He Lost His Genius Girlfriend For A Cruel Prank

My long-distance boyfriends distant tone suddenly shifted.

When I complained about the heat, he told me to shave my head. Asked about his post-grad plans, he said he wanted to see me in a sailor uniform in an empty classroom. I thought grad school stress had brought out a playful side.

Walking in nervously, the lights snapped on. Ashers lab partner Chloe yanked off my wig, revealing my buzz cut. The room exploded in laughter.

She actually shaved it! Chloe shrieked. Is that a sailor suit? Take off the jacket!

Camera flashes blinded me as phones recorded my humiliation. Then it hit mefor three years, those sweet messages werent from Asher. They were from Chloe. Tonights setup was just a bet to see how long it took me to notice.

Asher looked disappointed in me. Lab works exhausting. I let Chloe reply to keep you quiet, he sighed. How did you not realize it wasnt me?

Something in me broke. The boy who once froze on his balcony fighting mosquitoes just to talk to me was gone. Our dream of studying abroad together died too. Id have to chase it alone.

"Evelyn, this has nothing to do with Chloe," Asher continued, his voice void of any warmth. "You're the one who needs to reflect on your absolute lack of common sense."

Using every ounce of strength I had, I clutched my jacket tightly across my chest and tried to push past the laughing crowd toward Chloe.

Asher, who had been standing casually with his hands in his pockets, immediately stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body.

"I gave Chloe my phone. I specifically asked her to reply to your messages," he stated firmly. "As for the sailor outfit and the buzz cut..."

His brow furrowed in absolute disgust. "It was an incredibly obvious joke. I can't believe you were stupid enough to fall for it."

My knuckles turned white as I gripped the fabric of my jacket. My throat completely closed up. I couldn't force a single syllable out of my mouth.

Three years of long-distance. I was studying in Chicago, and he was in Boston. A thousand miles apart.

I had been entirely consumed by the illusion of a devoted boyfriend who always texted back immediately. How was I supposed to magically guess that the person on the other end of the screen wasn't him?

Seeing me trembling violently under the blinding flashes, Asher let out an annoyed sigh. He pulled off his varsity jacket and draped it over my shoulders.

"Let's go. Stop embarrassing yourself."

I took a step back, dodging his touch. His annoyance instantly deepened.

"What? Are you enjoying having everyone stare at you?"

Standing safely behind him, Chloe suddenly burst into a bright, innocent giggle.

"Wow, Asher! It looks like your girlfriend really loves the kinky games I came up with! She wants to stay here and play with you."

"But honestly, I get it," she smirked, her eyes glinting with malice. "Considering she almost got assaulted by her older cousin when she was little..."

Chloe deliberately paused. The crowd instantly gasped, their eyes widening with morbid, excited curiosity.

My blood ran completely cold.

"Asher!" I stared at him, my voice cracking in absolute horror. "You... you told her about that?"

My entire body shook uncontrollably. Yet, he just shrugged, completely unfazed.

"Chloe wanted to win the bet, so she scrolled through our chat history to learn your texting style."

"I was just following the rules of the game. Are you seriously blaming me for that?"

Chloe dramatically covered her mouth, feigning shock.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I totally forgot that was a deep, dark secret between you two."

"But hey, you know what they say. Flies don't swarm a seamless egg. If you respected your own body, things like that wouldn't happen to you. Just look at you right now..."

She narrowed her eyes, scanning me up and down. "You're clutching that jacket so tight. Do you even have clothes on underneath that sailor uniform?"

The crowd, eager for more drama, instantly began jeering.

"Yeah! If you're wearing normal clothes, why are you so terrified to open the jacket?"

"If you're playing these freaky games in public, please don't use our golden boy Asher as your backup plan."

Asher, who had defended Chloe seconds ago, remained completely silent.

He stared down at me. The look in his eyes was unmistakable. He was questioning my loyalty over the last three years.

