Chapter 3

The car door shut.

That was when Claire came back to herself.

She shuddered, looking at me with a pitiful expression.

She said, "Natalie, do you think we were, like, totally hexed or something in our last life?"

I thought back on every ridiculous thing I'd done in that other life to win Ryan over.

I nodded in total agreement.

We rode in silence the whole way.

As we were about to pull up to Evans Manor, Claire suddenly asked.

"So, what are you gonna do?"

"Huh?"

I blinked, then realized she was asking what I thought about those two guys.

I leaned back in my seat, quietly.

"I'm staying out of it."

"What?"

Claire instantly sat up straight, her fists clenched tight.

She said, "But if we don't get back at them, there's no way I can swallow this!"

I glanced out the window and said quietly.

"Let them fight it out and suffer the consequences. When they're finally down and out, that's when we'll hit them hard. Wouldn't that be even sweeter?"

It was obvious.

Ryan and Jason still believed every bit of their success had come from their own effort.

They never counted the connections we'd handed them or the money we'd poured in.

And to them, we ourselves had counted for nothing.

So we'd let them go build it on their own.

I wanted to see whether the talent they were so proud of could carry them back to the top.

Claire raised an eyebrow.

"Not a bad idea."

She leaned back in her seat, looking relaxed.

She said, "Graduation's coming up. What are you gonna do?"

Before I could answer, she let out a soft laugh.

"Right, I forgot. You're the only daughter of the richest man in the city. What plan do you need? The whole Morgan Group is yours."

I shot her a look. "What about you?"

She shrugged. "Guess I'll just end up in some business marriage."

The laugh that followed was easy, almost careless.

"My dad called today. The Hughes kid is coming home from overseas, that trust fund heir who calls himself an artist.

"He wants me to meet him. I don't care either way, because my brother looks out for me and he won't let me get shorted."

Right after she said that.

She suddenly smacked her leg, making me jump.

She said, "But before that, I'm gonna go wild and have some real fun!"

It didn't last.

Plans never survived reality.

After partying nonstop for days, Claire ended up with a sudden case of appendicitis.

I rushed her to the hospital in the middle of the night.

I got her checked in.

Then I grabbed her paperwork and hurried over to the payment window.

Just as I pulled out my black card, someone suddenly grabbed my hand.

The grip was so tight, it made me suck in a sharp breath from the pain.

"Natalie Morgan!"

A man's voice, thick with barely contained anger, rang out right next to my ear.

"I already told you, we're done. Take your money and get out!"

That was when I noticed.

To my surprise, the person standing next to me was Ryan.

He looked worn through, with a deep exhaustion in his eyes, and nothing about him matched the campus heartthrob everyone knew.

I yanked my hand free, frowning. "What's your problem? Me paying the hospital bill bothering you or something?"

"Are you ever gonna understand plain English?"

His brows knitted even tighter as he glared at me, his words practically spat out through clenched teeth.

He said, "Yes, I need money right now. But even if you help me today I won't thank you for it, and I'm not going to bow to you over 300 thousand dollars in medical bills and let you humiliate me!"

He looked like a man who had suffered the worst humiliation of his life.

I froze for a second, caught off guard.

Then it all came back to me.

So this was when Ryan's father's condition started to go downhill.

Back then, Jason had started out as a stunt actor and ended up with the top acting award.

When I heard about the Carter family's trouble, I didn't hesitate. I sent Ryan 600 thousand dollars so he wouldn't have to worry about it.

Back then, his eyes were red-rimmed as he pulled me into a hug, swearing he'd spend his whole life making it up to me, doing everything to keep me safe and happy.

I snapped out of it and shot him a strange look.

Honestly.

If I hadn't bumped into him today,

I probably wouldn't have even remembered this whole thing.

I couldn't be bothered to argue, so I walked around him and handed my card through the window. "I'm here to pay a bill."

But Ryan followed right after, keeping his gaze lowered and sounding annoyed, but he didn't try to stop me anymore.

He said, "Why do you keep hounding me like this? I told you, I don't need you..."

"Is Claire Evans's family here? Her medicine is ready."

The nurse's voice cut him off mid-sentence.

I called out right away.

I grabbed the receipt and the meds.

Without even glancing at him, I turned and walked toward the hospital room.

Ryan stood frozen where I'd left him, and the humiliation showed on his face.