As a low-income student who's specifically recruited by the elite college this year, I can still feel my hands trembling as I clutch the letter that tells me I get to study for free.

Not only are my tuition and miscellaneous fees waived, but I also get to receive 30 thousand dollars' worth of student grant per year. I even get to have free access to the leather seats inside the library, the equipment inside the gym, as well as the aerial garden on the roof.

The best surprise for me has to be the cafeteria. All low-income students get a 50% discount on their meals, but the quality of their food doesn't decrease at all. Best beef is used in the steak dinners offered by the cafeteria, whereas a seafood platter showcases the entire huge lobster. Even the most basic mac and cheese meal has different types of freshly grated cheese baked into it.

As I sit in the brightly lit classroom and look at the rich students around me, who wear custom-made uniforms and have branded watches latched around their wrists, all I have is one thought.

I must be on good terms with them.

But my seatmate, who's also a low-income student, isn't as thrilled as me. In fact, she just looks at the people around her with disdain in her eyes.

After the first lesson, a rich student arrives at our table. He might not sound polite at all, but at least he's not putting on airs.

"Do any of you have time to head over to the cafeteria and buy me breakfast?"

I'm about to respond to him when a shrill voice booms out next to me.

"You're so annoying! What, you think you rule the campus since you're rich? Had I known that this classroom is filled with useless scions like you who just waste their lives away on nothing, I wouldn't have enrolled in this college in the first place!"

The classroom went dead silent. One could almost hear a pen drop.

The lazy look on Steven Bart's face vanished at once. His expression darkened. I jumped to my feet and tugged on Cecily Young's sleeve, then turned to him with an awkward smile.

"She's just… I'll go instead, Mr. Bart!"

The gloom on Steven's face eased a little. He pulled out his phone and exchanged numbers. "I'll text you the list."

I clenched my phone and was about to leave when Cecily suddenly grabbed my arm, her nails nearly digging into my skin. "Are you crazy? Why would you want to run errands for a spoiled rich brat like him?"

"Excuse me?" I frowned and shook her hand off, countering, "You don't want to do it? Fine. But don't stop me."

Her face flushed red before quickly turning pale. She raised her chin and snorted coldly. "I'm not spineless like you. I came here to learn, not to serve a bunch of parasites!"

Those words finally set Steven off. He took a step forward and looked down at Cecily from above, his voice cold.

"You don't like it? Get out. Do you think your tuition waiver and scholarship just fell from the sky? The so-called parasites you look down on donate enough money to the faculty every year to cover ten years of your tuition."

He pointed at her backpack, a custom version specially approved for low-income students, three times more expensive than a regular one.

"The clothes you wear, the things you use—all of them are paid for with the money you despise so much. Don't even try to act morally superior while you're here. It's too late."

Cecily's lips trembled, but her eyes stayed stubborn. She lifted her chin and argued, "I came here for the teachers. If it weren't for the good faculty, I wouldn't want to stay here! You can donate all the money you want, but you'll never stop being idiots!"

Watching her act so brazenly haughty, I finally lost my patience and snapped, "Do you have any shame at all? The college waives your tuition and provides you with financial aid, and you don't even feel grateful at all.

"Instead, you're here nitpicking and acting superior. If you get in my way again, I won't be so nice the next time."

She bit down hard on her lower lip, tears threatening to roll down her face. In the end, she held back her tears, flung my hand away, grabbed her backpack, and stomped toward the door.

As she passed Steven, she hurled one more insult. "Just being in the same classroom as people like you makes me feel dirty!"

The door slammed shut with a bang. I quickly turned to the other students with an apologetic smile. "Don't mind her. She's just not right in the head. She's got nothing to do with me, by the way."

I turned to Steven. "I'll buy your breakfast right away. I'll be quick!"

With that, I clenched my phone and ran toward the cafeteria. I couldn't let that ungrateful leech ruin the chance I had miraculously received.

…

I was the eldest daughter in my family and had a younger brother who bled me dry.

On the day I turned 18 years old, I received my first birthday present. It was an order to marry Howard Backman, a disabled man from my hometown.

The night I climbed out the window and ran, I had only one thing in my pocket. It was my brother's discarded old smartphone. The screen was cracked, and the battery would die frequently.

While waiting for my SAT results, I worked in a restaurant, washing dishes. My fingers stayed soaked in water all day until they turned pale and numb.

On the day the scores were released, I sat in an internet cafe. When I read "Score: 1540. Meets application criteria for highly selective colleges", I felt no joy at all. Instead, my throat tightened.

No matter how high my score was, I had no money for tuition and no home to go back to.

One day, my phone received a message from an unknown number. It was a special admission offer from an elite college, with a full tuition waiver. The fees would all be covered, plus a 30-thousand-dollar annual financial aid.

I stared at the screen for a long time before tears rolled down my cheeks. This wasn't an invitation at all—it was a lifeline.

That was why I couldn't understand people like Cecily. We were both standing here only because of the faculty's kindness, yet she treated the people who gave us this chance like enemies. She hurled cruel words at them as if they were knives.

I was running toward the classroom with the breakfast Steven had asked for when the bell rang. My hands shook, gripping the sandwich and the hot milk, afraid I was too slow.

However, when he took them from me, he softly said, "Thanks. I appreciate it."

For a moment, all the hardships I had felt on the way seemed to vanish.

After class, my phone vibrated. It was a message from Steven, offering 500 dollars for another errand. I stared at the numbers and couldn't help laughing. That was more than I made washing dishes in the restaurant for three days.

It felt like I was one step closer to finally being able to finish college in peace.

Before my laughter could fade, a hand shot out and snatched my phone, smashing it to the floor. The cracked screen shattered completely into a spiderweb, like the tiny glimpse of hope I had fought to see was destroyed in an instant.