I couldn't endure the suffocating humiliation for another second. I aggressively ripped the zipper of my jacket all the way down.

Asher panicked, lunging forward with his own coat to cover me.

"Evelyn, stop throwing a tantrum!"

But I wasn't naked. I wasn't wearing a sailor uniform.

I reached inside my jacket and pulled out a small, warm paper bag of roasted chestnuts. The exact brand he casually mentioned he was craving a few days ago.

A thousand miles. A five-hour flight.

I had kept the bag pressed against my chest the entire trip so it wouldn't get cold.

Looking back now, Asher had always hated snacks. His sudden craving for roasted chestnuts was probably just another one of Chloe's sick pranks to make me run like a dog.

Beneath my jacket, I was wearing a perfectly ordinary, oversized t-shirt.

My eyes stung with unshed tears. I met Asher's completely stunned gaze.

"I'm so sorry to disappoint you."

I shoved past him and bolted out the door.

I wandered aimlessly through the massive campus for three hours.

My best friend, Maya, called me from her dorm in London.

"So? How did it go? Was the great golden boy absolutely shocked that you locked down two fully-funded PhD spots in Europe?"

"I've got the champagne ready for when you guys get here!"

I swallowed the massive lump in my throat and cut her off.

"Maya. He's not coming."

"What?! What did that bastard do?!"

After I choked out the story, Maya exploded on the other end of the line, cursing him out.

"You worked yourself to the bone for three years to build a future for both of you, and he's playing psychological games with some little bitch?!"

"Does he have any idea what you sacrificed to get two full rides?!"

I took a deep, shaky breath. The tears finally spilled over.

Right before my flight, the Dean of my university had called me into his private office.

"If you go to Europe alone for your PhD, the university will cover all expenses and issue you an additional hundred-thousand-dollar educational grant."

"If you insist on bringing your boyfriend, you forfeit the grant and cover his tuition entirely out of your own pocket."

The Dean slid two acceptance letters across his desk, looking at me with deep sympathy.

"Evelyn, I know you and your boyfriend grew up in poverty together. I know you view yourselves as childhood sweethearts fighting against the world."

"When you started grad school, you drained your entire savings account to send him to a prestigious ivy league, while you settled for a lower-tier program just because it offered a full ride."

"You finally secured this incredible opportunity. Some paths are meant to be walked alone. You'll move much faster without the dead weight."

Sitting on a cold bench in the middle of campus, I finally understood what the Dean meant.

"My flight is tomorrow at noon. I'm going alone."

After hanging up with Maya, I walked into a 24-hour print shop. I filled out the solo acceptance form, scanned it, and emailed it directly to the Dean.

The moment I stepped out of the shop, I ran straight into Asher and Chloe.

Asher instinctively reached out and grabbed the handle of my rolling suitcase.

"The guys took the joke too far. I already scolded Chloe."

"Stop being mad, okay?"

I looked up. Right on his collarbone, peaking out from his shirt, was a dark bite mark smeared with red lipstick.

He noticed my gaze and casually rubbed his neck.

"I lost a drinking game. It was just a tiny penalty."

Chloe stepped forward, pouting playfully as she twirled her car keys.

"I'm really sorry, Evelyn."

"Grad school is just so boring and stressful. I just wanted to find a little entertainment. I didn't mean any harm by it."

"Asher was just sacrificing his dignity to boost the team's morale. Seriously, don't overthink it."

I calmly pulled my suitcase out of his grip.

"Why would I?"

Asher glanced at his expensive watch.

"It's getting late. I'll drop you off at your hotel so you can rest, and then Chloe and I are heading out for a lab dinner."

Realizing how that sounded, he quickly added, "It's just a bunch of people you don't know. You'd feel awkward and out of place."

Chloe smoothly looped her arm through his.

"Yeah, Evelyn. It's kind of an exclusive department thing. It's not really appropriate to bring outsiders. I promise I'll return Asher to you later tonight."

