DUMPED BY MY GIRLFRIEND, CHOSEN BY A SUPERSTAR

Chapter 7

Julian marched right up to Ethan, his face contorted in absolute rage. "What the hell are you doing here? Seriously, man? This party is an exclusive event for the elite, for crying out loud! I literally blame myself right now for not putting extra security right at the front door just to stop trash like you from sneaking in."

Ethan didn't move an inch. He just stared back at him with an incredibly calm, bored expression.

Julian stepped closer, pointing a menacing finger at Ethan's chest. "You have exactly two options, you idiot. You either turn around and walk out of here on your own two feet right now, or I personally kick you out. Choose one."

The wealthy students standing around the base of the stairs immediately noticed the confrontation. They turned around, looking at Ethan’s dust-streaked gray t-shirt and creased cotton trousers, and a wave of cruel whispers broke out.

"Look at his clothes," a girl snickered loudly from the crowd. "He probably pulled that outfit straight out of a dumpster."

"He literally looks like actual trash," another guy mocked, laughing into his expensive drink. "How did a hobo even get past the estate gates?"

"Seriously, does he think this is a homeless shelter?" another student chimed in, smirk wide. "He smells like old grease. Someone call the maids to come mop the floor where he’s standing."

A girl in a silk dress giggled loudly. "Look at those shoes. I wouldn't even let my dog sleep on fabric that cheap. He probably spent his entire life savings just to buy a bus ticket to this side of town."

"Hey, maybe he's here to pick up the leftover food after we finish," a tall guy laughed, nudging his friend. "Look at how hungry he looks just staring at us. Hey townie, do you want me to drop a dollar on the floor for you?"

"Don't waste your cash on him," a girl replied, rolling her eyes. "He wouldn't even know what to do with real money. He'd probably just go buy more of those terrible clothes. It's embarrassing that he's even standing on the same floor as us. Someone needs to throw him out before he ruins the whole night."

Chloe stepped forward, her arms crossed tightly as she glared at Ethan feeling so embarrassed.

"Ethan, you are literally trespassing right now. This is a private mansion."

"I'm not trespassing, Chloe," Ethan said, his voice entirely flat. "I was invited here."

"Invited?" Chloe scoffed, shaking her head. "By who? The catering staff? Did you get a job helping set up the tables? Because that is the only way someone like you gets through those front doors. Stop lying and just leave before you make an even bigger fool of yourself."

Ethan finally shifted his gaze to her. "Im not leaving because I'm not lying." Reaching into his pocket, he calmly pulled out the gold-foiled invitation card Cynthia had handed him moments before. He raised it in the air, flicking it right in front of Julian’s face. 

"I'm here as Cynthia Rose’s official plus-one."

A dead silence fell over the entire grand hall. For a brief second, everyone just stared at the authentic gold lettering on the card in absolute shock.

But then, Julian burst into a loud, hysterical fit of laughter. The rest of the crowd instantly caught on, and the entire room erupted into a wave of mocking giggles and jeers.

"Oh, that is rich!" a guy in the front of the crowd shouted. "Cynthia Rose would never let someone as poor as you get within ten feet of her, let alone be her date!"

"Yeah! You must be a literal stalker!" a girl yelled out, laughing hysterically.

"He definitely stole it," another student shouted from the back. "There is no way in the world a global superstar like Cynthia even knows his name. He probably found it on the ground outside or snatched it from her car."

The crowd laughed even louder, pointing at him. Julian stepped in closer, a wicked, taunting grin spreading across his face. "Are you a stalker, Ethan? Did you break into her dressing room or her house and steal that invitation card? Huh? Tell us, what else did you take from her? Her clothes? Her panties?"

Julian broke out into a loud laugh, and the surrounding students joined in, instantly chanting together. "Pervert! Stalker! Get the pervert out of here!"

In the heat of the mockery, a few students reached into the bowls on the nearby cocktail tables. They began tossing handfuls of snacks at Ethan. Popcorn and dried nuts bounced off his chest and shoulders, clattering onto the marble floor around his sneakers. Ethan stood perfectly still, unbothered by their taunting remarks.

Julian shook his head, looking at Ethan with pure amusement. "You are a complete idiot. What do you think Cynthia is going to do to you when she walks in here and finds out that a poor townie is pretending to be her boyfriend? She is going to completely crush you."

Ethan scoffed, dusting a piece of popcorn off his shoulder. He looked at Julian, "In that case, doesn't that mean you shouldn't be pissing her off even more by insulting her actual date?"

Julian’s laughter died. His face flushed bright red with anger, completely humiliated that a poor boy was speaking back to him with such immense authority. He raised his voice, shouting across the grand ballroom.

"Listen up, everybody! Let's get this pathetic scum back out to the streets where he belongs!"

