Even now, I spent my free time running a small food stand myself, and business was decent.

Back then, Adrian had the face of a sweet puppy, which my adolescent heart adored.

I ordered him around constantly—fetching drinks, cleaning up—and when he apologized timidly, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Once, I made him hand-wash my clothes, forgetting to take out my underwear. He blushed furiously the whole time, while I scolded him with a red face of my own.

Then, for a long while, he stopped coming with Mrs. Johnson.

I asked Mrs. Bennett about it and learned that Adrian had a younger sister, Olivia, who was born with a congenital heart disease. They still hadn’t found a donor, and the treatments were overwhelmingly expensive.

Mr. Walker worked day and night to save for the surgery, sleeping only three hours a day. Before he could raise enough, he collapsed and died at work.

The family’s situation went from hard to unbearable.

I begged Mr. Bennett to help Olivia get a donor and used all my savings to cover her treatment.

Mrs. Johnson no longer had to juggle two jobs, and she was so grateful she practically overfed me.

Adrian still came by after school to help.

But no one else knew that he and I had struck a deal.

I would cover Olivia’s medical expenses. In return, Adrian had to be my secret lover.

More precisely—my bed partner.

I gave him my first time, and he gave me his.

We were both so inexperienced that during our first time, he couldn’t even find the right place.

I ordered him around in everything, and he never once said no.

Among our circle, people whispered that he was my pet dog—a very obedient one.

I laughed every time I heard it.

Once, lying in his arms, I asked if he’d be willing to be my little puppy forever.

He stayed silent. Just when I thought he wouldn’t answer, he leaned down and kissed me.

I thought that meant yes, so I clung to him and pulled him into another long, breathless night.

By our third year together, Isabella came to the Bennett estate.

She revealed she’d been switched at birth by her adoptive parents. A DNA test confirmed she was the true Bennett heiress. She moved into my bedroom, while I was cast out of the family.

Overnight, I went from the pampered heiress of the Bennetts to the daughter of an abusive gambler.

Adrian didn’t know about my fall from grace.