Part 2Roommate’s Man, My Millions

To catch a big fish, you have to use the right bait.

I tracked Jake’s movements online and, dressed in the red vest of my part-time job, stood outside a high-end shopping mall with a stack of flyers.

The people bustling past were dripping with wealth, their eyes sliding over me with disdain.

“Hi, would you be interested in a gym membership…?”

A flyer slipped from my hand. As I bent to pick it up, another hand got there first.

My heart skipped a beat. I looked up, and of course, it was Jake.

He was wearing a bright yellow food delivery jacket, a thermal bag in his hand.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he said, a half-smile playing on his lips as he handed me the flyer.

I froze for a second, then let a look of pure delight spread across my face.

“Jake? You’re working… here too?”

He went along with it effortlessly. “Just running a few orders.”

I pulled him over to the steps by the mall’s side entrance. Taking out a half-empty bottle of mineral water from my bag, I offered it to him shyly.

“This is all I have. If you don’t mind…”

Jake glanced at the bottle but didn’t take it. Instead, he reached into his delivery bag, pulled out a bottle with the label peeled off, twisted the cap, and handed it to me.

“Drink this. Customer cancellation. It’s free.”

I took it, sipping slowly. “Are you really that tight on money?”

He leaned back against the wall. “Yeah. I’m in a lot of debt. Don’t even have next month’s rent sorted.”

I put the water down and reached for his hand, my grip firm. “It’s okay.”

I looked him straight in the eye, my voice unwavering.

“I’ll work more jobs. I can support you. As long as we work together, we can pay off any debt.”

His fingers tensed in mine. He turned his head and stared at me, his gaze intense. “Ava, what’s your game?”

I lowered my head, a blush creeping up my cheeks. “I like you!”

Jake laughed. “Alright then. You can support me.”

He tightened his grip on my hand. “You said it yourself. Don’t regret it.”

I nodded fiercely. “Never.”

Oh, Mr. Thorne, I thought, you’re the one who said it. Don’t you be the one crying with regret later.

Lisa and my other roommates started freezing me out, talking loudly about me whenever I was in the room.

“So shameless. She’ll throw herself at any man.”

“Seriously. Trying to steal Lisa’s man? She should take a look in the mirror.”

I ignored all of it.

One day, Lisa “accidentally” knocked over a bottle of expensive skincare Jake had given me, shattering it on the floor.

She rolled her eyes. “Well, you shouldn’t have left it on the edge.”

I quietly knelt and cleaned up the mess.

That night, while video-chatting with Jake, I was dabbing ointment on the back of my hand.

“What happened to your hand?” he asked.

“Oh? It’s nothing, I just bumped it,” I said, quickly hiding my hand behind my back.

But the camera had already swept past the pile of shattered glass on the corner of my desk.

The next day, Lisa’s rich boyfriend had all his credit cards frozen by his family and was promptly dumped.

Lisa threw a tantrum in the dorm, smashing all of her own makeup in a rage.

I knew it was Jake.

A man like him would never tolerate someone touching his property.

Not even a toy.

To solidify our bond, I decided to give him a gift.

I ordered a hand-knitted scarf online.

In the special instructions, I wrote: Make it as ugly as possible, with as many loose threads as you can manage.

It cost me thirty bucks. The emotional value was the entire point.

When I gave it to him, Jake’s expression was hard to read.

I stood beside him, my face burning.

“I’m sorry… it’s my first time knitting. It’s so ugly. We should just throw it away.”

I reached for it, but Jake pulled it out of my reach.

He wrapped the lopsided scarf around his neck. “It’s warm.”

That night, Jake was particularly passionate. But right at the peak, he stopped.

He tilted my chin up. “Ava, if I were this poor forever, would you still stay with me?”

I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck. “Don’t be silly. I love you, not your money.”

I met his gaze, my eyes clear and shining with devotion.

“As long as I can be with you, I’ll do anything.”

Jake’s body went rigid for a second before he moved again, harder this time.

“Fool,” he whispered against my skin.

My gaze drifted over his shoulder to the watch he’d casually tossed on the nightstand.

A Patek Philippe Nautilus. Seven figures on the secondary market.

I echoed his sentiment in my head. Idiot.

The next day, he updated his social media with a new photo: a selfie of him wearing the ugly scarf.

He’d hidden it from most of his contacts, but it was a step.

That post was a dagger to Lisa’s heart.

Having been dumped by Chad, she was starting to remember Jake’s good qualities.

Furious, she stormed over to the men’s dorms to confront him.

Instead, she witnessed him stepping into a black Maybach.

Lisa was dumbfounded.

She ran back to our dorm, shoving the photo she’d secretly taken in my face.

“Ava, you stupid bitch, you’ve been played!”

“I knew something was off! No poor guy carries himself like that. Jake’s not broke, he’s a fucking kept man! Some rich old lady is paying for him!”

She grew more frantic, as if she’d uncovered a massive conspiracy.

I glanced at the photo, smiling inwardly.

Oh, Lisa. Is that really as far as your imagination can go? The idea of an heir slumming it is just too far outside your reality, isn't it?

I pushed her phone away. “Jake is not that kind of person.”

Lisa scoffed and pocketed her phone.

“We’ll see about that. I’ll ask him myself tomorrow.”

“Get ready to cry your eyes out, Ava.”