Part 2The University Sugar Baby

A week later, Eason hadn't shown up yet, but Leo did.

He was wearing his usual uniform: a shirt washed to a faded gray, worn-out jeans, and canvas sneakers. Clean-cut and handsome, the very picture of the noble, struggling student.

He’d gotten off the bus. Couldn't even be bothered to splurge on a cab.

It really made me wonder where the thirty thousand dollars I gave him every month went.

Don't get me wrong. He wasn't here to see me. I was usually the one who went to him. He was working his part-time job at the coffee shop on the ground floor of my building.

As usual, his looks were already attracting a giggling girl asking for his number.

Leo turned her down, saying he already had someone he liked.

Back in the day, I might have been arrogant enough to think he meant me. I was beautiful, rich, and generous—emphasis on the last one. Not liking me was like not liking money. It wasn't like I was asking him to love me 'til death do us part. We were adults. After everything I'd given him, a little display of affection wasn't too much to ask. Anything less was just having his cake and eating it too.

I walked in and found a seat, but Leo didn't notice me.

Just then, a meticulously dressed girl walked in. The moment Leo saw her, he froze.

She wore a chic tweed suit and a Miu Miu clip in her hair, projecting an unmistakable old-money vibe. I hadn't gotten a good look at her that day at the university. Now, I saw her face clearly. I mentally scrolled through the city’s upper crust but couldn't place her.

While my mind was wandering, Leo's face had turned a deep shade of crimson. I heard him ask, his voice barely a whisper, "Are you here... for me?"

The girl lifted her chin. "No. I just heard the coffee here was good."

If Leo had a tail, it would have been drooping on the floor.

"Well, recommend something," she said.

He immediately launched into a detailed explanation of every coffee on the menu, describing the origin of the beans and the flavor profiles with painstaking care. The people in line behind her grew impatient and left. The girl, however, seemed to be listening to none of it, finally pointing to the house special.

Leo, ever attentive, explained how to drink it, warning her it was a bit bitter. He was a completely different person from the man I knew—so humble he was practically bowing.

I wasn't angry. Just... confused.

Why wasn't he like this with me? I was the one signing his checks.

A moment later, it hit me, and I let out a soft laugh. He seemed to believe that his youth and my thirty grand a month—plus the condo and countless gifts—was an equal exchange.

The men in my family have a tradition of keeping lovers. I'd seen it all: college girls, starlets, professionals. Just last month, my uncle nearly had a baby scare and paid three hundred thousand in severance. A sponsor as generous and easy on the eyes as me was a rare find.

A willing exchange didn't mean he wasn't getting the better end of the deal.

I used to spoil Leo, so I never sweated the small stuff. But he’d taken my money and stood me up multiple times, claiming he had to tutor, work his part-time job, or deal with student council or lab projects. I never got mad. I even had my housekeeper deliver homemade soup to him. Once, my father saw me arranging it and warned me, "Don't get in too deep."

My indulgence seemed to have convinced everyone—including, at times, myself—that my feelings for him were something special.

Ridiculous.

Before I kicked my brother out of the country to take over as CEO, I’d never even been in a real relationship. Not that I ever wanted one.

This was getting boring. I stood up and left the coffee shop. As I pushed the door open, the little bell above it chimed.

From behind the counter, I thought I felt a pair of eyes on me.