Chapter4

"Mrs. Harper!" I called toward the staff hallway.

The door opened. Mrs. Harper stepped out. Her gaze darted between Grayson, Mia, and me.

I looked at Grayson. "Tell him," I said softly. "Tell him who the real Sinclair heiress is."

Mrs. Harper opened her mouth slowly. "Of course it's you—"

Suddenly, Mia dropped to her knees and interrupted her mother. "We grew up together!" she sobbed. "Is it my fault Grayson fell for me? I'm kneeling, Briar. Isn't that enough?"

I watched her play the victim flawlessly.

Mrs. Harper froze. She looked down at her daughter’s designer bag, then up at the Rolex on Grayson’s wrist. I saw the calculation crystallize in her eyes. The housekeeper was going to betray me.

Mrs. Harper stepped forward. She shoved my chest.

I slipped on the marble and crashed down. Pain shot through my kneecaps.

"Of course you're the ungrateful one!" Mrs. Harper shouted. "Daring to make the Miss kneel in her own home!"

I stared at her. The woman who had taken care of me for ten years was erasing my identity right in my own foyer.

Mia stood up and exhaled. Grayson laughed. He stood over me.

"Briar, you're pathetic," he said. "Sharing the Sinclair last name doesn't make you the heiress. Mia is the only daughter here. She paid your tuition out of her own pocket. You shouldn't be so greedy."

He crouched down, lowering his voice. "I got the Vance & Hayes offer today. A full-time associate track. Mia arranged it through her board connections. My future is set. And you? You work library shifts. You have absolutely nothing."

He reached for my face. I jerked away, thoroughly repulsed.

Grayson sighed. "Stop this psychotic act, Brie. If you behave, I'll still keep you around. After Mia and I marry, I'll set you up in a downtown apartment. I can give you everything. Everything except the title."

I looked at him. The boy who had jumped into a freezing pond to save me freshman year was dead. All that remained was a desperate, greedy parasite. I had no tears left for him.

"In your dreams," I said coldly.

I slapped him across the face.

The crack echoed. Grayson stumbled back. His patronizing smirk vanished, replaced by pale rage. He turned to Mrs. Harper, assuming the authority of a master.

"She needs to know her place," he ordered. "Punish her. Make her remember who she is before she hurts Mia."

Mia's pity act dropped instantly. "Drag her to the courtyard. Make her kneel until she apologizes."

Mrs. Harper signaled the estate staff.

Two new groundskeepers—men who had never seen me before—entered the foyer. Ignoring my protests, they grabbed my arms, hauled me through the side doors, and pushed me onto the courtyard patio.

The stone was freezing. The brutal impact tore the skin on my knees. I tried to stand, but the men held me down.

Mia walked out into the cold. She gave the groundskeepers a sharp, authoritative glare. "Leave us. And close the doors."

The men nodded, retreating inside.

The doors clicked shut, sealing us in the walled courtyard.

Only then did Mia squat next to me. Her nails dug into my skin.

"Look around," she whispered. "My mother is the head housekeeper. She controls the payroll and everyone follows her. For the next month, while your parents are in Geneva, I am the master here."

She forced my head up. "How come you had it all from the moment you were born? My mother was just a maid in your home, and I had to grow up as your servant. It is not fair."

She leaned in closer, a dark, unhinged thrill slipping into her voice. "If you died out here... if I let you freeze, would your parents make me their daughter? I’d be the real Sinclair heiress, and I could seize all that’s yours."

I stared back at her with absolute disdain. "You wouldn't dare."

Mia slapped me.

"I’ve had enough of that confident look on your face all these years!" she hissed.

She struck me again. Her ring sliced my cheek. I tasted blood.

A third strike followed. She was frantic, unleashing years of toxic envy, wanting nothing more than to beat me to death right here on the stone.

A hollow realization washed over me. The girl whose tuition I had paid, the girl I had treated like family, had never been my friend. Every smile was a calculated lie. She was plotting to take my place and steal my identity.

My vision blurred. The freezing cold drained my strength.

But, I seemed to hear Julian's voice.

"What are you doing?"

A split second later, an agonizing scream from Mia reached my ears.