Cruel Money (Cruel 1)

Suddenly, that seemed like such a distant illusion. And this felt like a dream I needed to wake up from.

My night hadn’t been like Cinderella. I hadn’t kissed my prince at midnight. I wasn’t about to lose one of these shoes. I couldn’t even imagine the price tag on the red-bottomed heels. But I was still going to turn into a pumpkin when all of this fake grandeur fell away and left me as the help once more.

I needed to leave.

That much was certain. I was out of place here. This wasn’t me. It had never been me. Amy had forced me into a tight dress for that party in Paris six years ago. I was bohemian by nature. I liked my hair down in disarray from the sea salt or up in a messy bun on the top of my head. I liked flowy, oversized dresses in crazy prints with bell sleeves and lace. I wore wide-brimmed hats and no makeup. And in my world, there were no galas or diamond necklaces or sexy men in tuxedos, but there also wasn’t any backstabbing or arranged marriages or skeletons in the closet.

So, it was time to go.

As much as I hated to admit it, I needed to tell someone. Someone who wasn’t going to try to talk me out of it or argue with me. Someone like…

“Lewis!” I called, hurrying as fast as I could in these heels over to where he stood with another guy.

He said something to said guy and then met me halfway.

“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately.

“Nothing. I’m just going to…head out. Could you tell Penn for me?”

“Wait, wait, wait, what?” His dark brown eyes widened with concern.

“I’m leaving.”

“I got that much, but where are you going to go?”

I shrugged. I hadn’t gotten that far. I just thought I would figure it out as I went. “I don’t know. Back to the beach house?”

“In the middle of the night? How are you even going to get there? Any way you look at it, it’s dangerous.”

“Okay, fine. You’re right. I know. I’ll get a hotel or something. But I don’t think I want to be here any longer.”

It would be smarter to stay and figure out what I was doing with the rest of the night. But Katherine was probably planning to stay, and I hadn’t exactly made plans for a slumber party. Penn, I didn’t even know if I wanted to face him right now. I didn’t know if I could keep all the questions running through my mind from bursting forth from my lips. It was better to stay on my own and take the bus back to the beach house in the morning.

“What is this about? Camden?” Lewis asked intuitively. “He’s a dick. I wouldn’t let anything he said upset you.”

“I’m not upset by him. I could tell he was a dick.”

“Then, why are you upset?”

“I just…don’t belong here,” I finally finished.

“Says who?”

“Well, Penn did that first night. And maybe he’s right.”

“The Upper East Side, admittedly, isn’t an easy crowd. But leaving now will prove that they can walk all over you.”

“It’s not going to prove anything,” I said, raising my chin, “because I’m not part of this crowd, and I never will be.”

I turned to leave, but Lewis reached out and grasped my arm.

“Don’t go running off into the night. You can stay at my place if you need to.”

“I couldn’t…”

“I’m offering.”

“What are you offering exactly?” Penn asked, appearing before us.

Lewis hastily dropped my arm. “I was just convincing Natalie not to run out of here alone.”

“You were going to leave?” Penn asked.

“Well, yeah. I am.” I defiantly tilted my chin up.

“You don’t have to do that. Camden left.”

“This has nothing to do with Camden.”

He narrowed his eyes. “If not Camden, then what?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it with you. Or anyone.” I turned back to Lewis. “I accept your offer. Can you take me back to your place?”

Penn’s head turned to look at Lewis with shock written across his face. “What?”

Lewis held his hands up. “Hey, man, I didn’t want her to run off into the night. I tried to convince her to stay.”

“After the last couple of weeks,” he said, looking back in my direction, “you were going to leave without saying anything?”

“Technically, I told Lewis to tell you,” I said with a shrug.

“Wait, weeks?” Lewis asked.

“Yes, I’ve been staying at the beach house with Natalie this whole time,” Penn said with as much defiance as me.

“Hey!” I chided.

We’d said we wouldn’t tell his friends that he was there, so they wouldn’t come bug us. He was about to ruin all of that.

“Okay, okay. I officially rescind my offer for you to stay at my place. I see that I stepped into the middle of this,” Lewis said.

“You didn’t step into the middle of anything,” I told them both vehemently.