Chapter 1

I was playing basketball with Scarlett, the school’s infamous rich girl, when I accidentally broke her Cartier watch.

My boyfriend, Justin, carefully cradled her wrist, then turned to me and snapped, “How could you be so careless?! Can you even afford to pay for that?!”

It’s just a Cartier, right?

I’ve got a drawer full of Vacheron Constantins and Rolexes at home, and I’ve never seen him look at me with that much concern.

The student council organized a women’s basketball game. While trying to steal the ball from Scarlett, my elbow hit something hard.

It’s impossible to avoid bumps and scrapes in a game, so I didn’t think much of it. But then she screamed, “Stop! Hazel, you broke my watch!”

It was just a watch. Why was she so dramatic? The game was heating up, and our team was about to win. I really didn’t want to stop.

“I’m sorry, I’ll pay for it. Can we talk about this later? Let’s just finish the game first.”

Scarlett pulled a dirty move, snatching the ball from my hands and throwing it out of bounds. The game was forced to stop. I wasn’t happy about it.

She held her head high. “Hazel, this is a Cartier.”

I glanced at it. I’m not really into watches and rarely wear them. I just knew it was a Cartier, but I had no idea about the series or how much it cost.

It definitely wasn’t an antique, so it probably just cost several tens of thousands of dollars. Fixing the crystal wouldn’t cost much. There was no need for her to get so worked up.

Everyone gathered around. “Oh my God, Scarlett, what are you going to do?”

“The watch crystal is shattered like this, seriously, it makes my heart ache just looking at it!”

Seeing everyone looking so distressed, I asked, “What? Is this watch really expensive?”

Someone who knew their stuff said, “Of course! It’s a Blue Balloon!”

Scarlett shoved her wrist in front of me. “Over forty thousand!”

Everyone gasped. That was a bit different from the several hundred thousand I’d imagined.

At that price point, fixing the crystal would probably only be a thousand or two.

She looked impatient. “I have to send this watch to the boutique, and then they’ll have to send it to Switzerland for repairs. It’ll take at least a month, back and forth!”

How annoying.

I said, “I’ll just get you a new one.” I just wondered if she’d like a Vacheron Constantin.

My parents’ gifts to me usually start at tens of thousands of dollars and up, but I don’t like wearing watches, so I just store them at home.

I thought it would just be a spare one for her.

“A new one?” Scarlett scoffed. “This isn’t some knock-off! My dad brought it back from Switzerland for me!”

I wasn’t planning on getting her a fake one anyway. What was wrong with this person? I’d heard she had some money.

She swapped between LV and Chanel bags daily and often treated classmates to coffee. But my family wasn’t exactly struggling either.

That new building at school? My dad donated it.

I asked her, “So, what do you want to do?”

My boyfriend had just gone to get me water and was only returning now. After figuring out what happened, he looked at me reproachfully.

“How could you be so careless?!”

How was I supposed to know someone would wear a watch while playing basketball?! Doesn’t it feel uncomfortable? Doesn’t it affect your game?

“Hazel, look, can you even afford to pay for this?!”

Justin had never said such harsh words to me before. He carefully held Scarlett’s wrist, as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

It was just a stupid watch. My elbow still hurt.

“So, Scarlett, what do you want to do? How much do I owe you?”

She still looked heartbroken. “It has to go to the store first, then we’ll see.”

Fine.

“Okay, then just show me the receipt when you get it, and I’ll transfer the money.”

That seemed like a pretty reasonable solution.

After all that drama, I didn’t feel like playing anymore. Everyone else had lost their enthusiasm for the game too and just stood around chattering.

“Damn, how can Hazel be so calm? That’s at least a few thousand, right? It would take months of saving every penny to pay that back.”

“She probably has no idea how much it costs to replace the crystal! She probably thinks it’s just putting on a piece of glass.”

I usually kept a low profile at school. I never flaunted my wealth. My clothes and dorm supplies were very simple.

Even though they were expensive, they didn’t have big logos, so most people couldn’t tell what brand they were.

In a situation like this, I couldn’t exactly show them my bank account balance and shout, ‘I’m rich!’

Whatever. I couldn’t be bothered with them. I picked up my stuff and left the basketball court.