Chapter 1
Ryan Brooks brought his girlfriend, Vanessa Lynn, to our high school reunion for the first time.
At the dinner table, everyone was being polite to me, when Vanessa suddenly cut in.
"Claire, you look really familiar. Aren't you one of the escort girls at Summit Club?
"I saw your photo on their booking list. Your price is pretty low!" Vanessa asked, her tone sharp.
After she finished, she faked surprise and covered her mouth, acting all innocent.
The room erupted. The classmates who'd just been all friendly with me started pointing and whispering.
"Kids from poor families will do anything for cash these days."
"No wonder she was always busy with her part-time job and skipped study hall. She was probably out entertaining men..."
My best friend, Jessica Stanton, looked pissed, while Ryan shot me a look of disdain.
But I just set my fork down, totally unfazed, and gave her a slow, knowing smile.
"Of course you think I look familiar. I was the one who helped you out with your protection in the private room," I said, my voice calm and steady.
*****
As soon as I finished speaking, the whole room went dead silent.
Everyone's eyes swept between me and Vanessa like searchlights.
Vanessa's perfectly made-up face went ghostly pale in an instant.
Her fingers trembled as she covered her mouth, her eyes filled with panic and shock.
"W-What nonsense are you spouting?" Vanessa shrieked, her voice going high and sharp.
She practically screeched, the sound grating on everyone's ears.
Jessica, who'd been red-faced with anger just moments before, suddenly snorted with laughter.
She nudged my arm and whispered, "Claire, nice one!"
Ryan's face was so gloomy that it looked like a thundercloud.
He frowned, stood up from beside Vanessa, towering over me with accusation in his eyes.
"Seriously, Claire? Vanessa was just trying to be nice, and you go and slander her like that?" Ryan snapped.
I lifted my eyes to meet his accusing gaze, and my heart went cold.
This was the guy I'd crushed on all through high school.
He was always the center of attention—top of the class, always polite, always the golden boy.
But now, without even bothering to hear me out, he was already slapping the "slander" label on me.
I let out a soft laugh, taking my time to pick up a napkin and dab at the corner of my mouth.
"Ryan, maybe you should ask your girlfriend where we actually met.
"And what's the name of that club she keeps talking about?" I said, my voice calm and steady.
Vanessa's eyes darted away, and she stammered, "I... I just heard it from someone else!"
"Who told you that?" I pressed, not about to let her off the hook.
"A friend! I can't remember!" Vanessa blurted out, her voice rising in panic.
She looked even more guilty, throwing a pleading look at Ryan.
Ryan immediately jumped in to defend her, saying, "Claire, that's enough! Vanessa already said she can't remember. What more do you want?"
Classmates around started whispering behind their hands.
"Seriously, a poor kid who doesn't even bother with her studies, goes off doing sleazy jobs, and now she's acting like she's the victim?"
"Honestly, Ryan's already being way too polite to her."
"It's disgusting how she twists things after behaving so shamelessly herself."
Those words felt like needles pricking at me.
I took a deep breath, pushing down the mess of emotions swirling inside.
Back in high school, I got plenty of judgmental looks just because my family didn't have money.
But I never expected that even now, years after high school, the lens through which they saw me hadn't changed.
I turned to Vanessa, speaking each word with deliberate clarity.
"Vanessa, do you really want me to spell it all out?"
"Like what happened around eleven o'clock on the night of October seventh last year... in the women's restroom on the third floor of the Summit Club."
My voice was quiet, yet every syllable reached everyone present.
Vanessa's face drained of color in an instant.