The most arrogant rich heir in Chicago confessed to me in public, but I threw the flowers he gave me into the fountain and started making up lies on the spot. "Sorry, but your best buddy already told me—you're only chasing me because you bet a hundred-million-dollar estate with someone that you could sleep with me within a month. "Instead of getting mad that a girl from the slums stole your number-one spot at Evermont University, why don't you actually study harder for the next exam?" Then, I looked at the group of heirs standing around us. "Sure, all of you have said so many nasty things about him behind his back just to make me happy, but... "I don't like men who betray their brothers. Sorry." The moment those words left my mouth, everyone started looking at each other in shock and suspicion.

My best friend, Sarah Morley, handed me a sandwich.  I took a single bite, and the raw, blistering heat hit me instantly, leaving me gasping with my tongue out. She doubled over, clutching her stomach in laughter. "Oh, Lauren! I drowned that thing in hot sauce. If you want some water, all you have to do is ask!" I opened my mouth, straining with everything I had, but not a single articulate sound came out. "Alright, that's enough. Stop teasing her," my boyfriend, Andrew Marshall, chimed in. He handed me a glass, and I grabbed it, gulping desperately, only to choke on the chili water. A violent coughing fit tore through my chest. Panicked, I lunged toward the water pitcher on the table. Sarah beat me to it, snatching it up and holding it high out of reach. Andrew looked at me with an encouraging smile. "Lauren, Sarah's right. If you want something, you need to use your voice." Ever since the night an intruder broke into my house and murdered my parents, I had been trapped in functional aphonia. Since then, the two of them had made it their personal mission to shock me back into speaking. Once, while hiking, they abandoned me all by myself in the middle of nowhere. Another time, during a trip, they hired someone to pose as a burglar and break into my hotel room. They were convinced that forcing me to the absolute edge would unlock my hidden potential. But every single time, all I could manage were helpless, broken croaks. Just as the searing heat turned my face crimson and my throat threatened to close up completely, Sarah finally handed over the pitcher. I grabbed a glass and chugged the water down, only to hear her whisper another idea. "This isn't intense enough, Andrew. What if we kiss? Lauren cares about you so much. If she gets jealous enough, she'll definitely yell out." Stunned, my hands flew up, desperately signing to Andrew, "No, please don't." Andrew closed his eyes tightly, turning his face away. "Lauren, my eyes are closed. You have to tell me with your words." I turned to Sarah, pleading with my eyes, but she just gave me a playful smirk. She slid right onto Andrew's lap, cupped his face in her hands, and pulled him into a deep, lingering kiss. As their lips locked in a passionate, tangled mess, I struggled to force the words out. "Let's break up."

The day before our high school reunion, Helena, the cheer captain who'd tormented me nonstop for three whole years, suddenly dropped an old video into our class group chat. The footage showed my 180-pound teenage self, locked in a supply closet, external media text reading: Fatty pigs not permitted to eat. Ping. The chat blew up instantly, messages flying in faster than I could read them. Classmate A: Holy shit, she's coming to the reunion too? Classmate B: Think the restaurant chairs are gonna hold her weight? Classmate C: It's been years, right? What if she's so big now she can't even squeeze through the door? Helena, the ringleader of all the abuse I went through back then, tagged me directly. Helena: Hey, Lucy! Everyone's dying to see you. You have to make it this time, okay? Before long, someone set up a betting pool, wagering on whether I'd have the guts to show up. Helena dropped a hundred dollars on me bailing. The football team captain, Dominic, the guy I'd had a crush on for three whole years, threw down his bet right after she did. Dominic: If she actually has the nerve to come, I'll give her a big hug in front of everyone. Call it an apology for all the stuff that went down back in the day. The whole chat erupted in laughter. I stared at that video, the same one that had jolted me awake screaming from nightmares so many times, and clenched my fists so tight my nails dug into my palms. No one in that group had a clue. I'd dropped from 180 pounds all the way down to 98, with a body fat percentage of just 17%. Vogue had called my runway walk "the chilliest, most cutthroat catwalk of the season." I'd just wrapped shows at all four major fashion weeks in Milan, Paris, New York, and London, landing runway slots for three blue-chip fashion houses.  Even less did they know that Elite Model Management, the agency Helena had sent hundreds of applications to without ever landing a single interview, had already added me to their global supermodel roster. My thumb hovered over the screen for half a second. I quietly placed a five-hundred-dollar bet on myself showing up, sharp and on the dot. Then, as everyone in the group whooped and roasted each other, I shot back a single message. Me: Winner takes all, loser pays up.

