My Poor Roommate is a Billionaire

Chapter 003:Blind Box

Seraphina’s POV

The past few days, I was still stuck in the anxiety of not finding a job.

Yesterday, I had an interview at a startup tech company. To my surprise, the CEO turned out to be Grayson Steele, the city’s infamous playboy. I couldn’t help but wonder what had driven someone like him to start a small company.

But what really left an impression on me wasn’t Grayson Steele—it was the CTO who interviewed me. His professionalism blew me away. Not only did he share his vision for the new app they were developing, but he also gave insightful thoughts on personal finance, many of which truly resonated with me.

His words really struck a chord. Though his serious demeanor and lack of small talk, I could feel his passion and dedication to his work. I couldn’t help but imagine how much I could grow if I worked under him.

Unfortunately, I didn’t perform well in the interview. It seemed I didn’t meet their expectations.

Feeling frustrated, I opened my job search app. After submitting a few applications, I weakly dropped my phone back down.

The anxiety over finding a job was growing stronger. I’d been in New York for several weeks, but still hadn’t found anything, and my bank account was running dangerously low.

Amy had already moved to Philadelphia. She texted to tell me that the company had rented her a nice place. On moving day, she had so much stuff that she had to ask a few friends for help to get everything settled.

Today, my new roommate was moving in.

Liam arrived in the afternoon, and his luggage was surprisingly light—just a suitcase and three cardboard boxes. It didn’t take him long to settle into Amy’s old room.

Amy’s room had its own private bathroom, while I shared one with another roommate. However, since that roommate was rarely in New York, I hadn’t even met him yet.

That evening, as I sat in my room reading, Liam knocked on my door:

"How about we go grab dinner? Consider it a celebration for my move-in."

I hesitated for a moment. After all, my finances were tight, and eating out would stretch my budget even further.

Liam seemed to catch on to my hesitation and immediately smiled: "It’s on me!"

But wasn’t he tight on money too? If not, he wouldn’t have chosen to move into our old, rundown apartment.

Seeing me still unsure, Liam’s smile brightened: "I’ll take you somewhere affordable but with big portions!"

His charming smile convinced me, and I finally nodded: "Alright, give me 20 minutes to get ready."

I quickly applied some light makeup, slipped into a blue knit dress, and paired it with a simple necklace and earrings. I finished the look with a black leather jacket.

When I stepped out of my room, Liam paused, staring at me for a moment before softly saying: "You look amazing in that dress..."

His compliment was so genuine, unlike the usual polite remarks you get in social settings. It warmed me, especially since the dress was an old, outdated style I bought back in college. I never expected to receive such praise for it.

There’s a parking lot downstairs in our building, and Liam’s car was parked there. I don’t know much about cars, but I could tell it was an old model. Yet, when I got inside, I was surprised to see how well the interior was decorated—nothing like a typical second-hand vehicle.

Liam drove us to a high-end Italian restaurant. But when we arrived, instead of taking me straight to a table, he walked directly to the counter.

"Hi, I’m here to pick up a blind box." he told the server.

A blind box? I was a bit confused, but when I saw him expertly show his phone to the server to scan, it didn’t take long before the server handed him a large bag of food.

Then, Liam repeated the same process at a popular chain Chinese restaurant, picking up another hefty bag of food.

I followed behind, still puzzled, as he grabbed two big bags of food, then stopped at a juice bar to buy a smoothie and a juice.

The Chinese restaurant was inside a mall. He led me into the food court, opened the two bags, and started pulling out takeout boxes of all sizes.

"Food blind boxes are when restaurants sell unsold but still edible food from the day, packed randomly and sold to customers at a low price." he explained.

"This is the first time I’ve heard of this! That way, food doesn’t go to waste, and customers get to buy things at a low price. What a brilliant idea!" I was impressed by how many ways he knew to save money.

He then picked up the first box, grinning: "Alright, take a guess. What do you think is inside? Let’s make it more fun—whoever loses has to grant the winner a favor. How does that sound? Of course, nothing too crazy."

"Deal!" My curiosity was instantly sparked, and I agreed without a second thought.

At that time, I never imagined that a simple, silly little game would one day pull me into something so complicated—and so painful.

If I could go back, I’d only say one thing to my past self: Don’t do it.

"I’m guessing stuffed shells!" I said.

"I’ll go with a panini sandwich." Liam replied.

When the first box was opened, it revealed a generous serving of baked lasagna.

"Wow, this looks so good!" Although neither of us had guessed right, the dish in front of us had completely captured my attention.

"Alright, next one. I’m guessing orange chicken." Liam said.

"I’ll guess General Tso’s chicken!" I responded with a grin.

And so, we kept playing our little "Guess the Food" game, opening takeout boxes from the two large bags. It felt like unwrapping presents as a child on Christmas morning.