On his command, three burly personal security guards stationed inside the mansion immediately walked over and surrounded Ethan, their massive hands reaching out to grip him tightly by his shoulders.

Julian smiled wickedly, "Make an example out of him. Drag him out of here."

As the heavy hands of the guards clamped down on his shoulders, Ethan simply turned his head, looking at the security men. "You really don't want to do this. I'm actually telling you the truth. I am here with Cynthia."

"Hey, let go of me," Ethan told the guard on his left. "You're making a huge mistake that will cost you your job."

The guard just laughed, tightening his grip. "Shut up, kid. Move your feet before we drag you."

Chloe’s face twisted into irritation, and she stepped right into Ethan’s space, her voice dripping with venom. "I never knew you were so patheticly desperate. Are you doing all of this just to get back at me, Cynthia would never in a million years go out with someone like you. Cynthia Rose would never, ever date a literal piece of human waste."

Ethan met her furious glare, his expression completely unfazed. "Cynthia wouldn't like you calling her boyfriend a piece of human waste, Chloe."

"You are so completely delusional!" Chloe shot back, her hands flying to her hips. "It’s actually pathetic how much you're lying right now just to save face in front of my boyfriend."

"Do you really think lying is going to make you look good here?" Chloe continued, leaning in. "You are standing in front of the richest students in Aethelgard. We know who belongs here and who doesn't. You are a nobody, Ethan. You will always be a nobody from a regular, boring town. Stop pretending."

"Really?" Ethan asked, a faint, slow smirk playing on his lips. "If I'm so delusional, then why do I have her purse?"

He pulled his arm loose from the grip of the security guards and held up the small, designer bag Cynthia had handed him right before she took her phone call. 

Chloe froze, her eyes dropping to the bag. She snatched the purse right out of Ethan's grip. She held it up to the lights, inspecting it.

"Oh, just look at this," Chloe scoffed, a mocking, triumphant smile breaking across her face as she turned to the surrounding crowd. "It’s another cheap, pathetic knockoff! This is supposed to be a limited-edition Hermès Birkin Faubourg, the kind of legendary designer bag an elite influencer like Cynthia Rose would actually carry. But wow, look at how incredibly cheap this replica looks!"

"Look at the stitching right here," Chloe laughed, pointing at the seam. "And look at this fake plastic hardware. It's hilarious. Did you buy this from a street vendor for twenty dollars, Ethan? Did you honestly think you could bring a fake bag into a house full of real luxury and fool anyone?"

Julian laughed loudly, walking over to join her. He reached out and grabbed the bag from Chloe's  hands, dangling it casually by its straps as if it were a piece of garbage. "Did you save up every single penny again just to buy this cheap knockoff purse, Ethan? Really, dude? I don't know why you even bothered to come here. No girl on this campus would want to be with a total loser like you."

"I mean, seriously, what was your plan here?" Julian mocked, waving the bag in Ethan's face. "Were you going to walk up to Cynthia and hand her this trash? Do you think she wouldn't notice? The Stone family knows real luxury, and this is completely pathetic."

Ethan watched him handle the multi-thousand-dollar custom bag, "I'd advise you to be very careful with that."

"Oh, are you worried I'm going to break your twenty-dollar toy?" Julian sneered, shaking the bag aggressively. "What are you going to do about it if I do? Cry? Call the village police?"

Chloe eagerly took the bag back from Julian, holding it up by its strap as she sneered at Ethan. "Why should we be careful, huh? Because Cynthia is going to be incredibly angry that her special, precious purse, the one you clearly bought from a clearance rack at Walmart, gets a little scratch on it?"

The surrounding wealthy students burst into another wave of loud laughter, pointing and jeering at Ethan’s straight face.

"Look," Ethan said, giving a small sigh as he looked between the two of them. "Just give the purse back to me, and let’s all just wait here for Cynthia to walk in. She'll clear this up."

"Why should we wait for her?" Chloe snapped. "So you can embarrass me even more? So you can drag my name down in front of Julian and his family? I am done listening to your pathetic stories, Ethan. You don't belong here, your fake card doesn't belong here, and this stupid, cheap bag definitely doesn't belong here."

Chloe held the purse high in the air, a wicked, malicious glint entering her eyes as she looked around at the laughing crowd. "You know what? I have a brilliant idea. Why don't we go wash this beautiful, expensive 'designer' purse. In the toilet."

"Yeah, go wash it!" Julian yelled, clapping his hands. "Let's see if the fake leather floats!"

"Take it to the stalls!" a guy from the crowd shouted. "Give it a proper rinse!"

"Let's see how much water that cheap plastic can hold," Chloe laughed, turning toward the hallway. 

"Come on, everyone, let's go give Ethan's gift the exact treatment it deserves."