Silent Revenge of a Hidden Heiress Chapter 03
My mind went blank, and I clenched the hem of my shirt until my knuckles ached.
My face burned like I’d just been slapped in public.
I couldn’t believe those words had actually come out of Nathan’s mouth.
The rain poured harder.
My ride still hadn’t showed up, but Nathan’s car pulled up first.
He didn’t bother saying another word. He just roughly shoved his umbrella into my hand, then turned around and dragged Sheryl into the car without looking back.
Before he closed the door, he barked at me through the glass.
“Think about this by yourself. We’re all adults. No one’s gonna coddle you forever!”
The car peeled away.
Thirty minutes passed, and my ride still hadn’t arrived.
When I finally got in, the driver frowned when he saw I was completely soaked. He spun around ready to yell at me.
But he shut up the second he saw my face.
He just carefully handed me a pack of tissues. “Miss, wipe your face off.”
I took the tissues, but I couldn’t wipe all the tears off my face no matter how hard I tried.
When I got back to campus, the rain was still coming down hard.
I opened Nathan’s umbrella and started walking against the wind, halfway to the dorms when I heard a loud crack.
Eight ribs on the umbrella—half of them were broken.
I stood there frozen for a long time.
There was still a little keychain hanging on the handle, one I’d given Nathan for our high school graduation. It was so worn now you could barely tell what it was.
This umbrella used to keep both of us dry through all kinds of storms. We’d walked through rain after rain together under it.
But it had reached the end of its life. It was time to retire it.
I got soaked all over again a second later.
But for the first time, I felt totally calm.
I quietly folded the broken umbrella up, walked through the rain, and tossed it into a trash can on the side of the road.
When an umbrella broke, you got a new one.
When someone changed, you didn’t have to hold onto them anymore.
When I got back to the dorm, my roommates all jumped up in shock.
They grabbed dry towels for me, dug out dry clothes.
I finally started to warm up again.
I walked over to my desk, and I noticed a cup of hot milk sitting there, next to a box of cold medicine.
One roommate glanced over and teased me, grinning. “Your boyfriend dropped this off. He’s so sweet.”
The other roommate nodded along, obvious envy in her voice.
I didn’t say anything. I just unlocked my phone, and a text from Nathan popped up sent three minutes earlier.
[If you got caught in the rain, take this medicine to keep from getting sick. You can be mad at me, but don’t mess with your health.]
I was about to type “thanks” when a text from Sheryl popped up on top.
[Elaine, did you get the milk?]
[Nathan bought one for me and they had a buy-one-get-one deal, so he gave the extra one to you! Drink it while it’s hot.]
My fingers froze on the screen. I couldn’t stop myself from sniffling.
So I was still the afterthought, just like always.
Then she sent a photo. When I saw it, my pupils blew wide, and all the blood in my body ran cold.
In the photo, she and Nathan were kissing in front of a mirror, all tangled up together, the whole room thick with tension.
[Oops! Accidental send! Don’t mind me, Elaine! We’re just practicing for the kissing booth!]
My heart felt like someone had ripped it right out of my chest. It hurt so bad I could barely stand.
I slammed my phone face-down on the desk hard, picked up the milk, and looked at my roommates.
“My throat hurts, I don’t really feel like drinking it. Anybody want it?”
All my roommates raised their hands immediately.
After I gave the milk away, I opened the box of cold medicine, popped two pills with a sip of water.
Nathan was right about one thing.
I shouldn’t mess with my health.
I got myself together, sat down, opened my laptop, and started rewriting the fundraiser proposal.
An hour later, I sent a full revised proposal centered entirely on me to my mom’s account.
[Mom, the fundraiser’s still happening. This is the revised plan. I’ll go to the school for approval once it’s okayed.]