My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy novel Chapter 201

Chapter 201 Saying No To The Money

The crisp white paper hovered in the space between us. It caught the faint glow of the digital control panel on the leather console.

Arthur Steinmann held my salvation in his right hand.

He offered a pristine transcript. He offered a full medical school tuition. He offered a house in the hills for my mother. He offered an

escape from the grease, the double shifts, and the broken concrete of the East Side.

I stared at the envelope. My lungs burned.

He did not ask me to commit a crime. He did not ask me to lie on a witness stand. He asked for a simple transaction.

74

End the relationship. Walk away from Ryder.

“Take it, Arthur instructed. His voice lacked any trace of warmth. It sounded like a bank vault sliding shut. “You possess a logical mind, Miss Petrova. Use it. Look at your faded uniform. Look at the dirt under your fingernails. You do not belong in my son’s world. You belong in a laboratory. You belong in a medical residency. I am handing you the keys to your proper future.”

I kept my hands resting on my denim jeans. I felt the rough texture of the fabric.

“You think you understand my future,” I said. My voice sounded small in the massive, soundproof cabin.

“I understand poverty,” the billionaire countered. He rested his arm on the center console. “It is a disease. It eats away at potential. It forces brilliant minds to scrub vinyl booths for loose change. Your mother understands this. She sacrifices her physical health to keep you in that prestigious school. If you reject this offer, you spit in her face. You condemn her to die in that kitchen.

The guilt hit my chest. It felt like a physical blow.

He used my mother as a weapon. He knew my greatest weakness. I spent four years memorizing complex equations to save her from the diner. I failed the midterms to save Ryder, and the failure destroyed my mother’s dream. Now, Arthur offered to resurrect the dream.

I closed my eyes.

I pictured my mother’s hands. The skin looked cracked and red from the industrial dish soap. I pictured the deep lines around her mouth when she counted the coins in the tip jar.

If I took the envelope, the struggle ended tonight.

But then another image pushed its way into my mind.

I pictured a dark walk-in closet inside the massive Steinmann estate. I pictured the top shelf. I pictured a cheap cardboard shoebox sitting hidden among designer boots and expensive suits.

1/3

13:57 Fri, Jul 10

Chapter 201 Saying No To The Money

I pictured the chewed yellow pencil.

I pictured the blue ink star eraser.

Ryder kept those items for four years. He picked them up off the floor of the Crestview library. He kept them because he noticed my

existence when the rest of the elite treated me like a ghost. He watched me from the shadows. He built a silent monument to my hard

work.

He did not offer me a transaction. He offered devotion.

He offered to take the sole blame in Principal Miller’s office. He shattered his bathroom mirror when he realized he failed to protect me. He walked miles in the freezing rain to climb through my window. He surrendered his massive trust fund yesterday to fight for my honor.

Arthur wanted me to trade that raw, beautiful loyalty for a piece of paper.

I opened my eyes. I looked at the billionaire.

I saw the cold calculation in his stare. He possessed billions of dollars. He controlled real estate, corporate boards, and the Crestview

administration.

But he lacked power over his own son.

“You are afraid,” I realized. The truth slipped past my lips.

Arthur narrowed his eyes. The frozen lake in his stare cracked. “Excuse me?”

74

“You are terrified,” I repeated. My voice gained strength. The fear in my chest evaporated, replaced by a clear, sharp understanding. “You drove a luxury car to the East Side. You waited outside a greasy diner in the dark. You brought security operatives. You did not do this out of charity. You did this because Ryder met with his trust lawyers today.”

Arthur tightened his grip on the white envelope. The paper crinkled.

“Ryder challenged your authority,’ I continued. “He refused to follow your script. You realize you cannot control him anymore. He is willing to walk away from your empire, and that terrifies you. You cannot buy his obedience, so you came here to buy mine.”

‘I am offering you a gift, Arthur warned. His tone dropped to a lethal register.

“You are offering a bribe,’ I corrected. I sat up straight against the soft leather seat. “You want me to break his heart. You want me to tell him I chose the money over his loyalty. You want me to prove that your toxic worldview is correct. If I take this check, I validate your belief that everyone has a price tag. I prove that love is just a cheap transaction.”

“Love does not pay the rent, Miss Petrova. Love does not secure a medical degree.”

“Maybe not, I agreed. “But love does not lock people in cages, either.”

2/3

13:57 Fri, Jul 10

Chapter 201 Saying No To The Money

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify