“Oh, screw off. His mom is our housekeeper. Back in the old days, Toby Fox would've been a house-born servant in our family.”

“I just worry he'll trip over his own feet and embarrass himself somewhere else. And then who looks bad? Me.”

House-born servant. Those words drove into my chest like needles.

A fine, spreading ache bloomed behind them.

I gathered what courage I had and spoke, barely above a whisper.

“It's fine, actually I……”

Before I could finish, Clyde walked over.

“Willow, you were so angry you smashed your phone just now. Want me to get it fixed?”

Willow was still fuming. She didn't even look at the phone before hurling it into the trash can.

“If it's broken, it's garbage. It's not like it was worth anything. Why would I waste my time getting that fixed?”

The corner of Clyde's mouth curved up. He turned to me with a look that said everything.

“She's right. Something that cheap and embarrassing was never worthy of her in the first place.”

“Come on, I'll take you to pick out a new one.”

He draped his arm around Willow and left without looking back.

My roommate Patrick Finch grabbed my arm, voice tight.

“Toby, wasn't that the phone you gave her last week? For her birthday?”

“That's insane. You worked side jobs for months, skipped meals, cut every corner you could just to buy that.”

“Even if she's loaded, she can't just trash someone's gift to their face like that!”

He was fuming on my behalf. I stared at the trash can for a long time, then smiled.

“It's fine. She's right. It wasn't worthy of her.”

The thing is, Willow didn't used to be like this.

She used to keep my rough sketches right alongside her expensive collectible figures, ruffling my hair and saying:

“Little Toby, you're so talented. When I grow up, I'm totally hiring you to design my mansion.”

“It'll have two studies. One for me to play games in, one for you to draw in, so you can't complain I'm too loud.”

Thirteen-year-old Toby Fox turned redder than his paints, quietly thrilled.

So I was part of her future too.

She must like me. At least a little.

So I had to work harder. Had to become worthy of her.

Then came junior year. I'd sprained my ankle, and her friends saw her helping me to the car.

“Willow, why are you always going to and from school with the housekeeper's son?”

“He's dressed in that cheap plastic polyester. Aren't you worried about breaking out in a rash? Don't tell me you actually like him.”

Willow's expression froze. She shoved me to the ground, and her voice was someone I didn't recognize.

“Don't be disgusting. If I were going to like anyone, it'd be a rich boy from a family that actually matches mine. Him? As if he'd ever be good enough.”

“We just live in the same direction. I was being generous enough to let him ride along!”

Clyde, freshly back from abroad, blinked and smiled warmly.

“Relax, Willow's not that desperate.”

“By the way, my uncle and aunt reserved a restaurant tonight and wanted to invite you and your mom. The driver bailed last minute. Could you drive me to pick them up?”

He glanced at my swollen ankle, looking mildly inconvenienced.

“But this kind of event, it probably wouldn't be appropriate to bring Toby along. And the rain's really coming down, so getting a ride won't be easy……”

Everyone knew what a private gathering between elite families meant. Business. Or matchmaking.

Willow was silent for a few seconds. Then she tossed her umbrella at me.

“Toby, just walk home on your own. If I brought you along, the Sawyers would think I was trying to insult them.”

“I'll have someone at home give your mom a raise. And from now on……don't wear clothes like that anymore.”

I didn't take the umbrella. I limped away.

My ankle screamed with every step, and the rain hammered down cold against my skin — punishment for daring to dream.

That night, after I'd washed up, a friend request came through on my phone.

“Hello, Mr. Fox. I'm the general manager of Pinnacle Group. Congratulations on passing your interview.”

I blinked. That fast?

Pinnacle Group was headquartered in the capital — the largest multinational architecture and design conglomerate in the country, with notoriously demanding hiring standards.

But for a company that size, did the general manager really have nothing better to do?

“Don't worry, I'm not a scammer. I'm the direct supervisor for your position and wanted to discuss the role with you ahead of time.”

“If you confirm you're joining, please accept the friend request as soon as possible and let me know your start date so HR can prepare the contract.”

So that was all it was.

Before I could reply, a text from an unknown number buzzed in.

“Little Toby, I heard your eyes were red again today?”

"Fine, so you've got no family background, no body to speak of, and zero personality. But I guess your face is passable.”

“I ordered a Black Forest cake to your dorm. Don't be mad at me, okay?"

When I first arrived at the Morton house, I barely spoke. All I did was sit with my head down, drawing little houses.

Willow tried everything — jokes, toys — and none of it could get a word out of me.

Until one day she pointed at my drawing and wrinkled her nose—

“That's the ugliest house I've ever seen. Did your dad teach you that? Ugh, his drawings must be terrible.”

I lifted my head, indignant.

“My dad draws the best houses in the whole world!”

Willow broke into a grin. “So the little mute can talk after all.”

I couldn't even say what hurt, but the tears came rolling down anyway.

She panicked instantly. “Don't cry! I was just talking nonsense!”

“What if I buy you a Black Forest cake to make up for it?”

The cake was just as sweet as the ones my dad used to buy me. I stopped crying on the spot.

After that, whenever she wanted to pull me out of my shell, she'd pick a fight on purpose, then bribe me with cake to make it right.

Thinking of this, I typed something I hadn't planned to—

“If I left the Morton house one day — left the city — would you be sad?”

