Chapter 2

4:00 AM. I lay curled up in bed, my cheeks stiff with dried tears. I hadn't slept a wink, my mind trapped in a relentless loop of fractured memories.

The day I decided to apply to Princeton with Carter.

He backed into a corner by his teammates, one hoisting a bucket of industrial paint.

"Stop!"

I threw myself in front of him just as the bucket tipped.

The thick, icy red liquid drenched me. Onlookers gasped; someone snickered.

"Bella!" Carter's voice was trembling.

I looked at his deeply concerned face and squeezed his hand. "I'm okay."

That evening by my family's pool, Carter traced the raw skin on my cheek where I'd scrubbed the paint away. "For me... is it really worth it?"

"You didn't do anything wrong," I told him. "Don't let their malice break you."

Suddenly, he leaned in.

My mind short-circuited at my first kiss. My heart hammered against my ribs. He rested his forehead against mine, whispering, "I'm so glad I have you, Bella."

I thought I was the luckiest girl in the world.

But Carter never made it official. In public, he always maintained a polite, excruciatingly calculated distance from me.

Now, the truth was glaring. That kiss, that whispered confession—it was all bait to make me throw away my Cambridge acceptance for him.

All for Lily.

The memory twisted like a knife.

Carter was an illegitimate kid who only got into St. Jude's because of a Vanderbilt Foundation grant, standing timidly on the edge of the elite crowd.

I had taken his hand and guided him into this unfamiliar world.

More than a decade.

I thought I had been fiercely protecting a person.

Turns out, I was just feeding a parasite.

My eyes were bloodshot and swollen, but my gaze was hardening.

I don't know how much time passed before my phone screen lit up.

Carter.

A wave of bitter irony washed over me. I declined the call.

Yet, the front doorbell rang relentlessly.

Pushing aside my exhaustion, I went downstairs.

I opened the door to Carter's perfectly gentle face, with Lily Smith cowering right behind him.

"Bella," Carter smiled, feigning worry. "Why haven't you been answering? I was worried."

"I'm busy," I said blankly.

Right on cue, Lily shrank back, clutching his sleeve like I was a monster. He indulged her with a comforting pat on the head.

"What do you want?" I leaned against the doorframe.

Carter cleared his throat, his tone almost casual. "The frat formal is this weekend, and Lily doesn't have a suitable necklace. Could you lend her one? She doesn't want people looking down on her."

"I know I'm not worthy of your things," Lily chimed in, her voice fragile. "But I just want a pretty necklace so people won't judge my financial aid status... You wouldn't mind helping me, right?"

When I didn't reply, Carter's gentle veneer dropped into a scowl. "It's just a necklace, Bella. You have crates of jewelry. When did you become so selfish?"

His gaze locked onto my collarbone—the minimalist, vintage diamond necklace I was wearing. "In fact, that one is perfect."

I touched the cool diamonds, a freezing smirk touching my lips.

"It's my necklace. Why would I lend it to her?"

Carter's face shifted drastically.

I took a deliberate step forward, locking eyes with Lily as a very familiar fragrance hit me. "I'm curious, Miss Smith. The perfume you're wearing right now retails for over two thousand dollars. You can afford that, but not a formal necklace?"

Lily's eyes instantly welled with tears. "A-a friend lent it to me..." she stammered, playing the perfect victim.

A friend. Carter had taken that exact bottle from my penthouse vanity last week, claiming his "mistreated cousin" needed cheering up.

"Oh," I drawled. "Well, then you should just ask your generous 'friend' to lend you a necklace, too."

Carter's face cycled from pale to furious red.

"We don't need your damn charity!" he snapped, grabbing Lily's hand. "I'll buy her one myself!"

He shot me a venomous glare and dragged her down the driveway.

I watched them leave. An illegitimate son whose entire livelihood depended on my supplementary credit cards was going to buy diamonds? With what?

I pulled out my phone and dialed my private banker.

"Cancel all supplementary cards under my name issued to Carter Davis."

Hanging up, my fingers grazed the diamonds at my throat.

The cold touch yanked me back to a summer gala three years ago. The true, undisputed heir of the Windsor family had cornered me in the estate gardens.

"Isabella, you're getting terribly close to my bastard stepbrother. Sooner or later, he's going to make you cry. Don't say I didn't warn you."

I had shoved him hard. "You're a jerk! Carter isn't like that!"

He didn't flinch. "He will break your heart."

Before walking into the night, he shoved a velvet box into my hands. Inside was this very necklace.

Snapping back to the present, I stared at the empty driveway.

"You were right," I whispered.