“What are you even talking about?” I ask, forcing a laugh. “Cut it out. You’re being weird.
It’s just a name.”
She doesn’t blink. Doesn’t smile. Just keeps going like I never said anything. “So you can help me out. With money.”
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. I just blink at her, stunned.
“It’s not a huge amount,” she says casually, like she’s asking me to borrow a sweater. “If you ask your parents, I’m sure they won’t even care. What’s a hundred thousand dollars to them?”
My heart stutters when she smiles.
But it’s not her usual smile. It’s sharp. Almost cruel.
It reminds me too much of Zane.
“I mean, they’re loaded, right? One of the richest families in the world! I bet they have fifty thousand dollars just sitting in some old account.”
I let go of her hand. Slowly. Watching her face the whole time.
“Like I said… I’m not a Vanderbilt,” I say quietly, though my voice is starting to shake. “And even if I was, I wouldn’t help you. Not like this.”
She blinks, confused.
‘I don’t know what the hell’s going on with you,” I go on, my anger finally slipping through, “but if this is who you are if this is what you do then yeah. Let’s stay away from
each other.”
–
—
I turn to walk away.
But her hand clamps onto my arm, tight.
“Wait please!” Her voice cracks. When I look back, her face has changed. She’s not cold anymore. She looks… scared. Desperate.
I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just- I’m drowning. I didn’t want to hurt you, but you kept making it so hard-”
1/3
Chapter 133
My stomach drops.
“I wouldn’t have done it if you’d just told me earlier that you were a Vanderbilt,” she says, eyes wide. “I wouldn’t have told her about you and Stone.”
My body goes still.
“What…?” I breathe.
“But- but the boss offered so much money for something juicy and I needed it. Lacey just… cut me off out of nowhere. Stopped lending me anything. And she didn’t even know I was the one sleeping with her husbands back then.”
What?
She laughs, but it’s all wrong–like she doesn’t even hear herself anymore.
“She was so mean to me, always looking down on me. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but she pushed me to the edge and I had no choice. I didn’t have anyone else—”
“Céline,” I say, my voice low and shaking. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
My hands are trembling. My mind spinning. I don’t even know where the air in my lungs has gone.
She just stares at me, eyes glossy, lips still moving.
And just like that, I think I’m finally seeing the real Céline.
Her voice rises like a storm, sharp and bitter. “It’s not fair! Why does she get everything?! The men. The business deals. The money. And she doesn’t even care!”
She throws her head back and lets out this wild, broken laugh. There’s something unhinged in her eyes–something that makes my stomach drop. She’s not just angry.
She’s gone,
“God, she’s so pathetic. Always smiling like her life isn’t one big joke. But even the best people have weaknesses, right?” Her mouth twists into this cruel, gleeful smile. “She’s a corpse in bed. It was easy to get to her husbands. The third one took some work but…” She shrugs like she’s proud. “He paid so well.”
2/3
