Chapter 1

To earn some extra campus credits, I volunteered to guide incoming freshmen during Orientation Week.

I never imagined I'd get stuck with a completely delusional freshman named Chloe.

She kept asking me invasive personal questions, talking to me as if she were already my girlfriend.

On move-in day, the second we met in person, she grabbed my hand way too familiarly. Blushing, she turned to her mother and said:

"Mom, this is my boyfriend, Dylan. Say hi! We're all going to be family from now on!"

Even worse, her mother actually nodded with approval:

"I like him. Just remember, once school starts, you hand all your allowance over to my daughter. No smoking, no drinking, and absolutely no female friends! As soon as you two graduate, you're getting married!"

I stood there, completely dumbfounded. Since when could someone unilaterally declare a relationship without the other person's consent?

Staring at the mother-daughter duo, my head throbbed. The level of sheer delusion was unbelievable!

When on earth did I ever agree to become "family"?

I shook Chloe’s hand off as discreetly as possible, trying to keep my temper in check. "Ma'am, please don't get the wrong idea. Your daughter and I only exchanged a few messages online about campus orientation. At best, we're casual acquaintances. Talking about marriage is way out of line." I softened my tone as much as I could, hoping to spare her feelings.

Chloe didn't buy it at all. Instead, she crossed her arms and shouted indignantly, "You're lying! If you don't like me, why did you add me on Snapchat? Why did you keep chatting with me?"

Her baffling confidence left me speechless. "Helping freshmen is my assignment. You're not the only person I added."

"By that logic, am I supposed to be in love with and marry every single person in my contacts?"

Hearing this, Brenda’s gaze instantly turned sharp. She glared at me, her voice rising: "If you don't like Chloe, why did you lead her on? Are you trying to dodge your responsibilities?"

I couldn't believe how unreasonable this woman was. When did I ever lead her daughter on? She made it sound like I had seduced and abandoned her, when in reality, Chloe had been the one constantly harassing me!

Her loud, accusatory outburst quickly drew the attention of passing students. A crowd began to gather, whispering and pointing fingers at me.

Feeling their judgmental, contemptuous stares, I flushed with embarrassment.

To keep things from blowing up even further, I swallowed my rage, practically begging them:

"Ma'am, Chloe, let me just help you carry your bags to the dorm first, okay? We can clear this up later."

I grabbed Chloe's suitcase and led them toward the freshman dorms.

Chloe smirked smugly. "Men are so hypocritical. You say you don't like me, yet you rush to carry my luggage. If that's not love, what is?"

Brenda agreed completely, rambling the entire walk about how a proper wedding required a thirty-thousand-dollar cash gift, along with a house and a brand-new car.

I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. The moment I dropped them off outside her dorm room, I made an excuse and bolted.

My roommates had seen parts of the scene outside earlier. When I got back to our room, they immediately crowded around me, demanding an explanation.

"Dylan, aren't you pursuing Claire from junior year? Why are you suddenly tangled up with some freshman?"

They all knew I had been courting Claire, a junior, for over a year.

I buried my face in my hands and groaned. "Man, I’m cursed."

I spilled the whole story from start to finish. My roommates were dumbstruck. None of them had ever heard of a mother-daughter pair this unhinged.

"If I knew this would happen, I would've skipped the orientation volunteer gig. Two stupid credits aren't worth this mess."

Right then, my phone buzzed. I didn't even need to look to know who it was.

"Babe, where did you run off to? Mom and I have been waiting for ages. Before classes start, let's go out for dinner. As her future son-in-law, it's about time you treated your mother-in-law."