Chapter 2 MK’s Beloved Cat
The collar looked absurd against her dress — an eyesore so blatant it demanded attention.
Michael stared at the collar, his brow tightening in restrained irritation.
“Before you arrived, didn’t Sarah tell you that there has never been an exception to the rule against overnight guests in my villa?”
Jennifer nodded. “She told me.”
“And yet you deliberately knocked over the water glass?”
Michael’s smile thinned into something colder, more cutting.
In his eyes, this young girl’s tricks were the careless antics of someone who didn’t yet understand the weight of consequences.
The servants began to worry about Jennifer.
Unexpectedly, Jennifer showed no panic. Instead, she admitted it outright.
“I’m sorry. I did it on purpose.”
My ex has been stalking me. He stole my apartment door code, and I didn’t dare go home tonight.
My ex is James. You know that name… don’t you?”
Michael’s gaze deepened at the mention of that name.
Jennifer observed his reaction, knowing full well that anything involving James would stir Michael’s attention.
Though she had come prepared, her wide eyes betrayed nothing but anxious innocence.
Her fingers fidgeted at the hem of her dress, as though genuinely afraid he might refuse.
“Mr. Kowalski, can I borrow a guest room? Otherwise, I’ll have to go to the police station and report him. Please…”
Sure enough, Michael closed the file in his hand.
After a long moment, he instructed the servant,
“Take her to choose a room she likes.”
Jennifer’s lips curved upward in a triumphant smile.
After ascending the stairs, she selected the room next to Michael’s.
She knew Michael wouldn’t let James leave with a sexual-harassment record.
That was how the wealthy and powerful operated — reputation mattered more than anything.
However, tonight wouldn’t be enough to lure Michael.
Not nearly enough.
Sure enough, Michael never came upstairs that entire night.
As dawn approached, Jennifer finally texted Sarah:
Your uncle agreed to let me stay. Next time, let him touch me.
She resolved to leave a special gift on his bed.
…
Jennifer took the bus back to school.
The bus screen broadcast the wedding news of Michael and Maria Rossi.
Below the screen was Michael’s profile:
the wealthiest man in the city, global business interests, graduated early from Stanford with a Master of Laws and a PhD.
Maria’s bio was comparatively brief:
27 years old, founder of Keystone Advisors.
Of course, the TV wouldn’t mention that Maria had become Sarah’s father’s mistress at nineteen.
Nor would it mention the death she’d engineered to secure her marriage to Sarah’s father.
Jennifer’s fingers whitened as she gripped the handrail.
Images flooded her mind:
her father hacked to death,
her mother crying until her eyes went blind.
She bit her lip until she tasted blood, fighting back tears.
Her gaze hardened with fierce determination.
Marriage, huh?
Destroying her family and expecting the world to cheer?
There was no way she would let them walk away so easily.
Maria, Michael, the Novak family — she would never forget them.
Before heading to school, Jennifer folded the bedding in Michael’s guest room.
Michael’s nanny praised her endlessly, calling her well-mannered.
But the nanny could never have imagined that Jennifer would sneak into Michael’s room the moment her back was turned.
She would slip something under his pillow.
…
Michael found what she had left at midnight.
Fresh from his shower, droplets glistened on his hair as they trickled down his prominent Adam’s apple and across his sculpted chest.
Though he usually wore an aloof, stern expression, his face possessed a quiet, arresting allure.
Just as he turned off the light and prepared to lie down, something hard jabbed the back of his neck.
He sat up, turned on the light, and reached out to touch it.
It was the girl’s collar from last night.
He stared at the object that shouldn’t have been there.
The collar felt soft and carried none of leather’s sharp tang; instead, it held a faint, unmistakable trace of her.
Yet a row of hard golden rivets studded its surface.
Michael traced the laser-etched letters on the back.
When he flipped it over, the inscription left him speechless:
“MK’s Beloved Cat.”
Michael’s brow furrowed even deeper.
Under the pillow, he found a note she had written:
Mr. Kowalski, I want to sleep with you.
…
Back at school, everyone was talking about Michael and Maria’s engagement.
“I heard Michael studied here ten years ago, then left for abroad and never finished his degree.”
“He’s so good-looking! And his fiancée is gorgeous — definitely some high-society socialite.”
Jennifer snorted.
A “socialite”? More like a nineteen-year-old home-wrecker.
The more people idolized Michael and Maria, the more Jennifer intended to expose Maria’s true colors.
Jennifer saw Michael again at Sarah’s birthday party.
In the hall, she slowly rolled a cherry against her lips while waiting for him to appear.
Several upperclassmen approached her.
“Jennifer? Why are you here alone? Aren’t you Sarah’s best friend? Why aren’t you with her on her birthday?”
Jennifer replied casually,
“We’re not friends.”
Emily Schneider’s eyes lit up.
Jennifer’s answer matched the rumors she’d heard:
that Sarah had stolen Jennifer’s boyfriend just one week after they started dating, and the two had been caught red-handed.
Thus, the so-called perfect campus couple had crashed and burned, and rumours were already swirling wildly around campus.
The group surrounded Jennifer, their expressions clearly anticipating a good show.
“So James dumped you for Sarah, right?”
“God, this is straight-up soap-opera stuff!”
Jennifer shot them a cold glance but said nothing.
She knew James was a wealthy, gifted golden boy on campus.
Dating him would inevitably stir jealousy.
But he had never been her target.
Jennifer held a cherry between her fingers.
“He doesn’t want me anymore, so I’m no longer your competition. And don’t forget to return the book you stole from me on Monday. If it’s missing, Professor Davis won’t go easy on you.”
Sure enough, Emily’s expression changed instantly.
“What nonsense?! Why would I have anything to do with Professor Davis’ book?!”
Jennifer didn’t elaborate; she only gazed down at Emily.
Under her gaze, Emily’s fear welled up and she cried out,
“I get it! You must’ve lost Professor Davis’ rare book yourself and now you’re framing me!”
“Don’t even try it! Who knows if you misplaced something that valuable or stole it yourself? I’m telling Professor Davis — I’ll make sure he expels you!”
Jennifer’s smile grew slow and wicked.
“He won’t expel me. Because I’ll return the book on Monday — right on time.”
Emily was stunned.
Return it? On time? That’s impossible.”
The book that Professor Davis lent Jennifer was clearly…