I smiled. But my lungs felt like they were being crushed in a vice.

A few hours ago, I was surrounded by a mob of his friends, photographed, and treated like a circus animal for their entertainment. He didn't think twice about my feelings then.

But a simple dinner? Suddenly, I was an outsider.

"No need."

"Asher. We're done."

Under the pale streetlights, Asher's footsteps abruptly stopped.

He turned around. He looked at me, then glanced at the glowing screen of my laptop in my bag, where the sent email was still visible.

He reached out and fondly ruffled my buzz-cut hair.

"Are you really this jealous?"

"It's your last night here. I'll come back to the hotel as soon as the dinner is over."

"Then we'll pack our bags and fly to Paris together for our PhDs. No more long-distance, I promise."

He firmly believed, without a shadow of a doubt, that I would happily surrender my pride and abandon my dignity, just to stay by his side. Just like I always did.

Without waiting for my response, and with Chloe tugging impatiently at his sleeve, he hailed a cab for me.

"Go to the hotel. I'll bring you takeout. If you're tired, just go to sleep. Be good."

I didn't get into the cab he hailed.

I took my suitcase and caught a different ride directly to the airport hotel.

After checking in, I had just finished my shower when my phone buzzed.

It was a video from Asher's number, followed by an emoji of a cat sticking its tongue out.

I didn't need to guess who actually sent it.

I tapped play. The video showed Asher sitting at a crowded bar. His face and ears were flushed red from the alcohol.

A group of his lab mates were surrounding the table, hyping him up. They were clearly playing Truth or Dare.

"Come on, Ash! Tell the truth! Have you ever actually caught feelings for our little Chloe?"

"You're always protecting her in the lab. There's no way there isn't a spark there!"

Under the intense peer pressure, and with Chloe staring at him with wide, adoring eyes, the untouchable, perfectly composed golden boy smiled. His voice was incredibly soft, dripping with indulgence.

"Maybe... if Evelyn wasn't in the picture... I would have fallen for Chloe."

He reached out and gently patted her head.

"Chloe, once I'm not here to watch your back, you have to be more careful. Stop being so reckless."

"If you get stuck on a project, or if you're just having a bad day, you can call me anytime."

He spoke every word with absolute, unwavering sincerity.

The last time he looked at someone like that was during our senior year of high school. He had sat beside me, patiently explaining every single math problem on my practice test.

"Evelyn, don't rush through the equations. If you're stuck, just ask me. I'm going to pull you forward, and we're going to make it out of here together."

The golden sunset had spilled across our cheap wooden desks. The promises of youth were always so incredibly fierce.

Back then, I genuinely believed we would conquer the world together.

The crowd in the video erupted into applause.

"Asher! What a gentleman!"

Someone, fueled by liquid courage, screamed over the music.

"Don't leave any regrets! Kiss her! Kiss her!"

Chloe, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears, shyly stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips directly against Asher's.

After a second of absolute silence, the bar exploded. The guys screamed, their faces red with excitement.

The person holding the phone was jumping up and down so hard the footage blurred.

Chloe collapsed happily into Asher's chest.

"Asher, you promised to take me stargazing."

"Can we go tonight? Please?"

In the final second of the video, Asher's soft, barely audible response pierced straight through my chest.

"Okay."

I clicked on Asher's profile for the very last time.

Delete. Block.

Clean and simple.

The next morning, I sat in the airport terminal, my suitcase by my side.

An unknown number called me. It was Asher.

"Evelyn. We drank way too much last night."

"Okay."

"I didn't sleep with Chloe."

"Alright."

Asher's tone instantly shifted to deep irritation.

"What I mean is, we didn't cross any lines. So why did you launch a malicious attack to destroy her life?"

"Someone forwarded a video of the classroom incident to the HR department of her internship."

I paused.

"Did it actually impact her job?"

