Chapter 3

Had I landed in the wrong book?

On the surface, I was some disposable extra whose only purpose was to serve the male lead. But secretly, I was the rich boy’s girlfriend?

Oh, my.

I tossed my hair. What a surprise.

Someone should’ve told me sooner. If I’d known I was dating a rich guy, why would I have worked dawn to dusk selling cold noodle salad?

That stuff was exhausting to make and barely earned a thing.

I studied Noah for three seconds, then deliberately pitched my voice higher. “Noah, I just saw all this money sitting here, all alone. I couldn’t bear to let it be lonely, so I put it away for you. We’re dating, after all.”

A strange expression crossed Noah’s face. He looked as if he’d swallowed shit.

Ethan, who had apparently entered without me noticing, grabbed my arm without another word.

“Chloe Parker, stop embarrassing yourself. Come home with me.”

…

I wasn’t the only one stunned. Even the comments fell silent. After a long pause, a few scattered messages drifted past.

[??? Why does the male lead know this extra? Did I miss something?]

[You sure did. She’s not some irrelevant extra. The synopsis says she’s the male lead’s first love who dies young. She’s also the daughter of Noah’s former nanny.]

[…I really should know these novel tropes by now.]

As the comments launched into a heated discussion, my smile collapsed.

Seriously? All that mystery, and it turned out I was just doomed to die young.

The comments explained my current identity: Ethan Grant’s tragic first love. And I would be dying very soon.

Of starvation, no less. Because Ethan would rather die than accept charity, I scrimped and saved. I drank cold water so he could have porridge, ultimately becoming the first person in the modern age to successfully starve herself to death for a male lead.

After I died, Ethan finally saw the light. He swallowed his pride, accepted other people’s help, and overcame endless hardships to become the richest man around. Then he grew old with the heroine.

Lovely story. Author, please never write again.

Now that I knew the ending, I started working Ethan over.

At dinner, I frowned at the bowl of porridge the pampered young master had made, looking deeply wronged.

“Good Lord. You call this porridge? I could take off my shoes and climb in, and not one grain of rice would stick between my toes.”

Ethan held a bowl of cold water, misery written all over his face. “Chloe, there really isn’t anything left in the house.”

With one hand on my hip and a spoon in the other, I shot him a glare.

“Then go earn some money! What are you waiting for? A warm embrace from the wind?”

“Oh.”

Ethan lowered his head and fell silent.

I looked down at him, feeling wonderfully satisfied.

Then I opened a delivery app and ordered fried chicken, which I ate under his resentful gaze.

Please. Even if the male lead starved to death, I wasn’t about to join him.

We didn’t live like that for long before an opportunity arrived.

One day, while I was working a casual shift, the comments exploded again.

[Holy crap. He’s been living on watery porridge for almost two weeks, and he’s still pulling this shit? Come on! Can you get it together? Just take the money!]

[I’m so anxious I’ve paced around my shoebox apartment ten times. All I can do is scratch my butt. I’ve never felt so helpless about not being able to reach through a screen and slap someone.]

[God help me. I’ve already dug out every note I took in college.

One word from Noah, and I’ll make him the king of study notes.]

[First time I’ve ever hated a male lead for being so principled. If only our background girl were there.]

[She’s got it rough. A full day of backbreaking work, and she still earns less than the spare change Noah’s handing out.]

My hand stopped in the middle of mixing sauce for a customer. I whipped off my apron and walked away.

Work? Screw work. I quit!

When I reached the place mentioned in the comments, Ethan was clutching his notes, about to throw them in a trash can.

I was furious. I marched up and smacked him hard across the back of the head.

Then, under Noah’s stunned gaze, I handed the notes over.

Noah stared at me blankly before placing a thick stack of bills in my hand.

The comments erupted on cue:

[Holy shit, our background girl delivers! Noah’s so sweet too. Manifesting this kind of luck!]

[Honestly, Noah’s pretty pitiful. His parents died when he was little, and his grandpa raised him. Then he grew up, and Grandpa started favoring someone else. Sure, he loses it and gives the male lead a hard time, but all he ever does is hand him money. There’s no real humiliation. In the end, the male lead’s revenge drives him further and further from his grandpa, and he drinks himself to death in his eighty-million-dollar mansion.]

[Exactly. He’s still thinking about his grandpa when he dies, not knowing the old man is already dead. The billionaire has cancer. He’s afraid nobody will look after Noah once he’s gone, and the male lead is so talented that he decides to support him, hoping he’ll take care of his grandson someday.]

My heart ached. I couldn’t help looking at Noah with tenderness.

Oh, you poor child.

You don’t have to pretend to be strong anymore.

Your backup has arrived!