I quickly schooled my expression, trying to hide the momentary shock of seeing my account frozen.

But Ivan still managed to catch it. "What's wrong? Now you can finally see what I can do, huh?"

He looked at me with a smug expression. "I told you, Lottie and I are close. You think being her daughter means anything? She wouldn't let it slide even if God himself talked back to me. How about this—"

Ivan deliberately paused for a dramatic effect, then waved his phone as if he was about to be magnanimous. "You apologize to me in public, right now—admit that you disrespected an elder. Then return everything you bought during the Black Friday sales, and send the refunds to my card.

"Consider it a gesture of respect—something like an offering to smooth things over. As long as you do that, I'll have Lottie unfreeze your account. How about it?"

There were many people coming and going through the mailroom during lunchtime. Our conversation drew a crowd fast.

"I didn't know that the life of a businesswoman could be so wild. He really lucked out landing himself a sugar mommy even before he'd even graduated. That'll save him decades of effort!"

"Ivan might be broke, but he's good-looking and charming. Maybe Mindy's mom has been lonely, and he's exactly her type."

"But don't you think the young woman seems like she's unaware?"

"That's normal! Her mom's new fling is her daughter's classmate, who'll likely become her stepfather. It's only normal for her to hide it."

At that, a guy who seemed pretty chummy with Ivan bumped his shoulder and said meaningfully, "Damn, Ivan. Freezing your stepdaughter's account whenever you want, huh? Seems like you've secured your spot in the family. Should we start calling you Mr. Chairman now?"

Seeing their sleazy smirks and nosy stares, I scoffed coldly before pointing at a few of the loudest gossipers. "Spreading rumors and defamation are both crimes. Want me to call Livingston Group's legal department over to give you all a quick legal lesson?"

The chatter fell immediately. Those who were talking the loudest earlier went pale.

At that, Ivan let out a sigh. "I really didn't want to make a scene, Mindy. But—"

His tone shifted, sounding disappointed when he said, "I can't just watch you fall into the trap of capitalist consumerism. We're about to be family, you know. You have to think about—"

I hurled the parcel in my hand straight at Ivan before he could even finish. "Family, my foot! Stop flattering yourself! Even if my mom went blind, she still wouldn't look at you twice!"

"You can't talk like that! That's too much!"

"Even if you don't like your stepfather, you can't stop your mother from pursuing happiness!"

The crowd buzzed back to life the moment I threw the parcel.

Just then, the bell for class rang.

I pulled out my phone. "I wasn't planning to prove anything, but I don't have time to waste on all of you. I'll be holding everyone who chimed in earlier accountable—all of you!"

Ignoring the panicked looks flashing across their faces, I called Mom, who was abroad on a business trip.

There was no answer.

I hung up and called again. Still, no one picked up.

I frowned. The crowd, who had been about to disperse out of fear, stopped in place again.

I called Mom three times in a row, but the only response I managed to get was the cold, mechanical voicemail prompt.

Just then, Ivan leisurely pulled out his phone and smiled. "Looks like Lottie's busy. It's okay, I'll give her a call. She told me my number has priority alerts. She'll always pick up no matter how busy she is."

He started dialling under everyone's curious gaze. The call connected instantly.

Ivan deliberately put it on speaker, and a slightly rushed female voice came through. "Hello, Ivan? What's wrong? I'm in a meeting, so keep it short."

My mind kept replaying the phone call between Ivan and that woman even after class had ended.

The woman's voice and tone sounded so much like Mom. Anyone who didn't know Mom's phone habits would have believed the person on the other end was Charlotte Livingston, the chairwoman of Livingston Group.

But I knew that Mom would answer every call in a foreign language whenever she was abroad for a business trip, no matter who it was from. It was a negotiation instinct she was hard-wired into after years of dealing with business internationally.

But that woman had clearly omitted this detail. Her tone when she spoke our native language was superficial. She also didn't have that sharp, decisive edge Mom always carried when she was working.

So, who was the woman Ivan claimed he was about to marry? Did she have anything to do with my account being frozen?

Once I went back to the dorm, I forced myself to calm down and dialed Mom again. Still, it went unanswered.

I could only send her a long voice message detailing everything that happened at the mailroom, asking her to call me back as soon as she could.

Troubled, I opened my laptop and tried to distract myself by finishing the application for my exchange program. Just as I logged into the college's application system, my phone rang.

Overjoyed, I grabbed it immediately, only to find a familiar campus office number. It was Ms. Warner, my advisor for the exchange program.