I could hear Chloe sobbing hysterically in the background. Asher's voice was lethal.

"What do you think?"

"Evelyn, when did you turn into such a toxic, vindictive person?"

"First of all, I didn't send any video to anyone."

"Second, what exactly am I 'turning into'?"

The sheer audacity of his accusation was absurd. But Asher sounded like he had been holding this in for years.

He unloaded on me without taking a breath.

"You're petty. You throw tantrums. You hold grudges."

"Ever since you landed in Boston, you've been acting bizarre. Like the entire world owes you an apology."

"You are going to withdraw that complaint from her internship right now, and you are going to issue a public apology to Chloe!"

For the first time in my life, I felt absolute, crystal clarity.

The final glowing ember of my love for Asher completely extinguished.

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I'll use the exact same tactics to completely destroy your academic transcript."

"You can kiss your PhD in Paris goodbye, Evelyn."

A bitter, hollow laugh escaped my lips.

From a tiny, broken-down elementary school in the mountains to standing in this international airport.

No one knew exactly how much blood, sweat, and tears I sacrificed to get here better than Asher.

And now, over a pathetic girl and an imaginary crime, he was threatening to burn my life to the ground.

I shook my head at the absolute absurdity of it all.

Asher wasn't bluffing. He would absolutely try to ruin me.

Unfortunately for him, the Dean had finalized the transfer of my academic records to the European university database last night.

My silence only enraged him further.

He gritted his teeth, delivering his ultimate ultimatum.

"If you don't fix this, I am going to Paris alone. You will never see me again."

"Are you absolutely sure you want to push me this far, Evelyn?"

The intercom crackled, announcing the final boarding call for my flight. I stood up and walked toward the gate.

"I am absolutely sure."

"Asher. I hope I never see your face again."

"Fine! Don't you dare come crawling back tonight begging"

I hung up the phone before he could finish.

Standing in the lab, Asher stared at his dark screen, a terrifying rage igniting in his chest.

Chloe was weeping so hard she was hyperventilating. She aggressively stomped her foot and slumped into a chair.

"It was just a harmless prank! Why is she trying to ruin my life?!"

"It's over! Now that HR has this complaint, no reputable firm is ever going to hire me!"

Asher quickly wrapped an arm around her, typing frantically on his laptop. He was sending an urgent email to his faculty advisor, begging him to intervene and save Chloe's internship.

Three seconds later, the advisor replied with a single URL link.

Suspected female grad student mercilessly bullies classmate; secretly recorded by janitor. Video goes viral.

In the video, I looked utterly terrified and helpless, surrounded by a mocking crowd. Chloe's arrogant, vicious face was in perfect focus.

The internet was out for blood. Netizens were bombarding the university with thousands of formal complaints.

A voice memo from his advisor played out loud, his tone dripping with absolute fury.

"A janitor walking by filmed the whole thing and posted it on TikTok! The internet is furious. We've received over three hundred emails demanding disciplinary action!"

"With this level of viral outrage, losing an internship is the least of Chloe's problems."

"I heard the victim is your girlfriend. Asher, you better fix this disaster before the university gets involved."

Hearing the audio, Chloe immediately stopped crying. A look of massive relief washed over her face.

"Asher, this is perfect!"

"Just force her to film a clarification video. Make her tell everyone it was just a staged skit for a project!"

Asher stared at the viral video playing on his laptop screen.

The shaky, blurry footage made the reality of the situation painfully clear. It looked exactly like a pack of wolves cornering a wounded animal. The laughter echoing from the speakers suddenly sounded incredibly cruel.

For some inexplicable reason, for the very first time in his life, a cold spike of pure panic pierced his heart.

A flicker of genuine guilt flashed in his eyes. But Chloe was relentlessly tugging at his sleeve, demanding he act.

He picked up his phone and dialed my number again.

But this time, he was met with a cold, mechanical voice.

"The number you have dialed has been disconnected..."