A group of young men crowded around Lily Anderson, like little planets circling a bright star. The young woman smiled and let them shower her with attention. She wore a beautiful ivory dress that looked fit for a queen, and her brown hair was held back with fancy butterfly-shaped clips.
But Ethan, with his sharp eyes, could see the dislike hiding under her friendly act. This stuck-up "princess" clearly thought she was better than everyone else, like a bird of prey sitting high up, looking down on the poor people below.
Suddenly, Lily left her group of followers. She took a coin from one boy's open hand, then walked over to Ethan, who was leaning against the wall. She stood on her tiptoes and dropped the coin into the pocket of his old, worn-out shirt with a casual, showy movement.
"Maybe you rude boys could use that small change to help poor people, if you can't understand being kind," she said to her friends, raising one perfectly shaped eyebrow. She acted like she was being generous, but it was just an act.
Her voice sounded sweet, like she was being noble, but you could tell she hated Ethan. It showed in her eyes—they looked like blue flames of dislike. After that, she took out a handkerchief and wiped her fingers, as if the coin was dirty and might have ruined her skin.
"Whatever you say, dear Lily!" her fake friends hurried to agree. Coins started falling to the ground at Ethan's feet, making a loud, messy noise. They laughed and called him mean names.
"Well, come on, you beggar! Pick up your little money!"
"Get down on your knees for this 'charity,' you trash!"
In the past, their stupid insults would have made him angry enough to fight. But today, Ethan just stood there, not caring. Let these rich brats have their silly fun—their words didn't hurt him. He'd been through much worse in life.
"Come on, we should leave," Lily's singsong voice cut through the rude shouts. She sounded a little annoyed as she told her friends to stop. "Have you no manners? Even poor people hold on to what's left of their pride."
With that, she turned up her nose in a mean way and walked away, letting her followers lead her off. She never even looked at Ethan again, though he was staring at her with a burning anger.
It's not like she said anything super mean—just another day of rich girls from the fancy school playing "charity" to cure their boredom. But still… that day, Ethan felt the same old shame. It was a reminder of how little rich people cared about poor folks—like they were just toys to laugh at and then throw away.
From that day on, "Lily Anderson" was stuck in Ethan's mind, like a mark of shame. It reminded him of how small and worthless they'd made him feel.
Now, Ethan felt a strange, satisfying feeling as he looked at her. The once-proud beauty was lying next to him, her fancy attitude completely gone. But her bright blue eyes still had that stubborn pride—he recognized that fire, even now.
His phone rang, breaking his bitter thoughts. Ethan answered it. It was his assistant, which didn't surprise him.
"Sir, I've got all the information on Lily Anderson, like you asked," the assistant said.
"Go on then…" Ethan said, his voice smooth. He couldn't help but look Lily in the eye. This was going to be very interesting.