01 The bet was a penthouse apartment in downtown Manhattan. The target was me, the scholarship kid from the slums. The objective, set by Kaden Thorne, the king of Heston University’s trust-fund elite, was to get me into his bed within thirty days. So, after his very loud, very public declaration of "love" in the middle of the quad, I took the ridiculously large bouquet of roses he was holding, and dumped it in the nearest trash can. Then, I started lying. "Sorry, Kaden. One of your 'brothers' already told me the truth about the bet." I saw his face tighten. "And honestly?" I added, "If you spent less time being mad that a 'charity case' like me stole your spot on the Dean's List, maybe you'd actually pass a class." Then, I turned to the circle of smirking heirs watching the show. "And as for the rest of you... I know you were just trying to get on my good side, telling me all those nasty secrets about him behind his back, but..." I shrugged. "I'm just not into men who sell out their friends. Sorry." As I walked away, I watched the chaos erupt. Every single one of them, who had been laughing a second before, was now looking at his "brothers" with pure, unadulterated suspicion. I smiled to myself. Oh, you privileged little boys. You think you're the players? You just walked into my game. 02 The truth is, I noticed them long before they ever noticed me. You can't not notice them. Their entire lives are a performance of being rich. I’d spend hours hate-stalking their Instagrams, getting physically ill from the casual display of wealth, just writhing in my cheap dorm bed, consumed by pure, uncut jealousy. So, when Kaden Thorne himself, the king of the pricks, suddenly approached me, fresh off his McLaren, saying he was "in love" with me? That I was the "one pure, untouched, beautiful thing" in his world? My deep-seated hatred of the rich kept me perfectly clear-headed. I knew it was a scam. And digging through their social media, I figured it out pretty fast. These arrogant, spoiled brats weren't just playing with my feelings. They weren't even planning on spending any money to do it. That, more than anything, was what pissed me off. Fine. You want to be cheap? Then you can't blame me for turning your "brotherhood" into a public dogfight. 03 Unfortunately, being right doesn't pay the bills. I didn't have time to savor the victory. I had to run to my shift at the diner. I was halfway through wiping tables when one of them found me. Alex Chen. The one who'd just publicly declared I was a "filthy scholarship rat." He was furious, demanding I go to Kaden and clear his name. I just looked at him and shook my head. "No." "I never spoke to you," he snapped. "Why can't you just tell him that?" I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my sleeve, my expression flat. "Because we 'filthy rats' have pride, too. Why would I ever help someone who insults me?" "Ha," he sneered. "Pride. How much is your pride worth?" I gave him a look. "More than you can afford." He scoffed and pulled out his phone. He tapped the screen and shoved it in my face. It was his banking app. The balance had eight figures. "Go clear my name," he said, "and you can have whatever you want from that account." I stared at the numbers. I'd never even seen that many zeroes in one place. My mind went blank, filled with visions of...central heating. Of a new laptop. Of three meals a day. Then I heard his laugh. A low, contemptuous sound. "Pride's pretty expensive, huh?" he mocked. "Thought you said I couldn't afford it." I snapped back to reality. Back to the plan. "You can't," I said, turning back to my tables. "Fine," he said, his voice casual. "The owner of this diner is my dad's golf buddy. You're fired." I froze. I turned back to him. "You're disgusting." "I just hate fakes," he shrugged. "I'm giving you one more chance. Take the money, do the job. Yes or no?" I was silent for a long time. Then I nodded. "Okay. I don't know how this works. You can just... Venmo me. I just need forty-five hundred." Alex looked at me like I was an alien. "What, are you afraid I'll report you for extortion? Forty-five hundred? What the hell is that?" I met his eyes for the first time. "It's for a hearing aid for my grandmother. I was saving up from this job. But since I'm fired, I guess I have no other way." He stared at me, his arrogant expression faltering. I kept going. "My grandma raised me. She used to collect cans to pay for my schoolbooks. One of my classmates saw her and told everyone. This kid, this real asshole, brought a bag of chips to school. He held it out and told me I could have it if I barked like a dog. I didn't, of course... but I was so hungry. I'd never had barbecue chips before. I couldn't help but swallow, just once. He saw it. He and his friends laughed so hard..." "I've never, ever forgotten that. That feeling of... shame." I took a shaky breath, forcing down the fake tears, making my voice tremble just right. "I thought if I just worked hard, if I got the scholarship, it would all be different. But here I am, all these years later, and you're doing the same thing. You're right. I am fake. I'm just a pathetic, hungry girl, always swallowing my pride over things I can't have." "But please... just send the money. My grandma doesn't have much time left. I just want her to hear my voice one more time." Alex was completely thrown. "I... wait... I'm not..." I just let the tears fall, big, silent drops. I wiped them away, my expression still, looking at him with red, swollen eyes. "I'm sorry I'm 'fake.' Please, just leave me alone." I bowed my head slightly and walked out of the diner, leaving my apron on the counter. 04 I walked out, turned the corner, and went straight to McDonald's for a McFlurry. Mmm. Delicious. That $4,500 was going straight into my savings. My grandma, bless her heart, has been dead for thirty years. She doesn't need a hearing aid. Alex Chen. You want to play mind games with me? You're an amateur. You know that kid who tried to make me bark for chips? By the time we were in high school, he was so obsessed with me he asked me to prom by kneeling in the cafeteria. He's still in my DMs, using burner accounts. I am a master of this game.
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