Chapter 3

Georgia's POV

Countless phone cameras point at me, and the flashes cut into what's left of my pride like knives.

My heart is breaking, and the feeling of being betrayed and trampled by the entire world leaves me unable to breathe.

I bite down on my lip so hard I taste blood.

"Sloane, you'd better kill me right now. Because I swear, you're going to pay for everything you did tonight, and it's going to cost you more than you can handle."

Sloane flinches back at the look on my face, but the fear only lasts a second before it turns into rage.

"Still running your mouth? Hit her! Beat her till she shuts up!" she screams, completely unhinged.

Just as the first blow is about to land, footsteps pound down the spiral staircase, fast and urgent.

"Stop! What the hell is going on here?"

A voice I know.

I lift my head with everything I have left, and through the red wine running into my eyes, I see him. The man I've loved for three years, the man my family's supported for ten. Cole.

He's wearing a sharp, tailored suit, his hair perfectly styled, and there's an expensive watch on his wrist.

The one I bought him a few days ago. His birthday present, meant for tonight.

He'd already dug it out and put it on himself.

"Cole." My voice shakes as I say his name, one last spark of hope flickering in my chest. "Tell them whose house this is. Tell them!"

Cole hurries down the stairs, and when he sees me on my knees, clothes torn, blood on my face, something flickers across his eyes. Panic.

Of course he knows whose house this is.

He's seen the black card in my wallet. He knows how easily I spend money. He's looked into who owns this estate.

Nobody knows better than him that I'm not some broke student.

But he walks right past me, straight to Sloane, and pulls her into his arms, his face full of concern. "Sloane, are you okay? Did this psycho hurt you?"

My mind goes completely blank.

"Cole! Have you lost your mind?" I scream with everything I've got. "Have you forgotten who paid your tuition? Have you forgotten whose money paid for your mom's surgery? You're throwing away every last bit of decency for this vain, shallow woman?"

Cole's face goes rigid. He storms over and slams his foot into my stomach.

"Georgia! Shut your mouth!"

The kick sends me sprawling to the floor, and I cough up blood.

"You disgusting stalker! You're delusional!" Cole points at me, shouting.

"I've put up with you for way too long! You've been stuck to me like glue every single day, and now you're stalking me all the way to Sloane's house? You think you can make up these lies and ruin what I have with her?"

"Sloane's an heiress. What the hell are you? Some broke loser working two jobs, and you think that gives you the right to say you supported me? That's a joke."

The crowd bursts out laughing again, pointing at me.

"So she's a stalker on top of everything. Disgusting."

"Guess even Cole the golden boy ends up stuck with a psycho like that."

I lie there on the cold floor, staring at the face I used to be so obsessed with, twisted now into something almost laughable.

And suddenly it all makes sense.

He knew my family had money, but he thought that was all there was to me. What he really wanted was Sloane's world, the so-called high society behind her. He thought I kept too low a profile, that I couldn't give him the kind of spotlight he was after.

So he took everything I gave him and used it to win Sloane over instead.

"Cole." I let out a cold laugh. "Ten years, and that's what it's worth to you? You really are an ungrateful piece of trash."

Sloane walks over and slaps me across the face again.

"Quit playing the victim. Cole's mine now. Look at him one more time and I'll rip your eyes out."

She loops her arm through his, pleased with herself, and Cole pats her hand. "Sloane, don't waste your anger on trash like her. You'll get your hands dirty."

"You're right." Sloane smirks and pulls out her phone. "Since she's so into breaking into people's houses, let's call the cops and let them teach her some manners."