Self Sabotage

Lyla erupted instantly, unable to hold back.

"Yana, what's your deal? Throwing yourself at someone like this—aren't you ashamed?"

This was almost crossing the line, the kind of thing you'd say when you're completely falling out with someone. It was harsh, and Weston and Jason immediately frowned.

"I'm willing. I like him, and I'm happy to throw myself at him. If you want to, can you even afford it?" Yana wasn't one to back down. Since she was already here, she wouldn't retreat even in such a tense and confrontational atmosphere.

She met the challenge head-on with a sneer, "Right now, I'm here to take care of a patient. If my sincerity isn't enough, I wonder just how thoughtful you all really are?"

Her words left Tina and Lyla momentarily speechless.

Tina, furious, stood up and snapped, "Yana, I came here to see Ryan out of my own goodwill. It's not your place to criticize."

Yana, unbothered, chuckled softly, "Oh, sure. You came, empty-handed, right? Don't tell me you're here on behalf of your class to show some formal concern."

"If that's the case, you can leave now. A little personal connection shouldn't feel so indifferent."

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, Yana feigned a look of surprise and said, "Wait, was that 5-dollars lunch box from you? I'm sorry; I really didn't know."

"It's rare to see a miser part with something. I shouldn't have thrown it away—it's so rare for you to give such an extravagant gift."

"I thought it was just his roommates being stingy."

Yana's skill in sarcasm and irony was unmatched. This fiery campus beauty wasn't easy to deal with when provoked.

These words hit Tina hard. She snapped, "That's enough, Yana! My affairs are none of your business. The fact that I even came here to see him is already a huge favor to him!"

The moment she said this, Tina realized she'd misspoken. Even if it was what she felt deep down, she shouldn't have said it out loud.

Sure enough, the atmosphere instantly froze. Lyla gave her a sharp look, as if to say, What's wrong with you? How could you say something like that?

Weston and Jason, who had been polite to her for the sake of their brotherhood, had a slight twitch in their expressions. Although they said nothing, their faces turned cold and indifferent.

"Ryan, take care of yourself and rest!"

Tina, who cared a lot about saving face, immediately turned to Ryan, gritting her teeth as she said, "But if you keep associating with someone like her, don't bother looking for me in the future."

With that, she left abruptly. Lyla followed her out without hesitation.

Back in their dormitory, even with the air conditioner on, the atmosphere felt unbearably stifling. Tina was restless and uncomfortable, especially as the memory of Yana's indifferent yet confident smile lingered in her mind, like a needle piercing her heart.

After taking a refreshing shower, Lyla remarked casually, "Tina, was what you said yesterday true or not?"

Tina, irritated, snapped, "Why would I lie to you?"

At that moment, their other roommates let out a collective gasp. Lyla immediately opened her social media feed.

"Wow, look at this—LV's latest model! It wasn't even available in our city a few days ago, and Yana's already got one."

Tina quickly grabbed her phone and opened her social media app. There it was—a post from Yana earlier that morning:

"Thank you, my dear. When can we go public? I'm so looking forward to it."

The centerpiece was the LV's latest summer collection bag, along with another exquisite piece that was also from LV but far rarer.

Upon seeing it, Lyla clenched her teeth and said, "Tina, it looks like Ryan gave the phone he bought for you to that bitchy Yana."

Hearing this, Tina felt even more upset, her eyes practically blazing with anger.

One nosy roommate wondered aloud, "She already has the latest model, but she put that bag I've never seen before in the center. Could it be even better?"

Curious, the girl couldn't resist searching online. Moments later, she exclaimed, "It's a limited edition! And it costs nearly 50,000 dollars."

"A bag worth 50,000? That's insane! My most expensive one is just over 1,000."

"You're lucky. Mine barely costs 888…"

"How does Yana get her hands on such an extravagant bag? There's no way Kaiden could have gifted her this."

"Exactly. She must've found some wealthy benefactor. That person is way too generous! And judging by her caption, it seems like they don't even want to make their relationship official."

"In our school, the handsome guys are broke, and the rich ones aren't much to look at. Who could've won over our campus belle, Yana?"

This single post instantly ignited chatter across the girls' dormitory, becoming the hottest topic on campus for the day. After all, a 50,000 dollars bag was a symbol of ultimate luxury, even in the outside world.

Tina felt her heart ache even more. Lyla pulled her aside and whispered, "Tina, why don't you just ask Ryan directly? If it really was him who gave it, did he win the lottery or has he been pretending to be poor this whole time?"

"Are you feeling better?"

Tina, ​​still wanting to save face, hesitated for a long time before finally sending a WhatsApp message to Ryan.

In the past, his replies would come in seconds, but this time, it took five minutes. The wait felt agonizingly long. When the notification sound finally rang, Tina grabbed her phone eagerly, as if it had revived her.

"Much better. I'm eating right now. You should eat and rest early after you're done," read the message.

The response seemed normal, but Tina immediately felt upset. In the past, he would send lengthy replies, constantly fussing over her well-being to the point it annoyed her.

Out of frustration, she chose not to reply.

Meanwhile, Kaiden suddenly sent her another message, apologizing for his mistake the previous day…