The sharp crack of the phone hitting the floor cut through the noisy break, and the laughter around us fizzled out.

I snapped my head up, and there Cecily was, standing before me with an icy gaze. Beneath her foot was my cracked phone, and she ground into it as if it were some filthy thing.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Cecily?"

I rushed forward to pick up my phone, but she shoved me hard. I slammed into the desk leg, the pain shooting through my back. I gasped.

Cecily towered over me, a cruel smile curling her lips. "Crazy? You're the crazy one. You're running errands for those rich brats over a few lousy bucks? How can you stoop that low?"

She pointed at the transfer record still showing on my shattered phone and shrieked, "500 dollars got you all happy like this? Don't your parents feel ashamed knowing you're here working like a maid for them?"

Her words struck a chord. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms, my voice shaking.

"What's wrong with being an errand runner? I earn my own money, and I don't steal or cheat. I'm a hundred times better than someone like you who lives off their kindness but spits on everyone else."

"Kindness?"

Cecily reacted as if she had heard a joke. Her laugh was sudden, bitter, and almost hysterical, tears pooling in her eyes.

"What kindness? They use their pocket change to parade us around like trophies! You really think these arrogant brats respect you? He just thinks you're easy to order around, a maid he can use!"

She got more and more worked up, reaching out to shove me. I dodged but accidentally crashed into a nearby desk. Books were scattered all over the floor.

"Don't go too far, Cecily!"

I grabbed her fallen books, glaring at her and shouting, "I don't care what you think! I just want to study and earn a living! I don't want to be like you, living in your own bubble while blaming everyone else for your life!"

Her face turned crimson, her gaze screaming anger and reluctance. She parted her lips, wanting to say more, but a voice interrupted her, "What are you guys doing?"

I turned to see the lecturer. He frowned and walked over.

When he saw the shattered phone and scattered books, he turned gloomy. "The class is about to start, and you're causing a scene here? Get back to your seats now!"

Cecily shot me one last furious glare before reluctantly going back to her seat. I knelt and carefully picked up my phone. The screen was completely shattered, and the display underneath was ruined.

I gritted my teeth and shoved it back into my pocket, then returned to my seat and tried to focus on the lesson.

After that, Cecily didn't say another word. I could feel it in the way she looked at me. Underneath the old disgust, there was now a deeper layer of resentment.

…

The last class of the afternoon had just ended when a brand-new smartphone box suddenly landed on my desk. I looked up to see Sonia Harrison, the heiress of the Harrison family real estate empire.

She was usually aloof in class, never spoke more than a few words, and somehow never repeated the same Chanel outfit twice.

"This is for you," she said somewhat coldly, but devoid of her usual arrogance. She crossed her arms and raised her chin slightly. "Didn't you break your phone this morning? I happen to have an extra one."

I froze for a moment and quickly tried to push the box back. "I can't accept this, Ms. Harrison. I—"

"Enough. I don't want to hear any refusals," she interrupted me, her fingers brushing the edge of the box. "And it's not like it's free. I'm going to Roque Fashion Week next week, so I need you to handle my assignments this week. Consider this your payment."

I gripped the box, a mix of shock and joy running through me, and nodded. "Okay, I'll do it. Thank you for the phone."

Sonia raised an eyebrow, and as she returned, the hem of her skirt brushed past the desk, leaving a faint trail of perfume. "Have the assignments ready by tomorrow morning. Make sure the quality is good."

The next morning, I handed the completed assignments to Sonia. She flipped through a couple of pages, and for once, the corner of her mouth twitched into a faint smile. She didn't say anything else and tucked the papers away.

When I came out of the restroom, a sharp, piercing voice stabbed through the hallway. "Someone was just crying over a broken phone yesterday, and now you've got the latest model on the market. What a quick turnaround."

Cecily stood in front of me, arms crossed. Her eyes were like poisoned needles, fixed on the corner of the phone peeking out of my pocket.

I was just about to answer when she suddenly lunged with a mock "Oh!"

Her insulated mug tilted, and boiling water spilled straight onto my arm. The scalding heat shot up my arm. I yelped and jumped back. The sleeve of my uniform was soaked.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you?" I snapped.

Cecily barely flinched at my burning arm. Instead, she leaned closer and deliberately raised her voice so everyone could hear.

"Oh, Naomi. You receive financial aid, only to turn around and accept gifts from these rich kids. Aren't you afraid of losing your special admission privileges?"

All eyes in the hallway looked at us. I clenched my fists, forced my anger down, and shot back, "This is payment for the work I did for Sonia. I earned it! What gives you the right to interfere?"

"Did you say you earned it?"

She let out a mocking laugh, then shifted her tone, her gaze dark and menacing. "Or maybe you're just using 'work' as an excuse to forget that you're just a poor, low-income student, to forget that your parents are still waiting for you at home."

Her words were stabbing. I jabbed a finger at her nose, my voice trembling, but every word sharp and clear. "Don't bring my parents into this, Cecily! Just because your heart's full of bitterness doesn't mean everyone else's is! Why do you always pick on me?"

I forced her back a step. Her face was drained of color, but she still tried to stand her ground. "I just can't stand you sucking up to them! Using your poor-student status as a stepping stone just makes you more disgusting than the rich kids!"

"Can't stand me?"

I laughed suddenly, the sound dripping with sarcasm. "If you can't stand me, just leave. No one's stopping you. Why don't you enroll in private or top international colleges that you rave so much about?"

I paused, letting my following words hit harder. "Oh, that's right. You score 30 points less than me on the SAT. You'll never reach their cutoffs. So, all you can do is hang around here and get jealous when someone else does better than you.

"Isn't that what this is all about?"

It was like a slap in Cecily's face. Embarrassment, anger, and helplessness flashed interchangeably on her visage.