Chapter 2

"Break up? Chloe, do you even hear yourself?" Liam's eyes went wide, like I'd just announced the world was ending.

Of course he was shocked. In his mind, I was the devoted rich girl who worshipped the ground he walked on. The idea that I'd dump him? Unthinkable.

"My words is pretty clear. Need me to spell it out?" I crossed my arms. "B-R-E-A-K U-P. Or should I ask your precious charity case to translate for you?"

By now, half the team had crowded into the locker room doorway.

Lily clutched her reddening cheek, her voice trembling: "Liam, please... don't fight because of me. This is all my fault. I made Chloe angry. I'll just go..."

She turned like she was about to run, then stumbled dramatically, straight into Liam's arms.

Oh, for fuck's sake.

"Lily!" Liam caught her, shooting me a look of pure disgust. "Chloe, you're being ridiculous. Just because you have money doesn't mean you can treat people like garbage. You're not just controlling—you're cruel."

"Cruel?" I stepped forward. "You want to see cruel? Let me tell you what's in that brownie your angel baked for me."

Lily's eyes flickered.

"Concentrated peanut butter," I said clearly, my voice carrying across the locker room. "Enough to trigger anaphylactic shock. Enough to kill me."

Dead silence.

Then Lily's face crumpled. Tears spilled down her cheeks like she'd turned on a faucet.

"Chloe, how could you say that?" Her voice was barely a whisper, broken and hurt. "I would never... I could never hurt you. You know I wouldn't."

She looked up at Liam, her eyes glistening: "I admit I'm not good at baking. I know I'm stupid and clumsy. Maybe I did mix something up by accident, but..." Her voice cracked. "How can she accuse me of trying to murder her? Does she really hate me that much?"

Holy shit. She's good.

"Chloe." Liam's voice was ice. "You need to apologize. Right now."

"Apologize?" I almost laughed.

"This is insane," someone muttered from the crowd. "Chloe's totally lost it."

"I always knew she was jealous of Lily," another voice chimed in.

"Lily would never hurt anyone. She's literally the sweetest person ever."

The whispers grew louder. Everyone was eating up Lily's performance, her trembling lips, her wounded doe eyes. Nobody was listening to me.

"I'm waiting," Liam said coldly. "Apologize to her."

Something inside me snapped.

These people didn't deserve my explanation. They wanted to believe the fairy tale, poor scholarship girl versus mean rich bitch. Fine. Let them believe it.

But I'd make damn sure they understood exactly who they were defending.

"Apologize?" I walked to my locker and pulled out a folder. "Actually, I have something better."

I turned to face the crowd, making sure my voice carried.

"Since everyone's here, let me make an announcement." I opened the folder. "Lily, that custom cheerleading uniform you're wearing? $1,200. Paid for with my allowance. Those limited-edition training shoes? $800. My birthday gift to you. Your premium meal plan at the dining hall? Also charged to my account."

Lily's face drained of color.

"Chloe... what are you doing?"

"I'm doing what I should've done a long time ago." I met her eyes. "You claim you're poor. You claim you're just a humble scholarship student. But you've been living like royalty on my dime, haven't you?"

"That's not..." She grabbed Liam's arm. "I never asked for any of that! Chloe insisted—"

"I insisted?" I laughed. "You're right. I insisted on supporting you. And you thanked me by playing the victim, making everyone think I'm some bully, while you collect your free designer wardrobe and gourmet meals."

I turned to the crowd.

"Effective immediately, I'm cutting off all financial support. No more meal plan. No more new uniforms. No more birthday gifts." I paused. "And as president of the Student Excellence Fund, I'm formally revoking your scholarship application for next semester."

Lily gasped. "You can't..."

"I can. And I just did."

"Chloe, are you serious?" Liam stepped forward, his jaw clenched. "You're going to destroy her future because of some misunderstanding about a brownie?"

"Misunderstanding?" My voice was steel. "She knows exactly what she put in that brownie. And when I'm dead on the floor tomorrow, she'll cry those same fake tears and tell everyone it was an accident."

"That's enough!" Liam grabbed my arm. "You're being paranoid and vindictive. Lily deserves an apology, and if you can't see that, then maybe we really are done."

I yanked my arm free.

"We're done whether you see it or not." I looked at Lily, still cowering behind Liam. "And just so we're clear, without my money, you can't afford St. Jude's tuition. You can't afford your rent. Hell, you can't even afford those fancy skincare products you're always showing off."

I smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.

"So go ahead. Run to your hero. Let him save you with his football scholarship. I'm sure he can cover your $60,000 annual expenses with his $5,000 stipend."

The crowd had gone quiet. A few people were whispering, looking at Lily's expensive clothes with new eyes.

Lily's tears were real now.

"You're a monster," she hissed.

"No." I picked up my bag. "I'm just done being your ATM."

As I walked toward the door, I heard Liam call after me: "You'll regret this, Chloe!"

Will I?

I didn't look back.

But I knew this wasn't over. Tomorrow was the championship. Lily wouldn't just accept defeat. She'd come at me again, probably harder.