I thought only blind princes fell for Cinderellas—never imagined a blind princess would fall for a gold-digger.
One night, the captain of the school basketball team came to see Li Xingxing. Through a bathroom door, I caught glimpses of them kissing—then more. Her glittering evening gown, once pristine, was now crumpled under the sweaty hands of some brash kid. I pulled out my phone and quietly recorded the whole scene.
When the new semester began, every student council president found an anonymous email in their inbox. They clicked the video… and chaos erupted. Gossip spread like dandelion seeds across campus. Soon, everyone knew about Li Xingxing's little "performance." She dropped out and fled abroad.
Li Xingxing trembled, eyes wild, before lunging at me with a scream. Bystanders turned to stare. Her parents, mortified, dragged her into their car. A tall, gaunt man stood nearby—not looking at her, but staring straight at me. His gaze felt dangerous. I recognized him: Li Xingxing's half-brother, whose photo I'd seen on her phone.
As I "innocently" hauled her bags, I looked every bit the pitiful, penniless girl. Sweet princess, you think money can humiliate people? You've never met a broke girl with internet access.
Yuan Yi was blinder than I thought. He haunted my shifts—lingering for hours at the café, buying out the entire convenience store just to shove snacks at me. Leaning on the counter, he'd say: "Why waste your life working? Follow me. I'll give you everything."
I played the virtuous Cinderella, tossing his cash on the floor: "I'm not for sale!"
Furious, he threatened my boss: "Raise her pay, or I'll report you!"
But even Cinderella must dangle a carrot. Yuan Yi ditched his luxury car to hand out flyers with me in the square. He yanked off my ridiculous mascot head, stole my stack of flyers, and—miraculously—learned to say "Please take one! " with a grin.
When I split my earnings with him, he looked stunned. Rich boys love novelty—this was his first taste of "work." Meanwhile, I cursed inwardly: Idiot! Instead of making me sweat here, just drag me to a fancy dinner!
He couldn't hear my thoughts. Instead, he vowed: "I'll stay by your side while you chase your dreams."
I faked tears, kissed him softly… while thinking: I'm done with calloused hands. If anyone forces me to "work hard" again, I'll chop theirs off and feed them to dogs.
News of our relationship blew up. Some called us mismatched; others sighed: "It's a fairytale! The poor girl finally got her prince!"
But princes keep their gold. Yuan Yi showered me with makeup, jewelry, designer bags—all of which I sold for cash, replacing them with fakes. He never noticed.
At my 20th birthday party—my first taste of glory—I stood surrounded by his rich friends. Someone called for a waiter to take photos. My eyes landed on the nervous server: a mirror of myself six months ago.
Drunk guests jeered: "Booked a hotel room yet?"
Yuan Yi tightened his arm around me: "I'll respect you, baby. We'll wait till marriage."
I smiled silently. He couldn't meet my gaze. Is he serious… or guilty?
Midnight struck. My "pumpkin carriage" vanished as I lugged gifts back to my dingy off-campus apartment. A figure waited in the shadows. One look at his face, and the day's joy died.