Chapter 4

I shrugged. "I never planned to ride back with you guys anyway. Suit yourselves."

"Charlotte." Will started.

I interrupted him coolly. "Emily's probably scared out of her mind by now."

As soon as they heard that, they immediately panicked and forgot about everything else.

"Charlotte, we'll have someone come pick you up," Alex said.

With that, he quickly fired up the three-wheeler.

I watched calmly as they disappeared into the darkness, speeding toward the girl they cared about.

Along with them vanished twenty years of shared memories.

"Goodbye, Alex, Will, Lucas," I whispered to myself.

Suddenly, a car pulled up. The man getting out had landed and came straight here from the airport.

I ran over with a smile and threw myself into his arms.

The party for the Shea family's heir to return and take over the family business was packed with socialites and big shots.

Ethan had stepped away to take care of something, so I walked into the party and was met with a bunch of casual congratulations from people who knew what was going on.

Alex, Will, and Lucas walked in with Emily, who was dressed in a gorgeous princess gown.

Emily had been well taken care of by them. She walked over to me with her head held high, looking confident and relaxed, completely different from the timid, cautious girl she used to be.

I still remembered when she first transferred to our school. She accidentally knocked over a guy's lunchbox in the cafeteria and got yelled at so much she shrank into herself, too embarrassed to look up.

The guy asked her to pay him back for the food, but she didn't have the money, so I covered it for her.

I felt bad for her since she was struggling, so I helped her out whenever I could. Whenever she said she felt lonely, I'd drag her along to hang out with my three buddies.

At first, Alex and the guys weren't too happy about me always bringing someone new. I told them she had it tough and to cut her some slack.

From then on, Emily kept showing up, doing her best to act tough and get on their good side.

I watched helplessly as they went from being annoyed and impatient with Emily to spoiling her rotten, treating her like she was the center of their world.

Slowly but surely, I was the one left out in the cold.

"Charlotte, I heard Alex and the guys left you all alone at the vacation house so they could come see me?" Emily said, sounding all fake-concerned.

"But seriously, don't blame them, okay? If you want to blame someone, blame me. I got scared by the thunder, and they got way too worried about me."

Emily was pretending to be sweet, but you could hear the smugness in her voice, she was totally showing off.

But to the guys, she seemed so thoughtful and caring.

"Emily, Charlotte won't blame us. She actually did pretty well last time and helped us out," Alex said, his voice unusually gentle.

Will smiled at me. "Charlotte, if you could be as understanding as you were that day, and stop giving Emily a hard time, maybe be a bit nicer to her. We'd all love to have you back."

"Yeah, Charlotte, you know Emily's had it rough. Of course we want to take extra care of her. So stop being so jealous and picking on her, alright? Why not be nice to her with us?" Lucas added.

Emily's eyes sparkled. "Charlotte, come back. I'll make them treat you like royalty. If any of them dare to be mean to you, I'll totally give them the cold shoulder, hmph."

The guys acted all terrified, putting on a show for her.

"Oh no, we're terrified. If our Queen Emily commands it, how could we dare not treat Charlotte right?" Alex joked.

"Emily's gone from little princess to full-on queen now. How could we not obey the queen? As long as Charlotte doesn't mess with you, she's always welcome," Lucas chimed in.

They laughed and teased, while Emily looked so proud and pleased, like a puppy wagging her tail. The guys were absolutely doting on her.

Alex turned to me. "Charlotte, look at how Emily's willing to let bygones be bygones. If you come back, you ought to treat her right."

I shrugged. "No need. You guys are doing fine without me, and I'm doing fine on my own. I'm not interested in playing nice with anyone, so count me out."

My words made them freeze for a second.

Emily suddenly spoke up. "I'm so hungry. Alex, Will, Luke, I didn't have lunch"

They suddenly looked worried.

"Silly girl, why didn't you say something earlier? You shouldn't starve yourself. We'll go get you something to eat right now," Alex said.

They dropped the previous topic and hurried off to the buffet area to pick out food and drinks for Emily.

Emily shot me a smug look. "Loser, since you already know you don't belong with us, keep your distance. Otherwise, next time, Alex and the guys might dump you in the middle of the woods."

I called out over her shoulder, "Alex, did you catch that?"

Emily's face went pale for a second, then she instantly put on her damsel-in-distress act. "Alex, it's not what you think."

But when she turned around, Alex was nowhere to be seen. She whipped back to me, her expression turning stormy. "Charlotte, are you trying to mess with me?"

I stared at Emily, remembering how she used to be so timid and grateful. Now she's all smug and cocky, acting like she's never needed my help.

I sneered, "Let's see how long you can keep playing the princess in their little world."

"Take a good look around, this isn't any party. Try running your mouth at me again, and I'll make sure you regret it."

After I finished with a sneer, I saw Ethan walk into the ballroom and head straight for me. I went over to meet him.

Inside the ballroom, the host's representative gave a welcome speech.

Over by the buffet, Alex was feeding Emily Rivers a bite, Will gently brushed her hair out of her face, and Lucas was holding a glass of juice, asking if she wanted some.

Meanwhile, Ethan Shea took my hand and led me up onto the stage.

Mason Shea took the mic again. "Today isn't about welcoming my son Ethan home.

There's someone more important I want you all to meet. Ethan's fiancée, Charlotte Sinclair, heiress of the Sinclair family.

We hope to see you all at the wedding on the eighth of next month."

The applause and cheers were thunderous, but over by the buffet, there was a sudden crash as plates and glasses hit the floor, followed by Emily's startled shriek when her foot got splashed with wine.

But all of that was completely drowned out by the excitement of the announcement.

The spotlight was all on us. Ethan wrapped his arm around me and kissed my forehead, grinning from ear to ear as he soaked up all the congratulations.