Now things had taken a turn: the gathering crowd of students immediately focused all their anger on Grayson.
"Wow, what a jerk!"
"So irresponsible, so heartless!"
"Girls, stop him!"
In an instant, four or five girls surged forward, encircling Grayson—grabbing his arms, tugging at his clothes—determined to keep him from leaving. Meanwhile, the boys clustered protectively around Sienna.
"Hey, don't cry! Why bother with a scumbag like him? There are plenty of good guys out there."
"Yeah, like me!"
"You're so beautiful—anyone would be lucky to have you, but that idiot doesn't know what he's got."
Grayson never expected Sienna to pull such a stunt. He wanted to protest, to defend himself, but he was trapped. Everywhere he looked, hostile faces glared at him. Every insult that Sienna had hurled at him was now echoed by onlookers. He had taken care of her in countless ways—they had even gone to hotels together, but never a one-hundred-dollar motel. Though Grayson was far from wealthy at that time, he'd treated her to two-hundred-dollar hotels whenever they went away. And the outrageous claim she'd made about having aborted a pregnancy for him? That was flatly untrue—he and Sienna had never been intimate in the first place!
Now, gripped by three girls' hands, Grayson found he could not move. Sienna glided up to him, every bit the picture of poised confidence.
"All right, girls—thank you. You can let him go now," Sienna said to the girls restraining Grayson.
"But remember this," one of them snarled. "You don't try to run away again, jerk!"
"Yeah—are you even a man? How dare you run when beautiful girls still like you? You've got no decency!"
"If you run off again, we'll chase you to the ends of the earth!"
These girls, completely misled by Sienna's lies, threatened Grayson with bile in their voices.
Sienna hooked an arm around Grayson's, and with a concealed shove, forced him to walk alongside her. He had no choice but to follow.
"What do you want from me?" Grayson finally managed to ask once they'd put some distance between themselves and the noisy crowd. The hallway had grown emptier, and Sienna released her grip on him.
"I heard you won a prize—one hundred thousand dollars, right?" Sienna's tone was uncharacteristically gentle.
"That's right—but why does it concern you? We're already broken up," Grayson replied, inwardly amused. He'd guessed correctly that Sienna would approach him for precisely this reason. He wasn't surprised she knew; last night, Chloe had texted him to say she'd already told Sienna about his winnings.
Sienna fell silent for a moment, her cheeks turning crimson.
Grayson felt a surge of satisfaction. He decided to deepen her regret. "Sienna, you know me—you know my nature. If we hadn't broken up, I would have spent ninety thousand of that on you! I always did—if I had ten dollars, I gave you nine, saving one for myself to buy food. But now that we're over, we have nothing between us!"
He glanced at her triumphantly. True to form, Sienna's face bloomed into an even uglier shade—was it guilt? Shame? Hard to tell.
Content with himself, Grayson lifted his foot, ready to walk away.
"Wait—wait!" Sienna called out, panic creeping into her voice. She had to stop him, to keep him from leaving.
With one swift move, she threw her arms around him from behind.
"Don't go, Grayson," she said, pressing her cheek against his back. Her voice trembled with feigned emotion. "Grayson, you don't know—really, I never wanted to break up. I did it for your own good."
Grayson couldn't help but laugh. "For my good? Are you kidding?"
"I swear I'm not lying." Sienna must have sensed his disbelief because she rushed on, desperate to clarify. "You were too good to me. Even though you had barely any money, you bought me whatever I wanted. You worked day and night—sometimes not coming home until late—just to afford a new phone for me. You got so thin working those extra jobs; I was truly worried about you. I didn't want you to suffer—that's why I broke up with you!"
"Really?" Grayson murmured, incredulous. His mind reeled—such a ridiculous excuse for breaking up.
"Really!" Sienna nodded vigorously. "Ever since we broke up, I've been miserable day and night. I thought I was strong, but Grayson, I realized I really can't live without you. Let's get back together!"
