The Billionaire Who Smelled Like Money

"I like you! Hurk… hurk…" Out on the athletic field, pinching my nose, I confessed to New York's billionaire crown prince for the umpteenth time.

I could smell the "money" on everyone. The poorer someone was, the better they smelled. The richer they were, the worse they stank. And Corbin? He stank to high heaven.

He dumped an entire bottle of cologne over himself and screamed in front of everyone, livid. "Damn you, woman, I do not stink!" Another confession, another failure.

After some painful soulsearching, I reached a conclusion: rich men were murder on the nose. Better to go find a broke genius and get some oxygen.

Chapter 1 Once I got to college, I vowed to go after the hottest guy on campus.

As luck would have it, Corbin Prescott, New York's billionaire crown prince, got placed in the same freshman cohort as me. Not only was he loaded, he was dropdead gorgeous.

My absolute dream type. The day before classes started, I gave myself the full beauty treatment. I was planning to go all out the next day. But that night, I had a dream.

In the dream, something that called itself the System said that Corbin belonged to the female lead, and I couldn't touch him. If I did, I'd be punished.

I scoffed and didn't give it a second thought. On the first day of classes, I walked into the classroom.

Corbin was sitting by the window, his long fingers idly twirling a Montblanc pen. A living, breathing untouchable: elegant, aloof, and icecold.

Every girl in the class was sneaking photos of him, but not one of them dared to go near him. I brushed off my skirt and walked over.

I was just about to flash him my sweetest smile when an unbelievably foul stench suddenly launched an attack on me.

Like a can of fermented herring left soaking in a toilet for three days and three nights. The stink made my head spin. I couldn't help it.

I doubled over and threw up right there. "Blehhh—" "…" In that instant, the whole world went silent. Everyone turned to look at me, Corbin included.

He frowned slightly, his eyes a little puzzled and a lot disgusted. Then the System's voice came back inside my head: [Warning! Warning! Plot Disruptor detected.

Male Lead Protection Protocol activated!] [Money Stinks Mode enabled for the Disruptor.] [Corbin's Wealth Tier: SSS.

Odor Level: Stinks to high heaven.] [Disruptor, know when you're beat and back off.] Me: "…?" Oh, okay. A System, huh? A punishment, huh? Well, I wasn't about to fold!

Steadying myself on the corner of the desk, I wiped my mouth and forced out a smile that looked worse than crying. "Sorry about that.

My stomach's been kind of off." Corbin ignored me, looked away, and went back to twirling his pen.

Once I'd cleaned up, I held my breath and plopped right down in the seat next to him. Corbin didn't even lift his eyes.

Meanwhile, my nasal passages were going through a fullblown biohazard crisis. Even my smile was trembling. "Hi, Corbin! Let's get to know each other—blehhh…" I swear.

I really didn't mean to. It was a reflex. I just couldn't control it. This time, it landed on Corbin's limitededition sneakers.

He stared at the mess on his shoes, the kind TV would blur out, and fought to keep his cool, again and again. Finally, he shot me a cold, impatient look. "Tch.

If you're sick, go see a doctor. Come back to school when you're cured." Aw. He actually cared.

Slumped over the desk, I apologized weakly. "Sorry… it's just… it's so… stinky…" "?" "What's stinky?" Corbin looked around, puzzled, and took several long sniffs.

Finally, he turned to me, teeth gritted. "Hey.

Woman." "You don't mean me, do you?" Chapter 2 After that disastrous first impression, Corbin's opinion of me had probably dropped straight into the negatives.

I wasn't the least bit discouraged. Everyone says untouchable types can't hold out against relentless pursuit. I took a deep breath and became a fullon crazy admirer.

In class, I'd slip in right on time and sit next to him, taking notes for him while holding my breath so long I nearly passed out.

As a result, when we did a breathhold test in swim class, I broke the school record. When he played basketball, I stood on the sidelines screaming. "Corby's so hot!

Corby's the best!" Then the air he stirred up running past hit me so hard I ended up crouched on the ground, dryheaving. On a rainy day, I brought him an umbrella.

I pretended to slip and fall into his arms, and just as I was about to say something flirty— I passed out from the smell.

In the end, it was Corbin who carried me to the campus health center, his face gray with fury. After all that effort, Corbin's opinion of me kept dropping.

But his notoriety kept climbing. Nobody had dared to go near Corbin to begin with. Now it was even better. Everyone was saying Corbin had some weird smell.

So bad he'd knocked his own admirer out cold more than once. These days, a sixteenfoot nogo zone automatically formed around him. Everyone knew to steer clear. Except me.

Unwavering. Relentless. Still clinging on. Out on the athletic field, pinching my nose, I confessed. "Corby, I like you!

Hurk… hurk…" For the tenth time, I threw up on his limitededition sneakers. I finally drove Corbin over the edge.

He dumped an entire bottle of cologne over himself and let out a shrill, earsplitting shriek. "Briar Hartley!! I don't stink!! Not! Even! A! Little!

Bit!!" "Can you please just leave me alone already?!" He looked genuinely wrecked. I wanted to comfort him.

But the overpowering stench and the cologne mixed together and went on a rampage against me.

All I could do was apologize with tears streaming down my face. "I'm sorry, Corby, but you're just so intoxicating. I can't control myself!

Hurk…" When Corbin saw my tears, he suddenly froze. His pupils shrank, and he looked a little lost. "Hey—wait, no, why are you crying?" "How much do you want?

