled and turned her face toward Sebastian again. "Right, honey?"

Sebastian gave a faint "Mm-hmm," but his gaze never shifted away from my direction. I didn't look at him; I lowered my head and swallowed the last sip of water in my glass.

The circle of people nearby continued chatting. The topic shifted from me to Vanessa's project. They showered her with compliment after compliment, while simultaneously not forgetting to use me as a negative example.

"That's why choosing the right mentor is so important. Look at Vanessa. She hasn't even graduated with her bachelor's degree, and she's already accumulating industry connections."

"Some people were also top students back in the day, but what about now? They might not even be able to finish their studies."

"You can't really blame her. With her family's situation, just scraping by all the way to the UK was already a miracle."

Their voices were neither high nor low, pitched just loud enough for me to hear.

I held my glass and slowly traced my fingertip around the rim, not saying a single word.

Right at that moment, there was a knock on the door.