I nearly choked on my half-sister's invitation. Clearing my throat, I immediately rephrased Bea's question to make sure I hadn't misunderstood or misheard her.

"Are you saying that you want me to go with you to DC? To meet our new stepmom?"

"Yes," Bea replied without any hesitation.

"Why?" I asked, genuinely wanting to know.

"Because... you're smart," she muttered begrudgingly, "and way calmer than Trick when it comes to these types of things."

"Is that the only reason?"

"Kinda, yeah."

"Why do you want to meet Andrea so badly? I doubt the woman wants anything to do with us."

"Aren't you curious to see what kind of bitch would marry someone like Daddy?"

I eyed Bea with a burgeoning sense of respect. Apparently, my half-sister was much more astute about people than I had previously given her credit for. I, too, had been feeling suspicious as hell about our dad's new wife, but, up until now, I hadn't even entertained the idea of meeting the woman in the flesh.

Bea went on, "All bullshit aside, I need to find out if she's a gold digger. No offense, Cate, but some of us still have to look out for our share of Daddy's money."

Ah, there was the rub!

I smiled derisively. "Are you on a mission or something? To get rid of the bitch?"

"Maybe." Bea tossed me a haughty look. "Wanna help me do it?"

"I dunno," I said. "Maybe I should."

The words surprised even me as they fell out.

"Wait, what?" Bea's long lashes fluttered as she stared at me warily. "You mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it," I heard myself say again, almost involuntarily, even though I personally thought that going to DC to confront Andrea was a terrible idea.

Not to mention, I had a very important speech and debate tournament scheduled in the middle of January. But something inside of me pushed me to do this. Blood was thicker than water, after all, and for the first time in our lives Bea and I had a common goal. And a common enemy. Andrea posed a bigger threat to Trick and Bea because of their inheritance, but I was just as eager to learn more about this new addition to our fucked up family.

Who knew what kinds of tricks she had hiding up her sleeve?

"Oh, wow! Okay!" Bea exclaimed. "Don't worry about the plane tickets. Andrea already said that she'll pay for them. We just have to give her our dates."

My half-sister tried to downplay her excitement over my answer, but I could tell she was pretty happy about it.

"Sure," I confirmed with a nod. "Let me check my schedule in January before you settle on a date, but I'm down to go."

"Sounds good," Bea responded with a grin.

My half-sister and I parted ways shortly after on a happy note. My lightened mood wouldn't last. Little did I know, a Category 5 shitstorm named Lily would be headed my direction in a matter of hours.

***

Right as I started drifting off to sleep, a notification popped up on my phone. Instead of ignoring it, I made the mistake of picking up my phone. Lily had just posted a pic of herself on Instagram and Twitter, winking slyly, with a finger pressed to her pouty lips. She had tagged me in her post, and the caption she included underneath was cryptic as hell.

the bitch of ashton wellesley has been keeping a big juicy secret from all of y'all. dm me for the truth!!!!

Within minutes of Lily's post, my phone exploded with texts and calls from Amari, Nat, Dev, Aleah, and dozens more, demanding a response from me. I didn't reply to any of them. Even the twenty text messages and twelve missed calls from Zac. I had a sinking suspicion that the cat was out of the bag, and I wasn't ready to deal with the backlash.

At a school like mine, money and prestige meant everything. If my peers suspected the possibility that I might be cut off at eighteen, then I'd be dead to them. This was why a brilliant girl like Nat had never been able to head any of the clubs or organizations at Ashton Wellesley. She could only participate in the most menial roles. Without my dad's money, my fate wouldn't be too different from hers. Every word coming out of my mouth, my stellar grades, my good looks—none of it would carry much weight anymore—because Ashton Wellesley students felt that commoners were below them.

I could give a rat's ass over what the other kids thought of me, but I really fucking cared about my Stanford apps. In order to hold onto all my leadership roles in speech and debate and Model United Nations, I needed to continue commanding fear and respect on campus, at least, until I had an acceptance letter safely in hand. Tossing and turning in bed, I barely slept that night.

In the morning, Zac texted again and offered to pick me up. It warmed my heart, but I ignored him once more. This was my war to fight. Not his battle. I wanted to drive myself to school even though my stomach twisted and turned during the whole ride.

I arrived on campus shortly after 7:30 am. As I walked from the parking lot to the main academic building, I rehearsed the lines I planned to use to undermine Lily's claims as convincingly as possible. It wasn't like Bea had given her a hard copy of our dad's divorce agreement, so it would be Lily's word against mine, and I was pretty confident about holding my own in an argument. I simply wasn't looking forward to lying to my friends. Especially Nat and Amari. I hadn't decided, either, whether or not to tell Zac the truth or not. A scared, insecure part of me wondered if he would still want to date me once he knew the full story.

Feeling at a loss, I sighed. Gerson Academic Hall loomed before me. Never had this familiar building looked so imposing. As my thoughts wandered back to Zac and how he might react, Frankie Dorhn stopped me near the side entrance to the building.

His pale blue eyes were gleaming with sadistic pleasure as he drawled, "Good to see you, Donati. I was worried about you. Didn't know if you'd show your face at school today."

I smiled at him coldly. "You were worried about me? Shit, I didn't know you were capable of processing human emotions."

"Let's cut to the chase," Frankie rasped with a smarmy smirk. "A little bird told me about your money troubles. I'll do you a favor. You can suck my dick for a twenty."

"If your dick comes anywhere near me," I threatened, "I'm gonna go full Lorena Bobbit on you!"

"I have no idea who the fuck you're talking about, but it doesn't matter, does it?" Frankie crowed at me. "You're all bark and no bite without daddy's money."

"If you think money is the only thing that makes me relevant, then I feel sorry for you."

Frankie snickered. "Have you been living under a rock? Why do you think the fucking government bailed out AIG a few years back? Money is the only thing that matters. But go ahead. Keep lying to yourself if it helps you sleep at night."

"Trust me, money isn't a problem for me at all," I sputtered back angrily. "I don't know what this fucking bird of yours has been chirping on about, but none of it is true. I'm exactly the same person I've always been, and you're gonna be sorry for crossing me today."

Frankie laughed harshly. "I think you're the one who should be worried. You've pissed off a lot of people over the years. I'm just trying to be a good guy. I wanna help you out. You're a hot piece of ass, Donati. And my family is fucking loaded. I could take care of you when all the sharks start coming for your throat."

"That's funny," I quipped without missing a beat, "because, last time I checked, I was fully capable of handling the sharks on my own. Misogynistic asshole sharks—like you."

"Suit yourself, bitch." Frankie shrugged as he turned to walk away. "But don't come crying to me when shit hits the fan, and you're left with no friends. Just so you know, your BFFs—you know, that terrorist bitch and the fat ginger—have already turned on you."