"Hello, Ms. Livingston," Ms. Warner said, sounding a little confused and worried. "I just got a call from someone claiming to be your father. He requested to cancel your application for the exchange program. I just wanted to check with you if something urgent has happened at home."

…

I rushed to Ms. Warner's office, and I saw a familiar figure there.

"Can you stop your nonsense already, Ivan?" I yelled.

Ivan shrugged, looking completely unfazed. With a righteous confidence, he claimed, "I'm currently dating Mindy's mom. By seniority, that makes me her stepfather. I have every right to cancel her exchange program application. The reason is—"

He dug out his phone and pulled up the surveillance clip of me throwing my parcel at him outside the mailroom during the noon. "I don't think my stepdaughter is able to control her own emotions. She's not fit for an exchange program right now."

My vision went dark. "Please don't listen to him, Ms. Warner! My mom and I have nothing to do with him! And she'd never agree to cancel my exchange program application!"

"Mindy!" Ivan turned around and looked at me helplessly. "You saw it for yourself. I was the only one who could reach your mom. Why are you still being so stubborn?"

Ms. Warner looked between the two of us, her brows pulled tight. "Mr. Judd, you kept claiming that you're Ms. Mindy Livingston's stepfather and that you're speaking on Ms. Charlotte Livingston's behalf.

"Do you have any documentation? Like a marriage certificate or an authorization letter from Ms. Charlotte Livingston?"

Ivan's smile froze for a moment, but he recovered quickly. He spread his hands casually. "Lottie and I are about to get our marriage registered very soon, Ms. Warner. It's just a matter of time.

"As her soon-to-be legal husband, is it really wrong for me to care about her daughter's education? As for the paperwork, I'll naturally provide it once we register our marriage."

"We cannot accept your claims without proper documentation." Ms. Warner's tone turned serious as she continued, "Ms. Livingston's exchange program application will move forward as planned. Please stop interfering in her affairs as if you were her parent, Mr. Judd."

Ivan's face darkened instantly. He shot me a vicious glare. "So, you insist on learning the hard way, huh? You're going to regret this, Mindy."

After thanking Ms. Warner, I hurried after Ivan as he walked out of the office.

"Livingston Group's legal department will make you pay for whatever stunt you're trying to pull," I warned.

Before Ivan could reply, my phone started buzzing violently in my pocket. Multiple notifications poured in at once, and my brows tightened with each one.

First, it was a text from the student council president, Edison Mayes. He politely reminded me to manage my family conflicts well, suggesting that I step down as vice president and hand off my responsibilities for now.

Then, Amy Graham, the coordinator of the well-received campus startup incubator project I'd been involved in, texted me too. She informed me that my core team membership had been suspended, as the team wished to work with members who displayed more emotional stability.

Even the volunteer service club I frequently helped out with removed my name from their event roster.

I stared at Ivan, knowing the people who were behind this sudden wave of changes were him and the crowd at the mailroom, who'd taken the half-story they heard as the truth.

Just as my fingers went numb with anger, his voice came from above me. "See that, Mindy? This is what happens when you don't listen. And this is just a warning for wasting money on Black Friday sales. Something worse will be waiting for you if you still refuse to behave and apologize to me."

At that, Ivan let out a cold snort before he turned and walked away.

Just then, Mom finally called me back. "What's wrong, sweetheart? I was in a meeting, so my phone was on silent. I saw all your missed calls. Did something happen?"

After our call ended, I checked the flight confirmation she sent me. I let out a sigh in relief when I saw that she was already on her way back.

The weight pressing on my chest finally lifted a little at the thought of Ivan's ridiculous lies about to collapse soon.

I was about to head back to the dorm to pack up and take a hot shower. But the moment I stepped downstairs, two uniformed officers stopped right in front of me. "Are you Mindy Livingston from Room 1031? We need your cooperation with an investigation regarding a theft case."

…

The atmosphere in the temporary conference room that the college had arranged felt suffocatingly tense.

My head throbbed as I stared at the stacks of cash on the table, supposedly "found" in my wardrobe.

Ivan stared, "This is my fault, officers. I failed to educate her properly…"

He pointed at the money with a disappointed look. "I trusted her mother, so I told Mindy to distribute aid funds to the underprivileged students. I never imagined she'd use the school's funds to satisfy her own material desires!"

Beside Ivan were the same two young men from the mailroom who'd sided with him earlier. They were nodding enthusiastically.

"That's right, officers. We saw everything earlier. Ivan kept trying to talk sense into her and get her to return everything she bought. She refused and even threw a parcel at him."

"Exactly! Ivan told her not to splurge, but she was acting so en. She said that the money was hers the moment it touched her hand, and no one could tell her what to do."