Cole, my husband, had agreed that we’d stay child free for twenty whole years. Then, out of nowhere, his seven-year-old child showed up. I hired a private investigator to dig into the whole mess, only to find out that his mistress, Lila, was already pregnant with another child. The day the ugly truth finally came out, Cole and I exploded into a vicious screaming match. Our parents and old friends rushed over to mediate, crowding into the living room and taking turns giving us their two cents. "Why do you have to drag this out and make such a huge scene? You two have been married for twenty years, for crying out loud. Let’s be real, when a man reaches this age, of course he wants a child of his own. That’s completely understandable." Tears burned the backs of my eyes as I stared at Cole, who hadn’t said a single word the entire time. He was in his early forties now, but he was still as handsome as ever. "You can bring the child here to live with us. That’s the biggest compromise I’m willing to make." Cole grabbed his car keys and headed for the door. I thought he had accepted my offer, until he reached up and ripped our wedding photo off the wall. "Lila carried my child for ten whole months. She went through hell for me. There’s no way in hell I’m leaving her all alone!" He looked straight at me, and there wasn’t a trace of love left in his eyes. "If you can’t accept her and the child, starting today, I’ll stay over there on weekdays and come back here on weekends to be with you." I clenched my palms so tightly that my nails dug crescent-shaped marks into my skin. At that moment, I knew deep down that we could never go back to the way things were. I dug my nails so deep into my palms I could almost taste blood. Then I spat out the words I never thought I’d say. "Fine. If that’s how you want it, we’re getting a divorce."

I was the most admired wife in a wealthy family, yet I personally took care of my husband's dog. No matter how dirty it got, I always bathed it myself. My husband often became jealous because of it. "Didn't we hire a housekeeper? You spend all day bathing the dog and never have time for me." I merely smiled and said nothing. Sometimes, a dog is more useful than a person. There were things I could not get out of a person's mouth, but a dog would tell me through its actions. The day before yesterday, just as I was about to wipe the dog's paws, it suddenly pulled a pair of pink lace panties out of my husband's bag. I picked them up and took a look. They were not my size. The next day, I took the dog to my husband's hotel and let it smell the panties again. "Smell carefully and find out who this belongs to."

The first time I laid eyes on Carter Boone, the captain of our school's ice hockey team, I fell head over heels for him instantly. Amy Reed cheered me on to shoot my shot if I really liked him, and she even came up with a whole game plan for me. She told me to lay on the charm, act all cute and playful, and call him "babe" every time we ran into each other. She also pushed me to join the cheer squad so I could be right there at his games, cheering him on like his own personal hype woman. But after two whole months of me chasing him like crazy, even Carter's teammates were practically melting at how much effort I put in. The guy himself? Still as cold and unresponsive as a block of ice. It wasn't until today that Amy finally came clean. "Actually, that online boyfriend I've been telling you about? It's Carter. I told you to go after him just to test how loyal he is. I had no idea he was this dedicated—he even turned down a total knockout like you! Sorry, girl, but looks like I can't let you have him after all."

At the freshman orientation party, Joren Thorne's underclassman Luvy Mia suggested playing Truth or Dare. When she got picked to spill a secret about someone in the room, she leaned in with a mysterious little smile and said in a dramatic, hushed tone. "This girl is wild as hell. She makes Rhys Thorne go with her to the hospital every month to get her hymen repaired. Total shameless skank who throws herself at old men to climb the social ladder." Everyone there knew Rhys Thorne was Joren's dad. The room immediately erupted in whoops and catcalls, everyone yelling over each other to ask who she was talking about. Luvy snickered first, then darted a pointed look straight at me. "Who else could it be? C'mon, it's obviously the one here in the most revealing outfit, duh!" When she noticed me glaring right at her, she panicked and scrambled to cover her tracks. "Whoa, senior, I didn't mean you, okay? It's just a joke, don't take it seriously!" Just like that, in the blink of an eye, every single pair of eyes in the room was locked on me. I let out a cold, cutting laugh. "Oh, you're not wrong. The last time Joren brought you home, you even called me Mom."

The impostor heiress was desperately insecure. Again and again, she pushed her wealthy fiancé, Adrian Hale, away just to test his love.   After I was brought back to the Bennett family, she even started pushing me toward him.   At first, she merely had me appear before Adrian in one of her dresses. Later, she deliberately tricked him into entering my bedroom.   Whenever we were discovered, Chloe Bennett would burst into tears and say, "Claire is the one who should be your fiancée. I'm nothing but an impostor."   Every time, Adrian pushed me away and chose her without hesitation.   Reassured by his repeated displays of devotion, Chloe grew bolder and took her little games further.   Finally, she insisted that every relative and friend be invited to her wedding with Adrian.   Then, with all eyes on her, Chloe once again declared that she wasn't worthy of him and booked an overnight flight out of the country.   "Adrian, she's the one who should be your fiancée."   She thought this time would end like all the others.   But Adrian looked back at the cousins waiting to see him humiliated and rubbed his brow wearily.   "Claire Bennett, will you marry me?"