Josie shook her head. "Thank you, Sean, but I can’t always depend on others. The more Natalie tries to hold me back, the more I have to make sure she doesn’t get her way. I’m not just going to get good at acupuncture. I’m going to study Professor Lawson’s major, too. I have to earn that double degree.”

Her face was small and her figure petite, but the words she spoke carried a force that couldn’t be ignored.

Sean’s lips curved into a small smile. “Then go for it. If you ever run into any problems, come to me or talk to Professor Wilcourt. I’m sure she’d be happy to help you out.”

“I’ll go see her as soon as I get back to school!” Josie said, lowering her head, already plotting her next move in her mind.

When they got back to campus, Josie hopped out of Sean’s car. Her mind was elsewhere, so she was completely oblivious to the curious looks from the other students around her.

She hadn’t even taken a few steps before someone stopped her.

“Josie, was that guy who just dropped you off your boyfriend?” Kyle blocked her path. Kyle’s face was full of mockery. He was hinting that Josie was a gold digger.

Thanks to his big mouth, a bunch of students started gossiping and shooting Josie all kinds of looks.

A person asked, “Do you know what kind of car that is? It looks so cool!”

Another student said, “It looks way more badass than Aiden’s Maybach. Who the heck can even afford something like that?”

A third person said, “That girl has got some serious skills, managing to land herself a guy with a ride like that!”

Someone else said, “She doesn’t even look that pretty. Who would even go for a girl like her?”

A person said, “So you don’t know about this. She was the only girl on Professor Lawson’s team. Too bad she left and joined Professor Wilcourt’s team instead.”

Another person asked, “Wait, is she that Josie who made a huge splash at the campus competition? I heard her old teammates tried to give her a hard time, but she just clapped back and totally roasted them. Is that for real?”

Kyle wanted to throw dirt on Josie’s name and make everyone think she was a gold digger, but the topic totally got away from him. His expression soured immediately.

“No wonder you’re dressing so differently these days. Must be because you’re in love,” Kyle sneered. His tone was dripping with sarcasm as he tried to drag the conversation back to his own agenda. He continued, “Even though we’re not on the same team anymore, we’re still fellow apprentices. Here is some friendly advice. If you care too much about material things, you’ll lose focus on your studies and research. You just switched majors, and now it’s your senior year. At such a critical time, if you keep this up, are you planning on not graduating?”

Josie was already in a foul mood, and Kyle’s passive-aggressive digs were the last straw. She fired back without hesitation.

Josie said, “Are you blind? The guy who gave me a ride was Sean. He’s not my boyfriend, and I’m not dating anyone. My roommate went shopping with me when I bought these clothes. It’s all basic college stuff. They are nothing fancy. If you really want to know what’s changed, it’s just that I’ve been eating and sleeping on time lately, so yeah, I gained a couple pounds. If that’s what you call ‘being materialistic,’ then whatever. As for my major or whether I graduate, that’s not for you to worry about. Move. Get out of my way.”

Josie shoved him aside and strode straight toward the classroom building.

A person said, “Damn, that girl is such a badass!”

Another person said, “No wonder she rode in the Karlmann King!”

The first person asked, “Wait, what are you even talking about?”

The other person said, “That car she just got out of is a Karlmann King. It goes for over 3 million dollars!”

The first person said, “I never knew Sean’s family was this loaded. Could they be even richer than Aiden’s?”

The other student said, “But why has he always been so low-key? I’ve never seen him drive to school before.”

Someone else said, “Yeah, you’re right! So this is the first time. That girl is seriously lucky. I’m so jealous!”

Watching as everyone started talking about Sean’s car instead, Kyle was so mad he could practically chew nails. He’d meant to make Josie the target of everyone’s scorn. He wondered how she ended up being the one everyone envied instead.