Chapter 5: Is that all you got, Mr. Wilde?

Nova rubbed her temples, feeling a mix of frustration and disbelief. She'd never thought that the suit Ashton was wearing could cost as much as two years of her salary. Considering she hadn't even been working for a full year, there was no way she had that kind of money saved up. Emily, ever the instigator and green with envy, couldn't resist taking a jab when Nova didn't immediately respond. "Look at you, Nova. Your bag barely cost a couple hundred, and here you are, supposedly on the hook for half a million?" Initially, Emily hadn't planned to stir things up, but seeing Tristan's obvious protective stance towards Nova, jealousy got the better of her. Whether he was a rented boyfriend or not, having such a handsome guy on Nova's side clearly bothered her. "Come on, Nova, let's be real here. All of us went to school together, we know the score with your family," Emily said sharply. "You've been out of school for just over a year. There's no way you've saved up that much." The other girls, sensing the drama, eagerly joined in. They figured if things really went south, they'd all share the blame anyway. Nova felt every eye on her and mentally kicked herself. Why did she always have to react so impulsively? Emily, seizing the chance to see Nova squirm, was determined to make her lose face completely. She tossed a business card from a loan company onto the table in front of Nova. "Look, Nova, I know you can't cough up half a million on the spot. I ran into someone handing out these cards today," Emily said, feigning concern. "They're from a loan company. Just borrow the money, pay Ashton back, and we can all move on." "Just settle the debt, Nova," Emily continued smoothly. "Then we can all sit down, have a meal, talk about life after graduation, and forget this whole mess ever happened." The others agreed, making it clear they weren't trying to gang up on Nova. They just didn't like seeing old classmates bully each other. Truth be told, they wanted to use this incident to curry favor with Ashton. They hardly had any real connection with Nova anymore. If they could make a good impression on Ashton, maybe he could pull some strings for them in the future. Ashton, watching Nova flounder, glanced disdainfully at the quiet Tristan and hatched a petty plan. "Nova, considering all the time you've spent with me, I might consider letting this whole thing slide but..." Before Nova could say anything, Selena, pretending to be furious, poked Ashton in the chest. "Man, Ashton, you're too nice—half a million isn't chump change." Everyone was laying it on thick, praising Selena just to impress Ashton. Landing a guy like Ashton who's both rich and sweet? Total jackpot. They knew exactly what to say to make Ashton happy. When Tristan showed up, Ashton was just as pissed as Selena. Still can't wrap his head around how Nova snagged an even better guy. "But look, if you and Tristan crawl around barking like dogs and bow down to apologize, I'll let the half million slide." That really turned up the heat in the room. All the guys were into Nova, but since she was with Ashton, they didn't dare make a move. That kept some of their wilder thoughts in check. One of the classmates, for example. He couldn't stop ogling Nova, dying to see her act like a dog. Just the thought was getting him too excited. For Nova, it was the moment she saw the real Ashton, and she was furious. If Tristan hadn't been holding her hands, she probably would've stormed up to Ashton. "Ashton, I must've been blind to ever fancy you. Thinking about being with you now just makes me sick!" The crowd was loving the drama and started to cheer even louder. Especially the guys—they were really into it. Everyone was curious to see Nova, the knockout, crawl around on the floor. "Never seen a beauty bark before. We gotta thank Ashton for this show." "Get down and bark!" "Ashton's letting you off the hook for the cash, just wants an apology. Isn't that easy enough?" Emily was now dead sure Nova must've wronged Ashton somehow, or why else would he make her do something so humiliating? "Nova, if you'd just listened and borrowed that money, we wouldn't be here right now." "Too bad Ashton's loaded. Fifty thousand is nothing to him." "Just get it over with, crawl and bark, then bow and apologize. Don't keep us waiting." The cheers and laughs were ringing in Nova's ears as she hung her head in regret. She shouldn't have been so rash. Not only did it drag Tristan into this mess, but it also put her in a super awkward spot. Just when everyone thought Nova was going to make a fool of herself, Tristan, sitting coolly to the side, just smirked. "Is that all you got, Mr. Wilde?" He leaned back, looking effortlessly cool as he eyed Ashton, "How about this? You crawl and bark, and I'll give you three million. Make it good, and I'll throw in another two million."