Betrayed by the bad boy

My brother's friend had been pestering me for almost a year, but I had a boyfriend.

"My boyfriend and I are doing well, and we've both met each other's parents." I looked at the man in front of me, lowered my voice, and patiently reiterated my point to him.

There were many people coming and going around the dormitory building in the evening, and a few familiar classmates glanced in my direction.

"Please leave, and don't come looking for me again." I pulled my scarf up a bit higher, covering half my face, afraid of being recognized and being said that I was cheating.

"Really?" The man looked at me with a smile, a trace of banter in his eyes. After a while, he handed me a red gift box.

"We're not related, so I won't accept your gift." I was a bit annoyed and immediately declined.

The man couldn't help but laugh, and suddenly reached out with his other hand to stroke my head, catching me off guard.

"Your brother asked me to bring it to you. Tomorrow is your birthday, and he said he couldn't make it."

I was momentarily stunned, then felt a bit embarrassed, realizing I might have been overthinking things. My face flushed as I quickly took the gift bag.

"Alright, I'm leaving." He withdrew his hand and smiled at me again. "Your brother has a work trip to Russia for a week. If you need anything, just let me know."

With that, he turned and got into a car parked not far away.

His name was Jake James, a college friend of my brother's. They were both in graduate school then, in the same research lab.

The first time I met him was last year when my brother got drunk. Jake used my brother's phone to call me to pick him up. When I answered, I called out for my brother, but Jake laughed on the other end, his deep voice saying, "Hey there, candy dear."

Candy was my nickname, known only to family. My brother always used my full name outside, so I had no idea how Jake knew it.

Watching Jake leave, I angrily pulled out my phone to call my brother. "Niko Kirk, can't you walk? Why can't you deliver a gift yourself?"

"What gift?" Niko paused, sounding confused. "Why would I send you a gift for no reason? Dream on!"

I stood alone in the cold wind, holding the gift box for a while.

Right, Niko never remembers my birthday, even though I'm his full-blood sister.

"Give me Jake's phone number." I turned and walked toward the dorm, gritting my teeth as I looked at the bag in my hand. A large, conspicuous Cartier logo was printed on it, likely not cheap.

I couldn't accept Jake's gift, especially knowing his ambiguous attitude toward me. I had to find a chance to return it.

I copied the number Niko sent me and dialed it. Jake picked up after just two seconds: "Miss me?"

Impossible!

"When are you free?" I tried to ask calmly.

"I'm free now," Jake replied casually.

I sighed, "I'm serious. Take your gift back, or I'll have Niko return it to you next week."

There was a pause on the other end, a long silence before Jake finally spoke, "Cindy, tomorrow is your twentieth birthday."

His tone seemed a bit disappointed.

Niko told me that Jake came from a wealthy family and was something of a playboy. So I had always thought that he was just after something novel, believing that what one could not obtain was the best.

"Come pick it up tomorrow night at the school gate." I didn't want to get more entangled with him, so I replied firmly and hung up.

As the saying goes, pitying a man was the start of a woman's troubles.

I hadn't walked far, just reached the corner outside the dormitory, when I saw a familiar figure standing there with his back to me.

It was my boyfriend, Brent Barton. It was cold outside, and he was rubbing his hands to keep warm.

I glanced at my phone; he hadn't sent me a message saying he was coming, probably wanting to surprise me.

But in my hand, I still held the gift from Jake.

Although there's nothing between Jake and me, the expensive gift might cause a misunderstanding.

I hesitated in the shadows for a moment, planning to go over, but then I saw him take a few steps forward and embrace a girl who had just walked out of the dormitory.

In the next second, they were in each other's arms.