I shook my head without hesitation. “No, you go ahead. I have other things to do, I won’t join.”
Chloe’s smug face froze. She came toward me, looking aggrieved. “Sophia, are you upset with me? Is that why you’re refusing to go on purpose?”
Looking at her exaggerated act, I had the urge to tear off her mask right there, but I forced it down, took a deep breath, and said, “No. You’re paying for everyone’s meal with your own savings, not mine. Why should I be upset? I really do have other things to do, and besides, I don’t like seafood. I won’t crash the party.”
At the mention of her own savings, Chloe’s eyes flashed with frustration. In the past, every time she played generous host, it was me footing the bill. Classmates always praised her as kind and generous, while whispering that I was stingy for not even buying drinks.
In my previous life, I later learned that the stab Chloe gave herself had missed any vital organs—she hadn’t actually died. And she wasn’t even my mother’s biological daughter.