Chapter 1

The Devil in sheeps clothing

“Thomas take. I want all these items paid for this minute. Take a look at my skin; my products are all exhausted.” Trina tossed the phone to her boyfriend.

Thomas took a long and weak look at the screen she had flashed in his face angrily, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets. He immediately went one heartbeat away from passing out.

“But I only just got all these items for you last month, and just now you need another set for only your skin, Trina."  He spoke coldly with a shivering voice, and he took a long, frustrating look at the figures dancing in front of him and then looked at her again to see if there was any trace of a joke on her face. He arched his brows, and his forehead wrinkled with massive creases.

“You are serious?” he asked casually.

“Of course I am dead serious, Thom. Why do you think I came to meet you here? Is it some sort of decoration? Jeez!” She rolled her eyes at him.

“Pay for the damn items so I can get the hell out of here." She yelled at him.

“Tricia I just got my salary today. I have to go to the hospital to pay my mother’s weekly medications; otherwise, they would stop her treatment, and you know I still have to pay my tuition f*e. An ultimatum has been given; it expires in a few days from now. I have to pay so I don’t get thrown out of...

"Oh, please shut your gutters, Thomas! I have had enough of all the flimsy excuses you give each time I ask for very little favor from you. You always have one stupid excuse to give, and I am fed up. Tricia scowled the words with spite.

"Tricia, listen,” Thomas tried to say, but he was quickly cut off by Tricia’s harsh words.

“You know what? I am done. Give that back,” she said, stretching her hand for the cell phone, and just then a message popped in. Thomas paused as his eyes fell on the lit-up phone screen, and the message read thus:

“Thank you for riding me to cloud nine last night; I couldn’t stop moaning. Let’s do it again tonight. Much Love”

Thomas’ heart stopped for a moment.

Her screen is locked, so he couldn’t get access to the remainder of the message, and just as he tried to crack it, Tricia snatched the phone from him.

‘What are you looking at?” She peeped into the screen and looked back at him with fear in her eyes.

“How dare you go through my messages? That’s my privacy, you fool!” She tried to gaslight him.

“So you have been cheating on me the entire time. Tricia, you have refused to be intimate with me, and you came up with the lie about you wanting to be celibate till we were married, and now this? You’ve been getting laid by another man while you wouldn’t even let me touch or come close to  you." Thomas’ tone was rough and determined as he kept his stare on Tricia, who has no shame yet.

“You have been moaning on another man’s bed while you leave me stiff and dying every single night.” He queried sharply, and in defense, Tricia swung her hand in to hit his face, but he caught it just in time. He applied a little pressure to the hand and flung it off.

“How dare you try to hit me?” His facial expression hardened as he glared into her eyes.

He commanded with an authoritative voice, “Answer me!!”

Tricia didn’t see why she should answer his questions; instead, she rolled her eyes and muttered a few words to herself. Thomas turned around to scan the hall to see if anyone was looking at them or even eavesdropping on their conversation. He was waiting for her response patiently, but instead she turned and ran towards the exit. “You are undeserving of my beauty, Thomas; you should be grateful I agreed to be with a poverty-stricken man like you. I am done, and don’t you ever come looking for me?” She yelled at him from the distance and ran out.

“Tricia!”

Thomas shouted. Inside of him was screaming and raging with countless questions. He immediately followed her out, but to his greatest dismay, a 2024 E-class Ferrari model was parked outside with a man standing beside it with arms stretched out to welcome Tricia.

It was George Wright.

He's the only son and sole heir to the Wright conglomerate.

He was a classmate with Thomas, but Thomas was always too shy to say a word to him because they were not at the same level or social class. The difference was clear enough from how flamboyant George lived his life in school.

A lot of students had gathered around the open space to see who the lucky girl would be.

George stepped forward and went straight to Tricia. "I've got a nice present for you. It's the latest collection from Dolce and Gabana."

George kissed Tricia on the lips and brought out a diamond necklace that sparkled under the direct sunlight.

"I had it made specifically for you. With your name, take a  look." George said it with so much pride and without looking at Thomas, who was standing there.

George took short, authoritative steps closer to Tricia and hung the neck piece around her neck. Everyone, including Thomas, watched Tricia grin foolishly.

