Chapter 2
Charlotte, ever the opportunist, stepped in front of me. "Olivia," she said, her voice sickly sweet. "Don't forget the family dinner tonight. You know how upset Mom and Dad get."
"Wouldn't miss it," I said flatly, desperate to escape the suffocating tension.
She was about to lay the sweet-sister act on thicker when she noticed my gaze flicker to Edward behind her. Her demeanor shifted instantly. She took a half-step back, protectively shielding him from my view.
I scoffed, but then my eyes caught sight of his wrist hanging by his side. A faint, dark bruise circled his skin, and my breath hitched.
In my panicked escape last night, I had forgotten to untie him.
A wave of guilt hit me, and my eyes darted to his.
He was already watching me with an unreadable expression, but it sent a chill down my spine.
Right on cue, the air exploded with comments.
[LMAO, she looks so guilty! It's actually kind of cute!]
[Cute my ass! Edward was tied up all night! He barely managed to break the ropes around dawn. He must hate her guts right now!]
[I know, but the tension between them is so good! I can't help but ship it!]
[Girl, get a grip! There is no happy ending for the side chick and the main character. She's about to get what's coming to her!]
Facing two against one, I decided not to let them tarnish their honor with a cheap win, so I slipped away.
Looking down at my favorite pepperoni pizza and salad, I couldn't taste a thing. After forcing down the last bit of crust anyway, I let out a loud belch and slumped back comfortably in my seat.
As I thought about what the comments revealed about Edward, I felt a headache coming on.
The only reason he had ever agreed to my proposition was to get money for his grandmother's life-saving surgery. She was the only person he had.
Now, it seemed his story was a lot more complicated.
A flash of every cruel thing I had done to him seared through my mind, and the headache intensified. After a solid ten minutes of racking my brain for a solution and coming up with nothing, I gave up.
To explain how I crossed paths with Edward, I had to start with Charlotte. She was my absolute nemesis.
I was the true daughter the Grant family lost, switched at birth by a bitter nanny.
Charlotte got the life of a princess, while I spent over a decade scraping by, collecting nothing but cold shoulders and dirty looks.
By the time the truth came out and I was brought "home," my parents couldn't bear to send their precious Charlotte away.
They gave me a fortune in compensation, everything except love.
Luckily, a childhood without affection had left me numb. I no longer had much desire to be loved.
Money was better. Money could buy you anything.
But Charlotte couldn't just leave it at that. She had to constantly rub it in my face, competing for attention, always reminding me that even with the right blood in my veins, she was the daughter they truly loved.
So when I caught her staring at Edward one day with that pathetically lovesick look in her eyes, I knew I had found my weapon.
I found out his grandmother was dying, and I showed up at his door with a bank card. He fought it, his pride warring with his desperation, but in the end, he had no choice.
Remembering the way he had trembled beneath me and the desperate sounds he had made when I pushed him to his breaking point, I felt my throat go tight.
I licked my suddenly dry lips. I wasn't anywhere near done with him. What a pity!