"Wait—wasn't this just because I won that prize? You want me back for my money, right?" Grayson thought. He almost spat the words aloud. If they got back together and he spent all that money on her, she'd leave him again anyway.
"No way!" Sienna cried, indignant. "I, Sienna, am not that kind of person. How could you even think that? I just love you—rich or poor, it doesn't matter to me. I follow my heart!"
"You mean that?" Grayson turned to look her in the eyes. Sienna's face was streaked with tears, her expression full of anguish.
"Of course I mean it, Grayson. Don't you believe me?" Sienna's voice wavered.
Seeing her so distraught, Grayson felt his guard slip for a moment. This was the woman he'd once loved so deeply.
"If you don't believe me, I swear it!" Sienna added, her lip trembling.
Grayson blinked. Was she really serious? Could she truly have changed her heart?
"All right," he finally said. "I believe you."
"Hmph—I thought for sure you'd given up on me!" Sienna punched his shoulder lightly, then leaned into him with a triumphant smile.
Grayson's heart stirred. Every small movement she made still managed to touch him deeply—especially when she acted coy, just like old times.
"Oh, Sienna…" he sighed, wishing this could all be genuine.
"Sienna, here's the remaining eighty thousand from my winnings," Grayson said. Suddenly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out eight neat stacks of bills—eighty thousand dollars.
Sienna's eyes lit up at the sight of the money. But she quickly masked her excitement, turning cool and composed. "Grayson," she said softly, "keep this. Remember, I told you I'm not getting back together because of your lottery win. Even if you hadn't won, I'd still want to be with you."
" Sienna, you truly move me," Grayson said sincerely. He led her to a small table set up by some fundraising students in the corridor—those charity drives you often see on campus.
"Hello, would you like to donate? We're raising money…" one of the student volunteers said eagerly as he approached.
Grayson nodded. Then, without hesitation, he laid all eighty thousand dollars on the table. "I'll donate eighty thousand."
" What?!" The students gaped. Normally people gave ten or twenty dollars here, they were surprised by a donation of $80000.
"Name?" one girl asked after a long pause.
"No need," Grayson said with a wave. "I wish to remain anonymous."
The students stared—had they just met a genuine millionaire philanthropist? One who casually gave away tens of thousands without seeking recognition?
Meanwhile, Grayson returned to Sienna's side and said, "Let's go, Sienna."
But Sienna stood frozen. She had no idea what he was doing at first. Only when she saw him place all that cash on the charity table did her jaw drop.
"You—you really donated it?" she finally exclaimed.
"I told you," Grayson said, taking her hand and gazing into her eyes, "you said you love me regardless of money. Winning was just a stroke of luck—true wealth comes from helping others. And there's a lot of people who need it more than me. Now, Sienna, there's something more important than money—being together. Come on, let's go to the cafeteria and have a meal…"
"You damned idiot!" Sienna slapped Grayson's hand away, anger contorting her face. "You're insane!" With that, she spun on her heel and stormed off.
" Sienna—Sienna…" Grayson called after her in rising concern.
"Get lost!" she shouted over her shoulder, her voice trembling with rage.
Sienna felt like her heart had been wrenched out. She never expected this outcome.
It was clear now: her entire act of reconciliation had been a sham. She'd only pretended to love him again in order to get her hands on that eighty thousand dollars,But she had played her cards too soon. The true lunatic here was him: he'd donated everything at once, leaving her empty‐handed and exposed as a mercenary.
As Sienna disappeared down the hallway, Grayson sighed. He already knew exactly what had been in her heart from the start—but a small part of him had hoped she'd truly changed, that she might see their love was worth more than money. He'd once poured his heart into her; how wonderful it would have been if she truly felt the same.
But this brief test had revealed her true colors in an instant. To Grayson, those eighty thousand dollars meant nothing—just a fraction of the countless "eighty thousand dollars " he could lay his hands on. He watched her vanish, shaking his head with a bittersweet smile.