She Hired the Poor Scholarship Student to Save Her Grades — Then She Fell for the One Guy She Was Afraid to Love
Chapter 6
The next week, Madison’s friends started joking about Ethan.
At lunch, Chloe asked:
“Are you seriously spending this much time with your tutor?”
Madison laughed.
“He’s useful.”
Another friend smiled.
“He’s cute in a poor-boy kind of way.”
Madison forced herself to laugh.
But the words hurt.
That evening, she saw Ethan outside the student center.
He had heard.
She didn’t know how much.
“Hey.”
He looked at her.
“Hi.”
“You’ve been quiet.”
“I’ve been busy.”
She understood immediately.
“About earlier…”
“You don’t need to explain.”
“I didn’t mean it.”
“You didn’t mean what?”
She couldn’t answer.
He smiled faintly.
“That’s what I thought.”
Then he walked away.
Madison stood there alone.
That night, she ignored every party invitation.
She opened her phone.
Typed a message.
Deleted it.
Typed again.
I’m sorry.
Sent.
No response.
She stared at the screen.
For the first time, Madison Blake understood that money couldn’t buy forgiveness.
