Cruel Legacy (Cruel 3)

“Natalie!” Harmony said, jumping out of her seat and pulling me into a hug. “That dress is stunning. I am so mad at my mom for not giving it to me.”

Harmony was in a showstopping yellow number that looked fantastic with her blonde hair.

“Yours is incredible. I couldn’t even imagine you in anything else.”

“Aww, thanks, girl!”

“Also, check this out.” I showed her that my account had exploded.

“Oh, fifteen-K! So good for a day. Let’s try to get you to fifty by this weekend. Here, take a selfie with me.” She pulled her phone out and snapped a picture of us. “I’ll post it on my Crew page and tell everyone to share the love with you.”

“You’re ridiculous. Thank you!”

Harmony was busy Photoshopping the image, running it through a filter, and then adding some special tags at the bottom for maximum exposure when a group of girls walked up and gasped over our dresses.

Harmony waved her hand at them. “Don’t even. This thing? It’s nothing compared to yours, Fiona.”

“Oh, no way, Harm,” Fiona said. She brushed her sheet of light-brown hair off of her soft, pale shoulder. “Yours is way cuter. Don’t you think so, Isabel?”

“Definitely,” Isabel agreed instantly. “Sloane was just talking about how no one could wear canary like you, Harm.”

“I wish I could pull it off,” Sloane said with a grin.

“You are too sweet,” Harmony said with a big smile. “You all know Natalie, right?”

“Oh, Natalie,” Fiona said, “we’ve heard so much about you. You were front row for the Cunningham show!”

“I was,” I said. “Elizabeth was so generous to offer me the spot.”

“And who are you wearing?” Isabel asked, fingering the expensive fabric.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Harmony asked.

“Cunningham, clearly, Isabel,” Fiona said with an eye roll.

“Ohh,” Sloane said. “That explains so much.”

“What does it explain?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Fiona said.

“You look so good in that lilac. With that silver hair,” Isabel continued. “Maybe I should dye my hair.” She fingered her nearly black tresses.

“That’s why Katherine is in some off-the-rack piece,” Sloane said as if her friends were daft. “Doesn’t she normally wear Elizabeth Cunningham?”

“She does,” Harmony said with a sly smile.

“I can’t believe she would show up in that dress,” Fiona said, giving in to their catty behavior.

“I mean, just look at her,” Isabel said with a shake of her head, gesturing to Katherine standing nearby. “It’s so sad.”

My eyes found Katherine in a stunning black dress that hugged her curves. I never would have been able to tell that she was in a dress off the rack if I hadn’t just tried on that same dress a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t even know that was supposed to be insulting, except the girls kept going on and on about how humiliating it was. That marrying a Percy was supposed to help her taste and not degrade it.

To me, she looked like the same old Katherine. Just as beautiful. Just as much a snake. And as Camden approached, he skimmed her backside. She shuddered and stepped out of his touch. The thought of them together made me kind of sick. I swiftly looked away.

“It’s good to see her knocked down a peg,” Harmony said.

“I wouldn’t mind watching her fall in the mud,” Fiona said viciously.

Isabel and Sloane snickered, clearly in agreement.

And though I was the reason that this had happened, it made my stomach twist at the way they were talking about her. When I’d spoken with Elizabeth after the charity event, she’d agreed to give me the front row ticket that belonged to Katherine and a dress she’d held in reserve for her as well. I was literally walking in her shoes this weekend. And it felt good to see her stumble, to see her socialite status begin to fracture. It was what I’d wanted after all.

I’d wanted revenge for what she’d done. I’d wanted to take the thing that she cared about. And I had. Or at least, it had begun.

It was another thing entirely to hear people talking about Katherine so quickly after bringing me into their circle. Like vultures ready to eat away at carrion. And I was the fresh new meat.

I saw then how sad and lonely it must have been for Katherine on her pedestal. She’d put herself there. And everyone had hoped for her to fall. I was just the only one who had succeeded in making her stumble.

The girls continued to chatter about Katherine as if she weren’t a matter of feet from us when my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out and was surprised to find my sister’s number displayed.

“Excuse me for a minute,” I told Harmony and the rest of the group. I stepped away and answered the phone. “Melanie? Is everything okay?”

“Natalie, I’m so glad that you answered. I know you’re at the Fashion Week gala. I’m so jealous, and I need pictures, but I had to call you.”