The Moment I Stepped Into His World as the Fake Girlfriend, I Became the Real Prize novel Chapter 27

If Xavier hadn't been playing the broke guy, that girl would have to be an absolute idiot to pick some low-tier rich kid over him!

So he's had this twisted "pretend to be poor" fetish for years!

"What do you mean, 'playing poor'?"

Sterling looked confused for a moment before shaking his head in denial. "He wasn't playing poor. Xavier went through a massive rebellious phase. He cut all ties with our family and basically lived like an ordinary guy."

"I don't know the exact details, but because of that incident, he returned to the family and never had a shortage of women since. But he stopped believing in love, and completely lost faith in women's sincerity."

Elena was speechless.

She honestly didn't even know where to begin, ultimately unable to hold back a curse. "Seriously? Is he insane? He gets screwed over by one girl and suddenly goes to war with the entire female population? He's an actual lunatic!"

The second the words left her mouth, she realized her mistake. Xavier was Sterling's brother, after all.

Sterling probably wouldn't think Xavier was crazy; he'd probably feel sorry for him!

"He is a lunatic. I've tried talking sense into him, but he's too paranoid to listen to a word I say! Still, don't ever say that to his face—it won't end well for you."

To her utter surprise, Sterling completely agreed.

"I promise I won't. I'm not stupid, I'm trying to avoid him as much as possible!"

Knowing Xavier's dark past finally gave Elena the full picture of why he had made that bet and approached her disguised as a broke student.

He wasn't just paranoid—he was pathologically insecure! Getting hurt once turned him into a petty tyrant determined to exact revenge on completely innocent women!

"Also, you need to stop acting so recklessly. I'm around Xavier enough to shield you, but when it comes to Alistair and Lawrence..."

Sterling hesitated before bringing up Lawrence first. "Lawrence is allergic to women. You absolutely cannot touch him under any circumstances, or the consequences will be disastrous!"

Allergic to women?

Elena laughed in amusement. "Are you serious? A man being allergic to women?"

But Sterling remained entirely deadpan, completely devoid of any humor. "It's true. If he touches a woman, he breaks out in hives. If it's severe enough... his heart literally aches."

"That's fucking... fascinating."

Sterling snapped back defensively. Seeing her continue to beam at him, he finally frowned. "And stop smiling at people like that. It's inappropriate."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized "inappropriate" was a bit harsh, so he quickly added, "I mean, smiling like that is just going to attract the wrong kind of guys."

She was already breathtakingly stunning. Paired with those luminous, watery eyes, every time she smiled at him, it felt entirely too seductive.

"I only smile like this at good guys."

Unbothered by his warning, she gave a slow, deliberate blink. Set against the crisp blue and white of her uniform, she looked cunning, playful, and so unbearably cute it made his heart go soft.

Sterling stared blankly for a second before his face abruptly iced over. He whipped his head back toward the window, aggressively ignoring her.

Fuck!

What on earth was he saying?

This was Elena! A girl who worked at a club!

Being inappropriate was literally her job description. She would do anything for cash, including selling her body.