She Used My Photos to Seduce Men,Then Tried to Ruin MeChapter 1
After class, a man I'd never seen before was waiting for me outside the lecture building.
Right there in front of everyone, he announced I was the girlfriend he'd been dating online for six months.
I stared at him, completely blank. I had never seen this man in my life.
When I denied it, he lost it and started yelling.
"I transferred thousands to you just last month, and now you're pretending you don't know me?"
"Ten minutes ago you sent me a message saying you missed me!"
My roommate jumped on that immediately, loud enough for the whole crowd: "Oh wow, so *that's* why you're giggling under your covers every night."
All around me, students were turning to stare—sidelong, suspicious looks that weren't even trying to hide.
The next second, I upended my bag and shook everything out onto the ground: textbooks and one basic phone. Nothing else.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm from the countryside. I've never even used a smartphone."
The smirk froze on my roommate's face.
Susan Edwards stared at me like she couldn't process what she was seeing.
……
"Rebecca, what are you playing at? Who doesn't have a smartphone these days?"
I just looked at her. My face didn't move.
"So what if I don't have a phone? Back home in the mountains we don't even get signal. What would I need one for? This one was my grandpa's. As long as it makes calls, that's enough."
My dad had given me money to buy a new phone when I came to college.
But the city had too many ways to get scammed, and I didn't trust myself not to fall for one. Everything on campus ran on meal cards anyway, so I just never bought one.
Susan wasn't having it. Her voice went sharp.
"Drop the act—you definitely have a phone!"
"Then what are you messing with under your blanket every single night? I've seen the light coming off it!"
I answered honestly: "Reading novels with a flashlight. You don't do that?"
Susan's mouth opened, then closed. Nothing came out.
Mr. Pierce was getting frantic now, his face flushed red.
"Your name's Rebecca James, right? Avery University, School of Business and Economics. That's you?"
I nodded.
"Then it IS you!"
He shoved his phone screen right in my face. "My online girlfriend's name is Rebecca James!"