Chapter 4

Left humiliated by our sharp-tongued retorts, the group was fuming. Barry, seething with anger, charged at me, but Ethan promptly sent him flying with a well-aimed kick.

I pulled back my own foot that had missed its mark, a twinge of awkwardness creeping over me.

My childhood mates couldn't stand idly by any longer and stepped forward.

"What's going on here? Ganging up on one girl?"

Seeing that our side had just as many people, they started to chicken out, not looking so tough anymore.

One of them recognized someone from our side.

"Mr. Harper, fancy seeing you here!"

Sam Harper, among my childhood friends, was racking his brains to place the face.

The other guy wasted no time introducing himself, "I'm Ben Summers. My cousin tied the knot with your cousin. Ring a bell?"

Sam, who had a hard time remembering faces after a single encounter, feigned a moment of enlightenment. "Ah, gotcha!"

Ben forced a smile and said, "What a small world! Didn't expect to run into you here. Sorry if we're causing a ruckus."

Sam dismissed it with a wave, stating, "But you've ruffled Mr. Cooper's feathers."

In Westony City, the title "Mr. Cooper" was synonymous with the prominent Cooper family. Hearing this, the group fell dead silent.

I'd dug into Charles' background. His family was well-to-do, a minor player in the upper-crust scene, with a company and some retail businesses. Given that these folks had grown up together, their financial standings were likely on par.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have looked down on me just because I showed up in a hoodie and jeans, nitpicking everything I did like I wasn't even worth their time.

The world of the wealthy had its own pecking order. While they preened themselves as superior, there were those with greater clout who regarded them with disdain.

Take the Cooper family backing Ethan and the Winslet family, whom I represented.

These were powerhouses they could only aspire to match.

Lily, playing the sweet little innocent again, started spinning her fake-nice routine.

"Mr. Cooper, sorry about that. We were just fooling around and didn't mean to disturb you.

"Rae's new to places like this, so she doesn't really know how things work. Let me apologize on her behalf," Lily said, all fake concern and backhanded helpfulness.

Even though I shared the same last name with the Winslet family, it was unlikely Lily would connect me to the family.

She probably ran a background check on me ages ago. According to the school files, I was just another grad student living off scholarships.

My childhood buddy started to say something, but I shot them a look and they shut up.

There was a promise to my brother that still needed to be fulfilled, so my true identity had to stay a secret for now.

Charles, with a loving glance at Lily, then turned to me and barked, "Lily's too nice for her own good, apologizing for you. I'm telling you, fix your own damn mess."

I was left scratching my head.

Ethan's face was priceless—he looked just as lost as I was.

My friends glanced at each other, all of them wearing the same "what the hell just happened?" expression.

Seriously, I had never met someone so full of themselves!

"If your brain's busted, go get your head examined. Stop running your mouth and making a fool of yourself.

"And you think you can boss me around? Who do you think you are, anyway?" I sneered, my tone full of disdain.

I was fuming. It seemed like background checks could be so misleading.

Running into a jerk like Charles, it had to be bad luck.

"Get lost! Or I'll knock you out cold!"

It was a strange twist of fate. The first time I met Charles, I'd punched a bunch of thugs away to save him.

Ever since then, he'd been hounding me, confessing his love left and right.

Charles still had a healthy fear of my fists and quickly scurried off with his gang.