"Really can."
She lowered her head and smiled, but her gaze seemed distant.
A hot pot meal of one hundred dollars equated to her week's living expenses.
In those years, her expenses were entirely supported by part-time work and scholarships.
A hundred bucks was no small amount for her.
It's several meals, it's transportation costs, it's money for textbooks.
She couldn't bear to spend money on a "craving."
Tristan raised an eyebrow, pausing his chopsticks.
"The Prescott Family didn't give you living expenses?"
Vivian poked at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks, her movements slow, her voice a bit softer.
"They did. But I didn't want to spend it."
It's not that she was pretending to be noble, nor that she didn't understand gratitude.
But she knew well the price hidden behind that money, which she was unwilling to bear.
The assistance from the Prescott Family was never unconditional.
Every favor they gave would eventually be reclaimed in some way.
