We gobbled up the rest of our (edible, phew) breakfasts, she slipped a sweatshirt over her striped cotton T-shirt, and we went for a scheming walk around the neighborhood.

Chloe CHAPTER 30 PRIME STRIP

As we left the house and started wandering aimlessly, Andrew suggested, “Maybe we can attack this from both sides, not just your parents’. Maybe the Kuos have a weak spot we can hit.”

“Yes, brilliant.”

He looked at me expectantly, waiting for more info, but I just nodded, over and over and over again. Stalling. Because in order to figure out a plan, he had to know all the nauseating details, including what I’d left off the application. On purpose. I was about to relive some truly awful moments I’d been trying to forget since they happened. But for the sake of the mission, I sucked in a breath and spat the story out.

Three months earlier, my life had been pure bliss—no thoughts of Hongbo, and certainly none of him and me together. Using this to her advantage, my mother had tricked me into going on a date with anti-Dreamboat. And on that horrible, life-altering night, I’d started the evening thinking I would be tutoring him for the GMAT in exchange for money.

Before I’d left, my mother had fussed over my outfit and makeup, but to her credit, it hadn’t been more than usual. Hongbo picked me up, and then, weirdly, drove me to his parents’ house.

“Just wait here a sec” is what he should’ve said before leaving me in the car in his parents’ driveway.

Fifteen minutes in, I was this close to using my phone to mail-order him a durian. (No, that’s not a real thing. But it will be, once I raise enough money to start my totally legal revenge business.)

At twenty minutes, I strode through the mansion’s white columns and past the unlocked front door to find Hongbo throwing a tantrum, stomping foot and all, in the foyer in front of his mother.

“Everything okay in here?” I asked.

“Aiyah, Jing-Jing, you were in the car? Wǒ de lǎo tiān yé!” his mother exclaimed. “Hongbo, how could you? I thought you were picking her up later! Why didn’t you at least invite her inside?”

He shrugged, then used his mother’s complaint against her. “Let’s not keep her waiting longer; just give me what I asked for.”

His mother sighed. “You just received your allowance last week, and that should be plenty. Don’t you think three thousand dollars is a big ask? Even if it is for dear, sweet Jing-Jing,” she said, smiling at me so wide her eyes crinkled.