Living With The System

Ace was no longer the naive student he once was, but the betrayal he felt still burned deeply. It was a normal midday when he trudged back through the dormitory halls, sore and exhausted after an all-night delivery shift and an early morning gig. His body ached, but he tried not to let it bother him.

"I have $250 saved, and Mom gave me $100. Now I can finally buy Lisa that birthday gift. I’ll work harder to pay the fees—another couple of night shifts won’t hurt." Ace muttered to himself as he entered his room, ready to collapse onto his bed.

Though life was hard, Ace could still find joy in the simple things—his job, his savings, and most importantly, his love for Lisa. She had always been his anchor, the one who made the struggle worth it.

But today... Things were different.

As Ace entered, he saw his roommates crowded around his computer, their attention fixated on something. He raised an eyebrow, his irritation surfacing. "Hey! Don’t mess with my things!" he snapped.

"Yo, Ace, come check this out," Reed, a tall blonde with a mischievous grin, called to him.

Ace wasn’t in the mood for distractions, but he was curious. "What is it?" he asked, his brows furrowed.

His blood ran cold the moment he heard the moaning. His fists clenched as his heart began to pound in his chest.

"Give it to me," he demanded, dropping his bag and marching toward the group, fury building inside him.

As he got closer, his eyes locked on the screen. His entire world seemed to crash in that moment.

There she was—Lisa. His Lisa. But not the one he loved.

Lisa, his innocent, beautiful girlfriend, was on that screen—smiling at another man, her body moving in ways Ace never thought possible. His heart shattered.

"No... It can’t be... My Lisa... This must be a trick. Someone’s messing with me," Ace stammered, his hands shaking with disbelief. He turned to his roommates, desperate for reassurance.

"Isn’t that your girl?" Reed asked, eyes wide with mock confusion.

Ace’s stomach twisted. His mind screamed that this was impossible. There had to be a mistake.

"You’re wrong. She would never do this," he whispered, trying to convince himself.

One of his roommates chuckled, "She doesn’t look so innocent now, does she?"

The group burst into laughter, but for Ace, every laugh was like a dagger to his chest. His eyes flickered with rage, disbelief, and a sense of crushing betrayal.

It was Lisa.

His head spun, and a cold sweat broke out on his brow. “No! This isn’t my Lisa. I don’t believe it!” His voice cracked, but the truth was there, staring him in the face.

Trembling, he stumbled back out of the room. His mind raced, each thought louder than the last, but in the end, there was only one thing he could do.

“I need to call her. I need to hear it from her,” he muttered, his voice hoarse. He dialed Lisa’s number, his hands shaking as he waited for the call to connect.

The voicemail. Her voicemail.

"Lisa, I know this isn’t you. But I need to hear you say it. I saw the video, and I need you to tell me it’s a lie. Please... please call me back. I can’t—" Ace’s voice cracked, and the voicemail ended. He was desperate for her to tell him it was all a mistake.

He couldn’t wait. Not anymore.

His feet carried him to the café where Lisa always went. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to turn back, to forget it and let it go, but he couldn’t. He had to confront her. She owed him that much.

When he spotted her, his heart twisted in his chest. Lisa, sitting at a table, sipping a soda, looked so carefree. But Ace could only think back to the video, to the betrayal, to the wound that was slowly, painfully opening in his chest.

And then, there he was. Richard Conner. The most popular guy on campus. Ace froze, watching him laugh with Lisa.

Maybe, just maybe, Lisa had simply asked for help with her studies. It didn’t mean anything.

But as he walked closer, that foolish hope was crushed. Lisa’s gaze met his, and the horror was clear in her eyes. She looked at him—his tattered clothes, the exhaustion in his face—and a disgusted look crossed her face.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” Ace demanded, his voice thick with disbelief.

Lisa’s face turned red with embarrassment, and before she could answer, Richard cut in. “She’s my girlfriend now. Who are you?”

Ace’s world tilted. His stomach churned, and his knees buckled. "Girlfriend?" His voice was barely a whisper.

Lisa shot him a venomous look. “For heaven’s sake, Ace, look at you. You’re a joke! You think you can show up here and act like you matter? Richard bought me a gift worth $20,000 in one day. You can’t even get me a cup of ice cream! I’m done with you. Get out!”

Her words pierced his heart, each one cutting deeper than the last. The woman he had loved—his whole world—was gone.

Ace tried to breathe, but it felt like the air was being sucked out of his lungs. The betrayal was so raw, so brutal. But what hurt more was the way Lisa had discarded him.

Someone in the background started filming the scene, sending it to the school’s group chat. The video spread like wildfire.

“Low-life Ace gets humiliated on campus.”

“I knew he was a peasant.”

“Good riddance. Lisa deserves better.”

The comments flooded in, and Ace was crushed under the weight of their cruelty. He could feel the eyes on him, the whispers, the judgment. His life, his dignity, everything he had worked for was being ripped apart.

Richard, calm and composed, watched the entire scene unfold, his smirk never fading. Ace felt a wave of rage bubble up from deep within him.

Richard didn’t let up. He turned to his phone and sent a message. "Fret, get everything on Ace Wickham. Take everything he has."

Fret’s response was immediate: "Ace has nothing. He’s a joke. His mom is still stuck in that shack they call a home."

The words hit Ace like a blow to the gut. His family, his mother—the only person he had left—was now a target too.

“I helped you, Lisa,” Ace said, his voice trembling. “You wouldn’t even be in school if it weren’t for me. But this... this is how you repay me?”

Lisa sneered, "You think I stayed with you for your brains? Please. You’re broke. And now, even with your intelligence, you're going nowhere.”

Ace staggered back, his thoughts racing. But before he could respond, his phone rang. Unknown number.

He stepped aside and answered it, his hands trembling. “Hello?”

“Is this Ace? I’m calling to inform you that your mother just collapsed and was rushed to City Hospital. Please come immediately.”

The color drained from Ace’s face. His heart raced. “What? No…”

He turned to the couple, his mind in turmoil. Richard’s smirk only deepened, his eyes glinting with something darker.

Without thinking, Ace lunged at Richard, grabbing him by the collar. “What did you do to her?”

Richard chuckled, pushing Ace away easily, his smirk never fading. “I showed you who’s in control now. Say goodbye to your mother.”

In the blur of rage, Ace didn’t stop. He couldn’t. His only thought was to reach the hospital. But as he turned, he muttered, “I hope she’s okay.”

And in that moment, he knew—nothing would ever be the same again.