Chapter 1

For the ninety-ninth time, Alexander Grant—scion of the Grant family that dominated Kingston City—was rejected by the campus belle. He turned on his heel at once, shoving a bouquet of roses and a black card into my hands as I rummaged through a trash bin.

Helicopters showered petals across the sky. He pinned me against the wall, his breath scorching hot against my skin. "Little beggar, mind being my princess?"

I caught sight of Roxanne Shaw, the campus belle, wearing a triumphant sneer in the corner. Poor enough to drop out of school, I accepted everything without hesitation.

From that day on, I indulged in a life of luxury: private tutors from top circles, reckless spending as if there were no tomorrow.

On the night of my eighteenth birthday, Alexander's fingertips traced my collarbone, his voice laced with temptation."Baby, why not film a little video to commemorate our first time?"

I knew well this was the true purpose of our "relationship."

Roxanne's mother was the mistress my father had abandoned, and Roxanne hated me enough to ruin my reputation and drag me into eternal despair.

But this time, I simply waved the plane ticket and admission letter to Hariton University, one of the country's top universities, in my hand.

"Your bed is plush, and your black card's got a sky-high limit. But it can't fit my future. Farewell!" I said calmly.

*****

"Ms. Shaw, your visa's been approved. You can pick it up in seven days." The reply came on the other end.

As I hung up, Roxanne's playful giggle grew louder.

Inside the villa, the party was wild.

Roxanne hooked her strawberry-print panties with two fingers, spinning them around before slipping them into Alexander's hand.

"Baby, this is your reward," she teased, her voice sultry.

She whispered, her breath tickling his ear, "If you record another video of Madeline, next time, the prize is me."

Alexander took a drag from his cigarette, tilted her chin up, his voice husky and full of desire.

"Relax, baby. I just flash some cash, and that little beggar falls for it, thinking I'm head over heels for her. She's already promised to hand herself over to me on her eighteenth birthday."

Roxanne's eyes went wide. "Her eighteenth birthday? That's tomorrow!"

Unable to hide her delight, she wrapped her arms around Alexander's neck and gave him a big, smacking kiss.

"Just don't get too carried away and end up tainting yourself. If you do, you're off my list!" Roxanne teased, her voice playful but with a hint of warning.

He let out a low chuckle, his palm teasing her lower back, his smile lazy and wicked.

"Forget just filming her—if I told her to strip and crawl down the street, she'd do it without batting an eye," Alexander said, his voice dripping with arrogance.

A wave of mocking laughter erupted from within the room.

"Wasn't she the one who'd rather dig through trash than sell herself out for a few bucks? Looks like cash is still king!"

"From the pure maiden to the seductress—now that's prime entertainment!"

Standing quietly outside the door, I simply smiled.

These pampered sons of privilege could never understand the depths of true desperation, the indignities poverty forced upon a person.

I knew what it was like to scavenge for food in dumpsters, to sleep under bridges, to drink the filthy water sprayed onto park lawns.

I had licked the last crumbs from the bags of expired bread thrown out by bakeries.

I was twelve then. Now I was eighteen.

Today, I swiped Alexander's limitless black card without a second thought.

Dignity? How much did that even go for these days?

The laughter continued. Someone called out a taunt aimed at Roxanne. "Hey, Roxy, aren't you worried, pushing Alex onto Madeline like this? What if he actually falls for her?"

Alexander snatched a pillow and hurled it in the speaker's direction. "My eyes are only on Roxy, got it?"

Truthfully, I couldn't care less who Alexander loves.

His money was all that mattered to me.

The irony was that my family had plenty of money.

My mother, Alice Shaw, was a high-flying lawyer with a gambling addiction. My father, David Shaw, was a wealthy, well-known businessman who couldn't keep his pants on.

And stuck between them was me—a girl who couldn't even afford sanitary pads.

Neither of them saw me as a daughter, only as a bargaining chip in their marital warfare.

If not for Alexander, I would have rotted in that filth long ago.

And I had Roxanne to thank for it all. Her hatred for me was so potent that she was eager to shove Alexander my way, believing it would be my ruin.