Thinking back…
I had sensed that something was off even before we got married.
But love is a terrifying fever.
Once you’re burning with it, you become blind to every flaw.
Especially after a devastating heartbreak—your mind weakens, and you start making poor decisions.
For someone like me, a man brimming with pride, getting rejected was utterly humiliating.
On the very first day of living together, I was already regretting this marriage.
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I, Ichinose Rentarō, graduated from a so-called top-tier university and landed a job at a prestigious trading company. I was on the fast track to success—a textbook example of a “winner.”
She, Akane, was a classmate of mine in college, once referred to as the school’s Madonna.
Back when I first met Akane, I was nothing but a bookish, socially clueless bore, wholly devoted to my studies.
Even I can admit now that I was a dull man back then.
Akane, on the other hand, had an air of sophistication from the moment she entered university. To a crowd of nerdy, studious guys, she shone like a beacon.
“Who will be the one to win her over?” they whispered, half-hopeful, half-doubtful.
Our faculty was made up of 80% socially awkward, bookish guys—proud survivors of the brutal entrance exam wars. And in our naive arrogance, we all believed that with our newfound academic victories, we were bound to enter a golden age of romantic success.
I was no exception.
Practically every guy in our faculty—no, in the entire university—harbored the secret belief that he was the one truly worthy of her.
But Akane, the flawless beauty and brilliant mind, had no interest in broke, scholarship-dependent students.
Even the top-ranking, most promising scholars and the rare, handsome standouts among us were dismissed without a second thought. Instead, she started dating a tech CEO in his thirties.
One day, she’d be getting picked up in a sports car at the university gate. On long holidays, she’d vanish on a private jet to some tropical paradise, returning with souvenirs.
The rest of us—mere paupers—could do nothing but watch her dazzling life from the sidelines, enviously licking our wounds.
I was no different.
But life has a way of turning the tables.
After graduating and joining a prestigious trading company, I suddenly found myself in high demand.
No longer a broke student, I became a high earner. As I followed my successful seniors’ lead, upgrading my fashion and lifestyle, I found myself surrounded by women.
Turns out, my only flaw had been a lack of money.
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