"Some guy confessed his love to me and practically shoved these flowers into my hands."
"I was going to toss them in the trash, but they actually looked pretty nice, and Skye convinced me to bring them back."
Zara received flowers from men so often that she was completely numb to it.
"They are gorgeous. It would be a waste to throw them out. At least it proves the guy has good taste,"
Claire said, giving the arrangement an approving nod.
A bouquet like that easily cost over a hundred dollars.
The guy was clearly willing to drop some serious cash.
Skylar rolled her eyes. "See? I told you to bring them back. Even Claire likes them."
"Our princess here just has too much money and zero common sense to want to throw them away."
"I get the 'zero common sense' part, but what do you mean by 'too much money'?" Claire teased, making Zara want to playfully smack her.
"What else could I mean? She Venmoed the guy a hundred bucks for the flowers, telling him she wished him a 'smooth and prosperous life' moving forward."
She kept the flowers but outright rejected his feelings!
Ms. Zeller was practically swimming in wealth; a hundred dollars meant absolutely nothing to her.
Claire nodded in understanding. Honestly, it was commendable that Zara never led anyone on.
A lot of girls would get swept off their feet by sweet talk and fail to set basic boundaries.
"Still a shame about my hundred bucks, though. That's three days' worth of living expenses for me."
The truth was, Zara wasn't actually that reckless with her spending.
Her family bought her everything she needed, so her monthly allowance of a thousand dollars was purely for food and drinks.
It wasn't overly extravagant, especially considering some students on campus blew through three or four grand a month.
The fact that she was wealthy but exercised restraint showed that her family didn't blindly spoil her.
Mostly, it was because Zane Zeller, her grandfather, was a retired military man who enforced a strict culture of frugality.
Although he had faced some gossip for marrying his fallen comrade's wife, taking care of a
brother-in-arms' widow by marrying her wasn't entirely uncommon back in those days.
"So ask him for a refund?" Skylar suggested.
Zara quickly shook her head. "No thanks."
"I find this batch of upperclassmen incredibly sleazy. While he was confessing to
me, he couldn't stop staring at my watch."
Zara's watch was worth around fifteen thousand dollars.
But to a college student, that was an absolute fortune.
No wonder he was willing to make such an expensive investment to woo her.
A hundred-dollar bouquet was just the appetizer; he definitely had more tricks up his sleeve.
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of," Zara said. She used to have zero concept of money, but things were different now.
Seeing Lex struggle so hard just to scrape by had given her a harsh reality check.
She'd rather save her money and donate it to underprivileged girls' education funds than waste it on superficial things.
"I have an idea for you," Claire said with a smile, amused by Zara's dramatic distress.
Zara immediately hooked her arm through Claire's, leaning in eagerly.
"Tell me! I desperately need a ward against all these toxic creepers."
If the guy hadn't been so glaringly obvious about his gold-digging intentions, Zara wouldn't have been this spooked.
They were looking at her like a walking trust fund.
Expected nothing less from the top-tier students at The Cabinda University-they were all calculating sharks.
Claire looked at her, her eyes curving in amusement. "See? Now you know
a form of self-preservation
s en eeping a tow profile is actually
Zara grumbled. She was used to being flashy and refused to compromise her lifestyle.
Even if it attracted predators, she still didn't think she was doing anything wrong.
Claire could see right through her stubbornness and simply offered her solution. "If you want those guys to back off, it's easy."
"Just get yourself a boyfriend. And
make sure its someone so
Untouchably out of the
no one would dare try to
that