Chapter 2

I felt something hard pressing against me and stared at him in disbelief.

"You're too irresistible, Natalie. I couldn't control myself," Zack murmured, his ears turning red. "Wanna try it in the car tonight?"

My cheeks burned red in a flash. Suddenly, a strong force from behind yanked me out of Zack's arms.

"Natalie!" Dylan barked. "What the hell is going on between you two? What were you doing?"

Dylan clamped down on my wrist, veins popping on his forehead, his eyes practically blazing with rage.

The possessiveness in his gaze was suffocating. "We've known each other since we were kids. Thirty years. And you treat me like this?

"Of all people, you had to fall for Zack, the guy I hate most.

"I'm telling you: break up with him right now."

I looked down at his hand, his grip so tight his knuckles had turned white. Without hesitation, I slapped him right across the face.

The sharp slap rang out. Dylan's head jerked to the side, his pale lips quivering, fear flooding his eyes. He dropped my hand as if he'd been scalded.

I smirked, pulled out another wet wipe, and cleaned my hand again. "I chose Zack because I like him.

"You stabbed me in the back, you backstabbing jerk. What gives you the right to order me around?"

Zack raised an eyebrow, pulled me close, and thoughtfully massaged my wrist where Dylan had gripped it so hard.

Dylan seemed to deflate, his whole body trembling.

I held Zack's hand, walked right past Dylan, and left without a second glance.

My dad and Dylan's dad were like brothers. Both were family heirs, and they had the guts to say no to arranged marriages, choosing to marry the women they truly loved.

Dylan and I grew up as neighbors.

At first, life was pretty perfect for both our families.

But then, both Dylan's dad and my dad hooked up with their secretaries, had illegitimate kids, and let their mistresses torment our moms.

Dylan's mom couldn't handle the blow and fell into depression. He basically moved in with us.

My mom didn't put up with it or get depressed, but she ended up with a terminal illness.

Our moms passed away one after the other, and those two scumbag dads brought their mistresses and love children right into our homes.

Dylan and I became the family's castoffs.

Both families' reputations went down the drain, and business took a nosedive.

The mistress hated that my mom didn't let herself be completely defeated before she died, so she dumped all her bitterness on me.

I'm pretty intense by nature. When my mom was around, I played nice, but after she was gone, I stopped faking it.

If my stepmom laid a hand on me, I'd give it right back to her kids.

The illegitimate daughter, Joy, backed by my scumbag dad, bullied me at school. She locked me in the bathroom, tried to rip off my clothes, and threatened to take pictures.

Back then, she was the princess of the Jennings family, and I was nothing.

She held up her phone, grinning smugly. "Natalie, even if I can't get my name in the family records, I'm still the real heiress.

"If you come crawling, I'll convince Dad to give you an allowance.

"You probably don't know, but Dad absolutely hates how you and your mom are too proud to bend. He even said I'm his only daughter."

I kicked her into a stall and forced her head down into the toilet. "What's your bank password?"

Ever since the mistress and her two kids moved in, my scumbag dad cut off my allowance and stopped giving me any money.

My grandparents and uncle were too scared of retaliation to give me a single cent.

That day, Joy threw up so much that she fainted in the bathroom. The group she'd brought along cowered on the floor, too scared to even squeak.

When I got home that night, my scumbag dad was ready to slap me the second he saw me.

I stared him down, cold as ice, pulled up the video of Joy threatening me, and sneered, "I'm not even an adult yet, Mr. Jennings.

"Aren't you afraid that when people see this video of your precious illegitimate daughter, they'll say she's proof that bastards are trash born in the gutter?

"Oh, right. I forgot. You never had any shame to begin with."

My scumbag dad was so pissed off and humiliated, he yanked me out of the elite academy and dumped me in the local public school the next day.

Dylan soon transferred to the same school as well, but even more people started bullying us.

When Joy showed up again and had her crew try to lock me in the equipment room, I dragged her into the bathroom and dunked her head in the toilet for the second time.

As I left the bathroom, I happened to pass by the boys' room and found Dylan pinned to the ground by a bunch of jerks.

I beat those guys black and blue.

Dylan grabbed onto me, his voice trembling with tears. "Natalie, you're all I have left."

Truth to be told, he was all I had, too.