The entire crowd behind him babbled out with 'awn! It’s so lovely'.

"Thank you so much, George. I've always wanted a necklace from Dolce and Gabbana with my name on it. This is beautiful'' she smiled and stretched to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

She couldn’t help but smile sweetly at him.

Meanwhile, George Wright had a grin on his face. His white teeth and notched jawline looked more noticeable.

"Last night was pleasing. And I can't wait to have you again for the rest of my life." He whispered in her ears.

Thomas felt his heart pound twice as fast as he wondered what could be going on with the two of them. This annoyed him the more.

"Tricia, what the hell are you doing?!" Thomas roared, tightening his fists beside him.

"Oh, Tricia. Is this the thwart you told me about?” George spoke in a very mean tone that made Thomas frown a bit. He knows he was poor, but being referred to as a thwart is something he would never accept.

George intentionally raised a brow at Tricia. "Don't tell me he's the shirker of a man who's always buzzing your phone whenever we spend time together." He spat the words out with pride and spite.

"I'm her boyfriend!" Thomas balled his fist tighter this time, glaring at him. The nerves in his neck stiffened.

"Shut your trap, jerk! You're not my boyfriend! You are nothing close to what I can call a boyfriend!" Tricia screamed at him immediately. "Babe, look how he’s slandering me!" She turned to George Wright and said with a firm voice.

"He's been bothering me for months to be his girlfriend, and I've told him several times that I have a sweet boyfriend who spends and takes care of my bills, but the fool wouldn’t take any of my words seriously." She scowled at Thomas and flipped her long, silky hair backwards.

Thomas’s jaw dropped. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. "What did you just say?"

At this point, George stepped in, his deep voice echoing. "Why would you ever think you could have a chance with my girlfriend, you smelly cockroach?” He held him by the collar and pushed him. Peter fell backward, hitting his buttocks hard on the ground.

"I blame myself for all of this, babe. I've been far too nice to this scumbag and the other beggars, so they all think they can date me," Tricia mumbled. She propped her head into George's chest once again and started sniveling.

Thomas managed to get up to grip Tricia by the arm. He pulled her to himself, making her look at him in the eyes directly for the first time.

"Tricia, what in the freaking devil's name are you talking about?" Thomas inquired with widened eyes.

"Let me go, Loser. (She hit his hand off.) We can’t be together, as I told you countless times! I have a boyfriend! I have said this a million times!! George is my boyfriend!! Why can't you just freaking leave me alone?!" She spat the words in his face and pushed him away.

Thomas's heart broke entirely as he watched his girlfriend run behind another man, tight-fitting him. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the large crowd that had gathered behind George's Ferrari laughing and making jokes at him.

"He's such a freaking loser. A jerk!” George said.

"Loser" is an understatement. More like a  douchebag." Tricia added. Look at the rag he is wearing. She said and rushed forward and in a blink she ripped his shirt into two. The crowd laughed.

George giggled and pointed at Thomas"He thought he could steal my lovely and beautiful goddess." George mocked.

"He's pathetic. Tricia is too clean and beautiful to be with that dirty Thomas; look at his shoes." The girls pointed and giggled.

Thomas felt embarrassed as his face turned red with anger. The comments were horrible and derogatory; he could see them still staring directly at hI'm and to worsen it his only good shirt was torn.

Before Thomas could know it, George punched him in the face. His balled fist landed on Thomas’ nose so hard that his nose began to bleed profusely.

The girls and boys who stopped by to witness the scene began to laugh. Some held their phones and cameras up to capture every single moment with glee. Thomas held his bleeding nose and staggered like a drunk man. He managed to throw a punch at George, and it landed on George’s eye.

“How dare you try to fight back, you pauper?" George’s bodyguards rushed forward and began to kick and punch Thomas in the stomach so much that blood began to gush out of his mouth. Tricia ran to the side, brought a baton, and handed it to George.

“Use this instead." She said she was giving George the baton to finalize the beating. Thomas was still curled up on the ground. George grabbed the baton and began to hit Thomas all over his body. Thomas recoiled in pain and rolled on the ground while the students watched and laughed without interfering because they were scared of George and his family.

“Maybe I should just end his life once and for all." George finalized.