Silent Revenge of a Hidden Heiress Chapter 01
My boyfriend’s childhood best friend set up a kissing booth on campus.
Anyone who donated got to kiss a volunteer.
Nathan Quill volunteered to be one of the kissers without even being asked.
When I disagreed, he frowned and snapped at me.
“It’s just a kiss, it’s for charity. Can you stop being so petty and jealous?”
Then he turned back to Sheryl Blair, grinning and teasing.
“You gonna be there that day, right?”
“Duh! I’m gonna be your first customer!
“After all, you said when we were kids that your first kiss belonged to me!”
She finished and winked playfully at me.
“Don’t overthink this, Elaine. This kiss is purely for charity.”
Watching the two of them walk off laughing and chatting, the hand I’d lifted to grab Nathan’s sleeve slowly fell back to my side.
Right. There was no place for me in that kissing booth.
I didn’t have to force my way in.
…
I texted my mom. When I looked back up, Nathan and Sheryl were already several yards ahead.
They never even noticed I’d fallen behind.
They walked side by side, the perfect match.
It made me look like a total third wheel.
Nathan and Sheryl had grown up together.
After reconnecting in college, they got close fast, practically glued at the hip.
When they studied in the library, Nathan always saved a seat for Sheryl.
When they ate in the dining hall, Nathan even grabbed an extra meal for her to go.
Even when we went for an evening walk holding hands, he’d invite Sheryl along.
After a while, our classmates started asking me nosy questions.
“Who is Nathan actually dating, anyway?”
Every single time, I could only awkwardly mumble, “It’s me.”
Thankfully, by sophomore year, Sheryl got a department exchange spot to study abroad for a year.
Nathan and I finally got to go back to being a normal couple.
He was sweet and attentive. he’d buy breakfast and wait for me outside my dorm for my 8 AM class, and bring me pain killers when I had my period.
When I fell asleep studying during finals week, he’d drape a blanket over me and organize my exam study notes.
I soaked up all his sweet words and gestures.
I had no idea that every time he walked me back to my dorm, he’d get on a video call with Sheryl and stay on until dawn.
The day she came back to the country, Nathan splurged on the nicest hotel to throw her a welcome dinner.
But he only got 2,000 dollars a month for living expenses. Half the money he’d saved over two years of tutoring vanished in one go.
I hated seeing him blow so much cash, so I secretly found the hotel manager, gave him my mom’s name, and got the bill knocked down forty percent.
But when all was said and done, I didn’t even get allowed into the private dining room.
My phone pinged with a reply from my mom.
I glanced at it, texted back: [Okay.]
Then I looked at the two figures already almost out of sight ahead of me, and walked the opposite way.
When we got to the restaurant, my mom didn’t blame me when I told her I’d canceled the donation booking.
She just said calmly, “When you turned 18, I set up a foundation in your name.
“All those business partners already said they’d come. It’d be bad to cancel last minute.
“So… do you want to host your own fundraiser instead?”
I froze right there.
The student council fundraiser this was supposed to be for didn’t have any big name pull to begin with.
But I hated seeing Nathan disappointed, so I’d asked my mom for help.
She agreed, but only on the condition that I put together a solid, detailed event plan.
I pulled a bunch of all-nighters, showed up at her desk with dark circles under my eyes, and handed over the proposal.
Only then did she introduce me to a group of business owners and invite them to donate.
I’d originally planned to give Nathan this surprise for our second anniversary.
But now? There was no point in pouring all my hard work into someone else’s plan.
I nodded hard at my mom.