The moment I hit send, her call came through.

My heartbeat was deafening. I pressed accept with shaking fingers.

The next second, Willow's scoff filled my ear.

“Little Toby, so you're awake after all. Then why are you dreaming?”

“Of course not. Not in a million years.”

Faintly, in the background, I heard Clyde's voice.

“Willow, so the wallpaper on your new phone is my photo now, right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

I went still.

That summer, we'd binged a drama together. The female lead set the male lead's photo as her phone wallpaper.

Willow said romance dramas were cringey, but she still sat through it with me.

When she caught me staring at the screen with envy, she shoved a chip into my mouth and said, half-jealous herself—

“She's not even as pretty as me. Are you seriously that starstruck?”

“When I get a boyfriend someday, I'll do the same thing — so he never has to be jealous of anyone else. You just sit tight and wait.”

I thought she was hinting at something. My heart pounded so hard it hurt.

Turns out she wasn't telling me to wait to become her boyfriend.

She was telling me to wait and watch her be happy with someone else.

I hung up without a word and accepted the friend request on my phone.

By accident, I tapped into her profile.

When I saw the photo, I froze.

The general manager of Pinnacle Group was her?

Clyde took a photo of Willow's phone wallpaper and posted it online.

By the next day, news that they were together had spread everywhere.

Willow never confirmed it. She never denied it either.

But in everyone else's eyes, silence was confirmation enough.

And me — the ‘lovesick fool’ — I became a tool. Anyone who wanted a shot at a job at Sawyer Corp figured the fastest way to Clyde's good side was through me.

It started Friday evening. I was getting dinner in the cafeteria when someone slammed into me out of nowhere, sending food all over my clothes.

The guy just shrugged, grinning.

“Oh man, Fox the Top Student — my bad. My eyes went blurry for a second there. Thought some dog in heat was charging at me.”

“Food's a little dirty, but you can still pick through it. You and your mom probably eat the Mortons' leftovers all the time anyway, right?”

“A broke nobody like you thinking he deserves Willow? Her and Clyde are the real deal!”

I said nothing. Tossed my jacket, bought a cup of instant noodles, and headed back to the dorm.

The second I walked in, I saw it. Every color of paint, splashed across my bedding.

Patrick and our other roommate were out. Only Steve Perry was there.

I looked at his darting eyes and didn't say a word. Just gathered the sheets and comforter into my arms and carried them to the washroom.

My mother had sewn this bedding by hand, stitch by stitch. I wasn't throwing it away.

It took hours to scrub the paint out. When I finally got back, the door was deadbolted from the inside.

I stood there a moment, then knocked softly.

“Steve. Can you let me in?”

His voice came through the door, strained and helpless.

“Toby, please don't make this harder for me.”

“Clyde's uncle knows the boss at the company that hired me. One word from Clyde and I lose everything. Can you just not be selfish about this?”

My hand froze against the door, then dropped to my side.

I didn't understand. Yes, I had feelings for Willow.

But I'd never hurt anyone. Why was I the one being punished?

My phone rang. Willow.

“Getting bold, aren't you, Little Toby? You didn't even know I got a new phone? Add my new account already.”

“I'm in Switzerland with Clyde, skiing. The food here is terrible. When I get back you'd better cook me something good. If you behave, maybe I'll bring you along next time so you can see the world.”

“Hello? Why aren't you talking? Gone mute again?”

Her thesis defense for business management was already over. No wonder she had time to kill.

Any other day I would've asked what she wanted to eat. But right now I was just so tired.

“Willow, there's something I need to tell you……”

She cut me off before I could finish, her voice sharp with alarm.

“Don't tell me you're pulling some last-day-of-college stunt where you confess your feelings and then threaten to freeze yourself to death if I say no?”

“Please. Just don't. Think about who you are and who I am. If I'm picking someone, obviously it's going to be someone like Clyde.”

“I've got you on speaker right now, by the way. My friends are all listening. Don't make yourself a stain on my life.”

Then she seemed to remember something.

“Oh, right. Clyde wants to train at Morton Group for a while after graduation, but that position's full. So you should go be a janitor first. I mean, you already help your mom clean all the time at home anyway.”

“Once he moves back to his family's company, you can have the spot. Gotta go, looks like Clyde took a fall on the slopes. Bye.”

My chest felt packed with cotton—thick, bitter, suffocating.

I pressed my hands over my face and laughed at myself, and the tears leaked out between my fingers.

So that's what I was. A stain on her life.

No matter how hard I tried, to Willow I'd never be anything more than the housekeeper's kid.

Curfew had passed. I sat in the freezing corridor, locked out and locked in.

Just like all those years living under the Mortons' roof.

The next morning, I packed my things and went back to the Morton residence.

My mother startled when she saw me：

“Toby, I thought you said you weren't coming home until after your defense on Tuesday?”

I didn't want her to worry. I just smiled.

“Couple days won't make a difference. I missed you.”

Then I collapsed.

When I opened my eyes again, I learned I'd spiked a fever. A hundred and two.

My mother stroked my face, hurting for me.

“The bedding you brought home was soaking wet. My boy. Someone hurt you, didn't they?”

“Was it because of……Miss Morton?”

I didn't answer. I just buried my face against her waist, my voice muffled：