?Chapter 166:


    She quickly texted Fred, “You’ve taken on such a task?”


    Fred sent back a smiley face emoji, responding, “Just a broke college kid, ready to take any gig that pays.”


    Belinda read his words and pressed her lips together in a silent nod of understanding.


    Five years earlier, when she herself was a student, she’d been just like Fred — eager to snatch up any paying gig. During her stint as a waitress, she had even rescued Joyce from a near assault. That incident had bonded them tightly, closer than family. They had once made a bet; when Joyce lost, she cheerfully called Belinda her “sister” and joined her in the hustle of part-time work.


    Lost in these memories, Belinda felt a deep pang of nostalgia. She remembered her days of scraping by.


    After a moment, she took a deep breath and typed out another message to Fred. “Will this undercover job jeopardize your chances for future gigs? If there’s any risk, don’t worry about it. I can manage on my own.”


    After receiving her message, Fred quickly replied, his voice tinged with anxiety. He left a voice message. “Belinda, you’re overthinking this. I don’t usually handle these kinds of jobs. But there’s a big payout involved, and they needed a lot of people, so I jumped in. I do a ton of different gigs; this is just one more on the list.”


    Upon hearing this, Belinda’s worries eased. With a smile, she replied with a voice message of her own, “Okay, then help me collect as much information as you can. When it’s all wrapped up, dinner’s on me.”


    Back in his dorm, Fred listened as his roommate rambled about how to troll people online, headphones in to catch every word from Belinda. She sounded much moreposed than he’d expected, her voice still soft and soothing.


    It seemed the swirling online rumors hadn’t shaken her at all. Imagining her calm, graceful demeanor, a smile unwittingly crept over Fred’s face as he began to type his response. “Deal, I’m looking forward to that dinner!”


    “Who’s got you grinning like that?” his roommate teased, nudging him yfully. “So, you’ve got yourself a girlfriend now?”


    Fred looked up, a bit startled, realizing he’d been smiling to himself. He nced at his reflection in the mirror, a surprising surge of happiness welling up inside him. “Not a girlfriend, not yet anyway.”


    His roommate chuckled, teasing him further, “I see why you’ve been hunting for new part-time gigs. Trying to make an impression on someone special, huh?”


    Switching gears, his roommate returned to the topic of their current part-time job. “But really, the drama in these wealthy families is something else.”<fnb478> This text is hosted at find{n}ovel</fnb478>


    He pointed to a wedding certificate photo disyed on theputer screen. “This original wife is far more attractive than Cathy, don’t you think? Why would she give up her status as ady of wealth to get mixed up with another man and end up pregnant with his child? Now her husband can unt his affairs, and she’s the one getting dragged through the mud online…”


    Fred’s frown deepened as he read the online posts, pausing to think before suppressing the urge to defend Belinda. He replied in a rxed manner, “What we’re seeing might not be the entire story. Perhaps the child was actually her husband’s.”


    “Really?” his roommate scoffed. “If the kid was really her husband’s, why would she consider terminating the pregnancy and allow her husband to cheat so tantly? That would paint Kristopher as a supreme scoundrel, wouldn’t it?”


    Fred nodded, his smile thin and humorless. “Kristopher is, without a doubt, a scoundrel.”


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