Lila had lived her whole life like a proper heiress—always the one giving orders, never the one taking them. But today? Today was a full 180.
Photocopying a driver's license. Opening a car door. And now… buying someone's toiletries?
Sure, her grandfather had told her to fulfill William's every request. But was he seriously treating her like a personal maid?
She was the Carter family's eldest daughter, for god's sake. And now this?
Her patience was starting to crack.
Lila clenched her fists, her perfectly manicured nails digging into her palms. After a moment, she pulled out her phone and called her younger brother.
"Ryan, where are you?"
"Huh? Sis? What's up? I'm… in class."
Ryan had actually been passed out from a hangover, still buried under his blankets. When his phone rang, he almost cursed out loud—until he saw who was calling. Then he instantly sobered up.
Lila snorted. "Cut the crap. It's Sunday. You don't have class. I'm outside the guys' dorm. Get your ass down here."
"I—wait, what? You're at the dorms? Okay, okay, I'm coming!"
Ryan Carter wasn't afraid of much. But his sister? She was the one person who could make him jump. He threw on some clothes, splashed water on his face, and bolted downstairs.
Meanwhile, half the guys in the dorm were peeking out their windows, gawking at Lila. The campus goddess showing up at the boys' dorm? Even if they didn't stand a chance, they could at least enjoy the view.
"What the hell are you looking at? Turn your damn heads!" Ryan barked as he stormed down the hall.
He was a known menace on campus, and no one dared talk back. The guys he yelled at immediately looked away, pretending they hadn't seen a thing.
"Yo, what's the rush, little bro? Your girlfriend show up or something?" someone joked from down the hall.
"Shut the hell up, Brandon. You think you've got what it takes to be my sister's man? Go piss in a mirror and take a good look at yourself."
"Heh! Touchy today, huh? You must not've heard—Edward just got rejected by your sister. Whole campus saw it."
Ryan flipped him off without missing a beat. "None of you losers are good enough for my sister. Quit dreaming. And you? Go eat shit in the bathroom."
Ryan lived in Room 409. After cussing out half the hallway, he rushed downstairs. Every guy he passed stepped aside like the Red Sea parting—no one wanted to mess with the Carter family's youngest.
As he hit the second-floor landing, he ran into William coming up.
William was walking up the middle of the stairs. When he saw someone charging down, he shifted slightly to the side—but not enough for Ryan's liking.
Ryan shot him a glare. Who the hell didn't move out of his way?
As they were about to pass each other, Ryan suddenly reached out, trying to shove William aside.
William instinctively dodged.
Ryan's hand swiped through empty air, and he nearly lost his balance. He stumbled, caught himself with two quick steps, and managed to stay upright—barely.
He turned and gave William a long, hard look, then pointed at him twice before heading down without another word.
But the message was clear: I'll remember you.
At the stairwell, a guy who'd seen the whole thing waited until Ryan was gone before turning to William.
"Dude, your luck is seriously shit. You just got on Ryan's radar. You might wanna consider transferring."
"Huh?" William blinked. "I didn't even do anything."
The guy gave him a pitying look. "Doesn't matter what you did. It's about whether he wants to do something to you."
William frowned. "You said his name's Ryan?"
"You don't even know who Ryan is?" The guy's eyes went wide. "You must be new. Damn, and you already pissed him off? That's rough."
He shook his head, full of sympathy. "Honestly, man… you're screwed. If I were you, I'd bail before he gets back. Forget school—it's over for you." He looked at William like he was already a dead man walking, wondering just how unlucky someone had to be to get on Ryan Carter's bad side on day one.
William smiled and asked, "So, what's Ryan's relationship to Lila?"
The guy blinked. "Lila's his sister. Don't tell me… you actually know Lila Carter?"
William nodded. "Yeah. I just asked her to go buy some stuff for me."
"…"
The guy stared at him for a full three seconds. Then his expression shifted—like he was looking at someone who'd just licked a power outlet.
"Lila Carter… is buying stuff for you? Bro, how many peanuts did you drink before you blacked out?" He shook his head and turned to head upstairs. "I'm done. Good luck, man. You're gonna need it."
He clearly wanted nothing more to do with William, like even standing near him might bring bad luck.
William had already asked around—Room 306 was on the third floor. So he kept walking up at a steady pace.
"Yo, what the hell?! Why are you following me?" the guy from earlier suddenly snapped. He'd just reached the door to Room 306 and turned around to find William right behind him.
You've gotta be kidding me.
If Ryan saw him hanging around this lunatic, he'd get dragged down too. No way was he getting caught in that mess.
"This is Room 306?" William asked, glancing at the number on the door.
"You blind or what? Get lost! You're blind, dumb, and cursed—every extra minute you spend on campus is just another step toward disaster." The guy tried to shut the door behind him.
But William casually stuck his foot in the way.
"I live here," he said with a friendly smile.
Every time he woke up in a new life, he adapted quickly. Right now, he was a student—and this guy in front of him? His new roommate.
"Are you serious?" The guy's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "No way. No freakin' way."
William just smiled. "It's really that way."
The guy still didn't open the door all the way. His face twisted into a look of pure dread. "Bro, come on. Don't do this to me. I'm begging you—switch dorms. Don't drag us down with you."
"Relax," William said calmly. "Who knows? Maybe Ryan went to buy stuff for me too."
"…Ha. Ha ha. Wow. You're hilarious. You sure you didn't just escape from a psych ward?" The guy gave a hollow laugh, looking like he was about to cry.
Ryan? Buying stuff for you? This dude had to be delusional.
William tilted his head. "Psych ward? What's that?"
"You really are from one!" the guy shouted, finally losing it. He turned and yelled into the dorm, "Wake up, guys! We've got a lunatic in here!"
Room 306 was a standard four-person dorm. Besides this guy, two others were still asleep—until now.
His yelling jolted them awake instantly.