Bankrupt and Betrayed: The Wallflower Who Bought My Life Chapter 2

Life really is unpredictable. Who could have guessed that my family, once the wealthiest real estate tycoons in the state, would one day lose everything? And who could have imagined that the boy who was once as small and insignificant as an ant would become a billionaire tech mogul everyone tried to impress?

I let out a sigh. Realizing he was just an old classmate slowly eased the nervous tension I had about meeting an important client.

"After all these years, I never expected to see you again."

Truth be told, Rowan was the only classmate I had seen in a decade.

After the bankruptcy, I transferred to a rundown public high school in a bleak rust-belt town. Despite the terrible facilities and environment, I managed to claw my way into a top-tier university.

At the very least, holding a Finance degree from an elite school got me through the doors of a Fortune 500 company. I worked myself to the bone every day to earn a decent salary, keeping my paralyzed parents afloat in their long-term care facility.

"How have you been these past few years, Mr. Sterling?"

The moment it left my mouth, I realized it was a stupid question.

Building an empire from scratch is always agonizing.

But wasn't this just the standard corporate small talk?

Rowan took a sip of his water, his eyelids lowered, his dark eyes deep and unreadable.

After a moment, he replied in a flat, emotionless tone, "Not very well."

I froze for a second, then nodded in agreement. "True. It couldn't have been easy getting to where you are today. But the hard part is over, right? The future is bright."

Even if we were classmates, he was still the client. My tone carried an involuntary hint of flattery, but he didn't seem to mind.

"What about you? How have you been?" He looked at me, his gaze so intense and earnest that it gave me a strange feeling.

Ignoring the anomaly, I shook my head and offered a bitter smile. "Barely surviving, honestly. You saw it yourself—my family went bankrupt, my parents are sick in a facility, and the former heiress is now just another corporate wage slave."

The crushing monthly medical bills bled me dry, swallowing nearly my entire paycheck.

Why else would I be working this desperately?

I flashed him my most eager, people-pleasing smile.

"Whether I eat steak or instant ramen this month all depends on Mr. Sterling signing this deal."

My attempt at self-deprecating humor didn't make him laugh. He maintained the same faint, unreadable smile that seemed to carry a trace of bitterness.

He glanced at me, then looked down, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sighed softly. "Where's the contract? Let me see it."

I quickly presented it with both hands, slyly uncapping my fancy pen and placing it right next to his hand.

Perhaps my desperation was too obvious. Rowan's expression grew considerably colder, but he didn't stop me.

He called me an old classmate; I politely called him Mr. Sterling.

Times had changed. The dynamic between us was now like a lord and a peasant, tainted by the suffocating, vulgar respect of class difference.

I wasn't afraid of him looking down on me. I was only afraid he wouldn't sign.

Thankfully, he showed mercy and generously signed his name on the dotted line.

I breathed a massive sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mr. Sterling. Please rest assured, we will deliver the absolute best results for this project."

Rowan showed no reaction. It was as if he didn't care how the project turned out; to him, this amount of money was just pocket change.

"Valerie."

"Yes, Mr. Sterling?"

He looked at me seriously and said something I completely failed to understand. "I only signed this contract because of you."

I was dumbfounded.

Since when did my status as an "old classmate" carry that much weight?

Meeting my blank stare, he added, "Back when I was at my absolute lowest, you were the only one willing to help me."

That tiny, insignificant intervention I had nearly forgotten actually earned me a decade-long debt of gratitude?

Honestly, I would have done the exact same thing for anyone else.

But Rowan just happened to become an untouchable billionaire.

See, it always pays to do good deeds, I thought.

"You're giving me too much credit, Mr. Sterling. I was just young and impulsive. But even if I could do it all over again, I'd make the exact same choice."

He nodded. "True. You have always been so good."

Rowan pulled out his phone. "Let's exchange numbers. We should keep in touch."

He pulled up his personal contact QR code.