Soon, the entire table was filled with food! There was baked lasagna, cheese ravioli, fried calamari, tiramisu, fried noodles, orange chicken, and mixed vegetable tofu.

In the end, Liam was the only one to guess the Orange Chicken correctly. As for me, I didn’t get a single guess right.

Looking at all the food spread out before us, especially knowing we’d gotten it at such a low price, I felt a sense of satisfaction.

Though we were sitting in an open dining area, with people constantly coming and going, and the environment wasn’t particularly cozy, I found myself enjoying the meal more than I’d expected.

It wasn’t just because the food was delicious, but also because of Liam, sitting across from me. Watching him eat so gracefully, like a true golden boy, made the simple act of dining feel unexpectedly delightful.

I, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. I was always a bit messy at meals. Amy often told me I ate too quickly and ended up with food on my face.

It wasn’t until I saw Liam lean in slightly, his gaze fixed on my face, that I realized there was sauce on the corner of my mouth.

“May I?” he asked softly, his voice gentle as he reached toward me.

“Hold still…” he whispered, his fingertips lightly brushing my skin—slow and careful—before pulling away.

“All done.” he said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. That smile made my heart skip a beat.

It suddenly dawned on me just how close he was, how tender his touch had been. My heart raced so fast I almost forgot the taste of the food.

Even so, I was completely full. Just as I was packing up the leftovers to take with me, I noticed someone walking toward us through the crowd.

“Ethan Anderson?” the person called out to Liam.

Was that… the famous paparazzo?

Amy was always obsessed with celebrity gossip and often shared the latest rumors with me, so I immediately recognized the man’s face.

As New York’s most famous paparazzo, he was known for stalking celebrities and billionaires to expose their scandals. In fact, many high-profile figures had been caught in compromising situations by him—some of which were truly shocking.

This paparazzo was also very well-known, frequently appearing on talk shows to share his opinions on celebrities and the rich.

I could hardly believe I was running into him here. What confused me even more was why he was calling Liam "Ethan."

"I’m not him, you’ve got the wrong person." Liam quickly turned away.

"You are!" The man insisted, staring at Liam’s face. He then pulled a camera from his bag and started snapping photos.

"You’re mistaken... It happens all the time. People always confuse me with him." Liam said, using his hand to shield his face while hurriedly packing up the takeout boxes on the table.

He tossed the empty boxes into a nearby trash can with one hand, while using the other to grab the remaining food box. His eyes signaled me to hurry up and leave.

I was completely caught off guard by the sudden chaos. I had no idea what was happening.

But the paparazzo clearly wasn’t about to let Liam go. He kept following him, snapping pictures and shouting his questions:

“I heard your stepmother kicked you out of the board—is that true?”

“Does this mean you’ve been pushed out of the family?”

“Is it true your stepmother set up a trust in your half-brother’s name to take control of your family's shares?”

His questions came rapid-fire, growing louder with each one, drawing curious glances from the people around us.

Why was he asking Liam these things? The board? Trust?

But I didn’t have time to process it.

As Liam stepped closer, the paparazzo suddenly noticed me and raised his camera, snapping photos with a rapid "click-click"!

"Stop taking pictures of her!"

Liam snapped, immediately stepping in front of me to shield me from the paparazzo.

In that moment, all I could see was Liam’s broad shoulders—strong, reliable. As he shielded me from the paparazzo, I felt an overwhelming sense of safety, something I had never felt before.

To be honest, when the paparazzo first snapped my photo, panic took over. But when Liam stood in front of me, everything changed, and my heart settled.

Because I knew someone was there, standing up for me, protecting me. And that sense of security was more comforting than anything else.

The paparazzo clearly didn’t expect that. He froze for a second, his camera lowering just slightly.

Seizing the chance, Liam grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the mall’s exit.

My mind went blank, and I could only run alongside him. I could feel the warmth of his hand in mine, my heart racing with every step.

I thought I could still hear the "click-click" of the camera behind us, but I didn’t care. All I could focus on was Liam’s hand holding mine—stronger than any words, more meaningful than anything else.

We quickly returned to the car. As I tried to calm my still-racing heart, Liam spoke up:

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that..."

"You don’t need to apologize." For some reason, I didn’t want to hear the word "sorry" from him.

"That paparazzo must’ve mistaken you for someone else, maybe a celebrity?" I asked cautiously.

After a long pause, Liam finally answered, his voice low: "Seems like it..."

My heart was still racing from the earlier incident, and it seemed Liam had also fallen into his own thoughts, the car filled with silence between us.

Just then, my phone buzzed with a notification. I pulled it out and saw a message:

"Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you have been offered the position you applied for at Nexwise Technologies."