Well, now the students who had gathered around immediately turned their ire on Grayson.
"Wow, what a scumbag!"
"He's so irresponsible and heartless."
"Girls, stop him!"
In an instant, four or five girls surged forward, encircling Grayson—some grabbed his arms, others tugged at his clothes—to prevent him from leaving. Meanwhile, the boys clustered around Sienna.
"Hey beautiful, don't cry. Why hold onto a jerk like him? There are plenty of good guys out there."
"Yeah—like me!"
"You're so pretty, any boyfriend of yours would be over the moon. That loser didn't know how to appreciate you."
Grayson never expected Sienna to pull a stunt like this. He was utterly speechless. By all that's good, everything Sienna said was a lie—actually, the exact opposite of the truth. It had been Grayson who cared for her with meticulous devotion. They had indeed gone to a hotel together, but never to some \$100 motel—despite his limited funds, he always booked places at least \$200 a night. And when she claimed she'd had an abortion for him… damn it, they'd never even been that intimate!
Now held fast by the girls, Grayson had no way to escape.
Sienna calmly caught up to him.
"All right, thank you, ladies. You can let him go now," she said to the girls.
"Remember, you jerk—if you run off again, we won't let you get away!"
"Yeah, are you even a man? She still likes you and you just want to run? Don't you have any heart?"
"If you dare try to run again, we'll chase you to the ends of the earth!"
Completely duped by Sienna's deception, they glowered at Grayson.
"Let's go."
Suddenly, Sienna looped her arm through his and gave a discreet tug. Grayson had no choice but to follow.
"What on earth are you doing?"
After walking a bit, the crowd thinned and the corridor quieted. Sienna then released her hold on Grayson.
"I heard you won a prize—one hundred thousand dollars. Is that true?" Sienna's tone was surprisingly gentle.
"That's right. But what does it have to do with you? We're broken up." Grayson inwardly grinned—he'd guessed correctly. Sienna was here for this reason. He wasn't surprised she knew—Chloe had texted him last night that she'd told Sienna about the win.
Sienna was momentarily speechless, and her cheeks flushed. Grayson, seeing her like this, felt a rush of satisfaction. Deciding to deepen her regret, he continued:
"Sienna, you know me well—if we hadn't broken up, I would've spent ninety thousand of that on you! Back then, if I had ten dollars, I'd spend nine on you and keep one for food—but now we're over, and you mean nothing to me!"
He then glanced at her. As expected, Sienna's face soured even more—regret or shame, he couldn't tell. Pleased with himself, he raised his foot to walk on.
"Wait—wait!"
Sienna panicked. She couldn't let him leave now. She threw her arms around him from behind.
"Don't go, Grayson." She pressed herself against his back, her voice earnest. "You don't understand—I didn't really want to break up. I did it for your own good."
Grayson couldn't help laughing. She did this for his "own good"? Was she joking?
"Really, I'm not lying." Sienna knew he must think her ridiculous and hurried to explain, "You cared for me so much—even though you had no money, you bought me whatever I wanted. You came home at dawn and left at dusk, working day and night to earn enough— you've grown so thin, and I was so worried about you. To spare you from suffering, that's why I broke up with you!"
"Re—really?"
Grayson marvelled. That was an astonishing breakup excuse.
"Really!"
Sienna nodded vigorously. "Since we broke up, I haven't been happy for a moment. I thought I was strong, but Grayson, I've realized I can't live without you. Let's get back together!"
"Or… did you only want to get back together because I won the prize?" Grayson thought, Once you've spent all the money, you'll dump me again, right?
"Of course not!" Sienna exclaimed. "I, Sienna, am not that kind of person. How could you think so? I love you—poor or rich, it's the same to me! I'm only following my heart!"
"Really?"
Grayson turned to look at her. Sienna's face was full of sorrow and tears. "Of course it's true, Grayson! Do you not believe me?"
Seeing her like this stirred something in Grayson—this was the woman he once loved.
"If you don't believe me, I swear it!" Sienna said, her earnestness shocking Grayson.
Could it be she truly had changed her mind?
"All right," Grayson said. "I believe you."
"Hmph, I thought you'd lost your heart to someone else!"
Sienna pounded him lightly with her fist and nestled against him.
Grayson's heart fluttered—every word and gesture of Sienna's seeped into him. Especially her coquettish manner, which made him want to hold her protectively. If only it were all real…
"Sienna, here's the eighty thousand dollars I have left from my prize."
Grayson said, suddenly producing eight neat stacks of bills from his pocket. Sienna's eyes lit up.
But immediately she composed herself. "Grayson, keep this money. I already said—I'm not getting back together with you because of your win. Even if you hadn't won, I'd still want to be with you."
"Sienna, you really move me."
Grayson guided her toward the edge of the corridor. Nearby, some students had set up a table with a donation box—charity drives were common on campus.
"Hey, would you like to donate? We're collecting funds…"
The students hurriedly pitched their appeal when they saw Grayson approaching.
"Sure." Grayson nodded, then he dumped all eighty thousand dollars onto the table. "Here's my donation—\$80,000."
What?!
The student volunteers stood agape. Usually, donations trickled in at ten or twenty dollars; occasionally someone might give fifty or a hundred. Now someone had just dropped eighty thousand—and anonymously, at that. They were stunned.
"Sir, may I ask your name?" one girl finally managed.
"No need to record my name—I'm donating anonymously."
Grayson waved her off. It's only eighty thousand, he thought—he didn't need the glory.
The students gaped—could this be the legendary wealthy benefactor who casually gave away tens of thousands, anonymously?
Grayson ignored their astonishment and returned to Sienna's side.
"Let's go, Sienna."
But Sienna didn't move. When Grayson had abruptly walked away to the donation table, she hadn't known what he was doing. Then she saw him dump all that money in an instant. She was stunned—there'd been no time to react or stop him.
"You—you donated the money?!" she finally found her voice.
"Yeah. You said you weren't with me for the prize money, and this was unexpected windfall—it's better to spend it quickly. Besides, many people need help more than I do, so it's perfectly fitting to donate it."
Grayson took her hand and looked at her sincerely. "Sienna, I never imagined you were such a noble woman who doesn't love wealth. Thank you for making me realize there are things more important than money—like being together. Come on, Sienna, let's go to the canteen for a meal…"
"You damned jerk!"
Sienna slapped his hand away, her face twisted with fury as she pointed at him. "You're insane!"
With that, she turned and strode off.
"Sienna, Sienna…!" Grayson called after her.
"Get lost!"
Sienna's lungs felt about to burst with anger. She never expected the ending to go like this. Clearly, her approach—getting him to promise to reunite, swearing her devotion—had all been a ruse to secure the eighty thousand. She knew not to rush him, so when he produced the money, she played the part of the caring ex to buy time.
Who could have guessed this lunatic would just donate it all? She was furious!
Watching Sienna disappear, Grayson sighed. As suspected, it had all been a setup. But did he really expect otherwise? After all, he had loved her once—he had hoped she might truly come back to him out of genuine affection. Yet after just this small test, her true colors showed.
Eighty thousand dollars meant nothing to Grayson.
Sienna, don't you know—I may have given away eighty thousand, but I still have countless more eighty‑thousand‑dollar stacks!