Name your price." Corbin thought I was after his money. I opened my mouth to explain, but the stench was more than I could take, and all I could do was cover my face and run.

A bystander casually snapped a photo, and once again I ended up posted on the schoolwide Discord server: [Genuine question: what does the Prescott heir actually smell like??

How does he knock people out like that?] [Don't ask. It's the smell of money.] [What are you talking about?

Sweet, sweet money doesn't stink… doesn't stink…] [So THAT's why I'm broke?] [Looks like Briar got rejected yet again, again, AGAIN today.] [Poor thing.

I've been watching her chase him forever and this is the first time I've seen her so heartbroken she ran off crying.] [lol you sure she was crying from heartbreak and not because he threw money at her?] [Wow, the person above really just makes stuff up, huh?

If you don't have the full tea, quit talking out your ass.

People who were there said Prescott was about to throw money at her, and Briar didn't even take it.] [I really thought our girl Briar was in it for the money.

So it's actually love??] [She's getting gassed like that and she STILL loves him?

Okay, I believe in love again.] [First time I've ever seen physical revulsion and emotional love on such an epic scale!] [Can you guys stop making stuff up?

I've been close to Corbin. He doesn't smell at all. He actually smells really nice.] [What's the deal with the person above? Corbin fan club?] [How much per post?

Let's all get a cut of the crown prince's money.] Chapter 3 [You guys are going way too far!

I'm Audrey Yarborough from the Chemistry Department, and I'm vouching for Corbin under my real name.] [Holy shit, it's the campus queen.] [Well, if the campus queen is vouching for him by name…] … The school Discord was in an uproar.

Corbin's hand tightened around his phone without him realizing it, and something he couldn't put a name to churned in his eyes.

He tagged Audrey publicly: [Corbin Prescott: Accept my friend request. @Audrey Yarborough] The moment it posted, the whole school blew up again. [Holy shit holy shit holy shit, is something happening between the crown prince and the campus queen?!] [Compared to Briar, who can only smell a stink on him, isn't the campus queen who thinks Prescott smells nice a way better match?] [Agreed.

Forget "physical revulsion, emotional love." Physical attraction is where it's at!] … Meanwhile.

I'd found a sink and was puking my guts out when the System spoke up in my head again: [Heh. Give it up, Disruptor. You think you can compete with the female lead? Please.] [See?

Thanks to you, the male lead likes the female lead even more now.] It pulled up the school Discord logs right in front of me. "…" I'll admit it. This time, it actually got to me.

I didn't sleep all night. The next day, for the first time ever, I was late to class. When I snuck in through the back door to my seat, I found something new on my desk.

A box of face masks from a brand I'd never seen. It had a few labels printed on it: "Medical Grade." "FiveLayer Protection." "Blocks Odors." I looked over at Corbin in surprise.

He cleared his throat and turned his face away. "Somebody gave me these.

Way too many for me to use, so I figured I'd give you some." "You're the one who keeps trashing my reputation, after all." I opened the box, put one on, and thanked him politely. "Thank you, Mr.

Prescott." "…?" Corbin glanced at me, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. But he quickly went back to normal.

Then, with a barely noticeable hint of hope, he asked, "So how's the mask?" Honestly? Better than nothing, but not by much. I didn't answer.

I just quietly tugged the mask down a little, pulled out my menthol nasal inhaler, and took a big hit. Corbin: "…" The next day, there was a tin of mint balm on my desk.

The label read: "Extracted from the rare King of Mints!

Relieves all discomfort caused by olfactory sensitivity!" I dabbed a little under my nose, and my whole head cleared instantly. Then I sneezed three times, hard. "Achoo! Achoo!

Achoo!" Corbin turned to look at me, frowning slightly. "Not working?" I rubbed my nose, eyes watering. "It's way too icy… achoo!" On the third day, there was a bottle of professional olfactory desensitizing spray on my desk.

The label said: "Temporarily numbs the olfactory nerves in the nasal cavity. For people sensitive to specific odors." I picked it up and gave it two sprays.

My nose really did go numb. I couldn't smell a thing. Me: "This one actually kind of works." Something like happiness seemed to flicker in Corbin's eyes.

But three minutes later, the stench came roaring back, even stronger than before. I started dryheaving again. "…" Corbin's clenched fingers went slightly white.

He couldn't figure out why none of it worked on me. Because what he didn't know was that the System's stink wasn't physical damage. It was magic damage.

Watching Corbin frown, visibly irritated, I let out a quiet sigh. Chapter 4 I hadn't taken his money, so he'd switched to giving me stuff instead.

Wasn't that just his way of spelling it out: stop hanging all over him and ruining his reputation? I thought about all the mockery on the school Discord.

Miserable, I slumped over my desk, shielding myself from the stench while giving myself a pep talk.

Right then, someone walked past my seat. "Hey, problem set, please." It was Noah Rourke's voice. My head shot up. The guy our professor had tapped to collect the problem sets.

Top of our year, a total genius. Word was his family didn't have much. He'd gotten in on a fullride scholarship, and when he wasn't studying, he was working.

And the most important part: He smelled so good. Ah, air. Fresh, stinkfree, actually goodsmelling air! Noah's scent made me swoon.

So the System's punishment mode sorted people by how much money they had. If the genius smelled this good, he really must be broke.

I psyched myself up and made a major decision: I was switching seats! I packed up my things, grabbed my bag, and stood