Chapter 2

"I told you Sloane didn't force me! I didn't want to compete!" Kaelen yelled at his mother.

"That was the Hackathon! That was your ticket into Stanford! You're acting like you've been brainwashed by a cult!"

"Can you cash out a Stanford acceptance letter?" Kaelen paced back and forth, agitated. "Listen to me, that old apartment complex in the East District is about to be rezoned for the new tech park. Housing prices are going to skyrocket. Give me the money now, and I'll double it. I'll start my own VC firm and shove it in everyone's faces!"

His inner voice cut straight into my brain:

'When the time comes, I'm going to make Maeve—that little overachieving robot—beg me on her knees for an internship.'

I let go of the blinds and completely cut off the circus next door.

Hearing Kaelen's malicious curses, I thought I might feel a twinge of sadness. But in reality, all that remained in my chest was a chilling, absolute clarity.

The childhood friend who used to share my joys and sorrows was dead and gone. The person standing over there now was just a vicious, stupid gambler.

Since he was so generous as to show me his winning hand, how could I not bleed its value dry? It was the least I could do to repay his cruelty.

The next morning, I slid three printed property listings to the center of the dining table.

"Dad. I want to buy these three old apartments in the East District. I want to use my trust fund and some of our liquid cash to sign the contracts this morning."

My dad looked surprised, his coffee mug pausing mid-air. "The East District? The crime rate there has always been sketchy. Sweetheart, I know you want to dip your toes into investing, but isn't this a bit of a massive leap?"

"I have concrete intel that the area is being rezoned for the new tech park next month." I leaned my hands on the table, softening my tone but keeping my gaze rock steady. "It's practically a guaranteed, risk-free return. Dad, you promised me that you'd back my play unconditionally, no matter how crazy it sounded. Right?"

My dad looked into my serious eyes and offered a helpless, fond smile.

"Alright."

Inside the real estate office, my dad had just signed the closing paperwork for the third unit.

I saw Kaelen stride in. Right behind him was his mom, looking like she hadn't slept a wink. She had dark bags under her eyes and was gripping her bank card like a lifeline.

Even after last night's explosive fight, she was still bailing out her son's madness.

'The second I get this contract, I'm moving out,' Kaelen's inner voice chimed in. 'I'm done with this annoying control freak. Once I'm worth ten million, the first thing I'll do is buy that sports car Sloane's been eying. I'll park it right in front of Maeve's house just to watch her choke on her jealousy.'

"Dad, let's take the back exit," I murmured, quickly looking away.

After hurrying out the side door and getting into the car, my dad started the engine, looking at me in confusion. "Why are we sneaking around like thieves? That was Kaelen and his mom out there, wasn't it? We're not even going to say hello?"

"He dropped out of the competition at the last second yesterday, and his house was a warzone last night. Running into them now would just be awkward."

I clicked my seatbelt into place, pausing for a second before adding, "Besides, Dad, the fewer people who know about our investments, the better. It's best if we don't leak any info from the start. Saves us a lot of headaches down the line."

Dad gave me a surprised look, followed by a proud smile.

"Thinking further ahead than I do. Looks like my Maeve really has grown up. You even know how to navigate the social landmines."

With the properties securely in the bag, I went back to school with complete peace of mind.

On the massive digital billboard along the main quad, a single line of text was scrolling:

[HACKATHON GRAND CHAMPION & FULL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT: Maeve Pierce]

In the hallway, a few classmates immediately swarmed me with congratulations.

Then, a cold scoff cut through from the side.

Sloane strutted over, her arms crossed over her chest. "Drop the queen bee act. If Kaelen hadn't been generous enough to hand you the opportunity, do you really think you'd have that trophy? You're acting awfully cocky for someone who just picked up his scraps."

The atmosphere instantly froze. Everyone around us stopped to watch, waiting for my reaction.

They all knew this wasn't the first time Sloane had come for me.

Kaelen and I used to be best friends. We walked to school together, coded together. He always used to say, "We're a team." It was an ambiguous closeness—even our teachers assumed we'd be side-by-side forever.

I believed it for a while, too. It wasn't a burning, passionate romance, but it felt like a guaranteed future.

Until Sloane showed up with her influencer ring lights and became the cheer captain.

She arrived blindingly bright: trailing an entourage, soaking up applause, entirely camera-ready. In her first week, she pulled Kaelen right into her orbit.

She publicly linked her arm through his on the bleachers and laughed, calling him "My boyfriend."

In the past, I backed down. I didn't want to force Kaelen to choose sides in front of everyone because I still considered him the important person in my life.

But now, I was wide awake. From this moment on, Kaelen's bias and Sloane's provocations weren't worth a single second of my distress.

"Handed the opportunity to me?" I met her gaze head-on. "He quit right before the buzzer. That's called abandoning ship."

Sloane opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off instantly:

"Don't bring that brain-dead logic of measuring a life by TikTok likes into the real world. Rather than playing the hero here, you'd be better off worrying about whether your vanity filter is going to glitch in your next video."

A few guys in the back literally choked on their laughter.

"All of you, shut up!" Sloane shrieked.

"Kaelen, are you just going to let her humiliate me like this?!" She whipped around, desperately grabbing the arm of the person walking up behind her.

Kaelen stood right beside her, his eyes locked dead on mine.