The Background Character Loop: One Last Chance to Break the Cycle-Chapter 18: The Price of a Dream

Ivansia’s room was warm and cozy, lit by the soft glow of her desk lamp.

But the air was starting to feel a little tense.

Her long, wavy black hair gently fell over her shoulder as she leaned forward, silver glasses sitting perfectly on the bridge of her nose while she pointed at a complicated row of integral formulas.

"So... if we’re using the substitution method here, Theo, the first step is to find the u," Ivansia said, her clear violet eyes looking directly at Theo, her patience starting to run thin.

Theo scratched his head, his messy black hair bouncing slightly as he did.

Defeat was written all over his face—furrowed brows, a slight pout, and that unmistakable look of being completely lost.

That normally confident face of his now looked completely confused.

"Uhh... which one’s supposed to be u again, Ivansia?" he asked hesitantly, his voice unsure. Even his body, usually straight and full of energy, now slumped a little.

Ivansia let out a sharp sigh, long and heavy.

A faint crease formed between her eyebrows, and her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Theo! We’ve gone over this five times already!" she snapped, her tone rising a little with frustration. "Were you even paying attention?! This is literally the basics!"

She reached out—quicker, a bit rougher than before... Aiming for Theo’s notebook that lay on the desk in front of them.

"Let me see the homework you did yesterday! I bet you didn’t do anything, did you?"

Seeing her hand move toward his notebook, Theo’s dark eyes widened in panic.

He moved quickly, trying to grab it before she could—but she was faster.

Her fingers gripped the notebook, and in a second, the most-used pages flipped open.

Ivansia’s anger vanished almost instantly.

Her violet eyes widened slightly behind her silver-rimmed glasses.

Instead of formulas or practice problems, page after page of Theo’s notebook revealed something else entirely—sketches. Dozens of them.

Detailed drawings. Of her.

There were illustrations of her from different angles: reading a book, giving a soft smile, even focused expressions while teaching.

Every detail—her wavy black hair, her eyes, even the light reflecting off her glasses—was captured with almost lifelike precision.

On the next pages, there were intricate architectural sketches of buildings, detailed down to the texture and perspective. The kind of drawings that showed real talent.

Ivansia stared in stunned silence. Heat slowly bloomed across her cheeks, and she clutched the notebook a little tighter.

Her heart began to race, a strange mix of flattery and embarrassment washing over her.

All the anger she had just moments ago seemed to melt away, replaced by awkwardness and disbelief.

Theo, now with flushed cheeks himself, quickly reached for the notebook again, but Ivansia held it back.

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, trying to come up with an excuse.

"I-It’s nothing, really! Just random sketches!" he said quickly, his voice rising a little too high.

"I... I was just practicing drawing faces! You just happened to be nearby, so I kinda... used you as reference, that’s all!"

He gave her a crooked, nervous smile—a smile that clearly wasn’t natural.

His dark eyes flicked toward her face, hoping to read her reaction, trying to hide what he really felt.

"And the buildings and stuff... that’s just me doodling when I got bored in class! It’s nothing special! Doesn’t mean anything!"

Theo rambled on, trying to convince her—and maybe even himself.

Ivansia slowly closed the notebook, her gaze shifting from the sketches to Theo’s confused, slightly panicked face.

Her heart beat faster as she imagined how long he must’ve spent drawing all of that—instead of studying.

"...It’s fine. Just... it’s okay, Theo," Ivansia said at last, her voice much softer now. There was even a little awkwardness in it.

She couldn’t bring herself to be mad after seeing all of that.

"You... you can go home now."

She waved her hand dismissively, not quite meeting his eyes, her fingers trembling slightly in the air.

"We’ll... continue tomorrow. You should go rest."

"Ah... yeah, okay, Ivansia," Theo replied quickly, stuffing his notebook and school supplies into his bag.

He stood up and walked toward the door.

Before he left, he turned back to look at her. Ivansia had her head slightly lowered, not saying anything.

"Thanks... for today. Really," he said, before stepping out.

Then he opened her door and stepped out.

Ivansia heard the door close behind him. Her heart still raced in her chest.

She slowly started cleaning up the messy study desk, then stood up and walked toward the mirror in her room.

Her cheeks were burning red.

At the edge of the mirror, there was a photo of her as a child—standing next to a younger Theo. In the picture, she was smiling widely, while Theo looked a little shy about being in the photo.

A tiny smile crept onto her lips.

Those sketches in Theo’s notebook... they were really, really good.

Maybe... maybe he should be working on developing his talent instead of chasing me all the way to Harvard.

Ivansia sighed. Her throat felt dry after the study session earlier.

She walked out of her room and headed downstairs to the fridge.

She opened it and grabbed some juice, drinking it slowly until her throat finally felt better. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

She turned to head back upstairs.

But then she heard a voice from the living room.

"Please be patient, sir... I’ll send the profit next week," said her father’s voice.

[We’ve waited two weeks already! You promised to pay us last week, but now look at you. You still haven’t paid anything!]

The voice on the phone was yelling.

Ivansia’s steps slowed. She crept closer to the living room, holding her breath, each step as silent as possible.

Her heart pounded hard in her chest. A bad feeling started crawling up her spine.

She knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping... but her father’s tense voice and the furious tone from the caller froze her in place.

[If you don’t pay us on time, we’ll come to your house. Get ready.]

Then the call ended with a loud click.

Ivansia heard her father collapse onto the couch.

"I told you, honey... This whole scheme was bound to fall apart eventually," came her mother’s voice. She sounded deeply worried, her tone trembling.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

"I’ll figure something out. Just give me a little time," her father replied in a tired, hopeless tone. "Maybe we can find new investors."

"No... I don’t think we can," her mother said sadly. "Maybe we’ll have to borrow money just to pay off the old investors."

Ivansia peeked from around the corner. She saw her mother gently rubbing her father’s back, trying to comfort him.

Her father sat hunched over, head in his hands, the weight of everything pressing down on his shoulders.

"We need that money, darling... it’s for our daughter’s dream," he said, lifting his head and looking into his wife’s eyes. His eyes were watery, lips pressed tight.

"We can’t let her dreams fall apart."

Ivansia’s whole body started trembling.

She couldn’t stop it. A painful realization struck her like a slap to the face.

All this time, her parents had been struggling.

They’d been working so hard, even resorting to shady ways of getting money—all for her. For her dream of going to Harvard.

She turned and bolted back up the stairs, tears burning in her eyes.

She rushed into her room, slammed the door shut behind her, and fell face-first into her pillow, trying—failing—to hold in the sobs.

But even then, her quiet sobs still came through.

What should I do now?

My parents... they were lying to people, tricking them, just to support my dream?

Do I blame them... or do I blame myself? For dreaming too big? For being so selfish?

Maybe I should give up on Harvard altogether. Maybe I should just start working part-time to help them out.

Ah—no. Should I ask Theo for help?

No. I can’t drag him into this.

Wait... Luna.

Maybe Luna can help me. She’s the daughter of a tech CEO. Maybe she has a job or something I can do... maybe...

She bit her lower lip, trying to hold back another sob.

The dream she’d held onto all this time—the dream that had been her biggest motivation—now felt like a fragile illusion, fading faster and faster with every breath.