After He Played Me, I Teamed Up With His Rival

"You're Kieran's evil cousin, right? You kicked him out of his mansion, and you can't stand seeing girls younger than you. That's why you won't let him bring me to meet the family." "But I'm telling you, I'm pregnant with his baby. Sooner or later, I'll be the lady of the Hale house!" The college guy I've been sponsoring is the campus heartthrob. Plenty of girls chase him. I've had calls like this before. I've heard my share of ridiculous lies. But just as I was about to hang up, Kieran's message popped up. [Raven, I need to borrow 300 dollars! It's urgent!!!] Three thousand. The exact cost of an abortion at a top-tier hospital. I paused. Then I let out a soft laugh into the phone. "Starting now, I grant you permission to join the Hale family." …… The call had barely ended when my phone screen lit up again. A friend request. From that girl. I accepted. Her messages came crashing down instantly. [Smart move. Don't think just because you're his cousin you can control him. Kieran's heart belongs to me!] [Figures. A bitter old single woman who can't stand seeing anyone else happy. So pathetic.] I let my finger glide over the screen. Reading these venomous words, I felt nothing but amusement. I tapped out a reply. [First. I'm not his cousin.] [Second. Everything Kieran owns—the clothes on his back, the food in his mouth, even that luxury apartment he brags about—I paid for all of it.] [To put it bluntly, he's my kept songbird.] After the messages were sent, the other end went dead silent for three full minutes. When she finally replied, the contempt had only thickened. [Stop flattering yourself! You're just some distant cousin, bossing him around just because you're older. He's completely sick of you!] [Kieran has money. How could he possibly be a kept man?] [If you can't stand seeing us happy, then I'll make sure you get an eyeful.] Then came a barrage of photos. Kieran in the library, saving her a seat, seen from behind. The two of them in a movie theater, cheeks pressed together in a selfie. And that custom-made gold fountain pen. Every photo came with its own smug caption. [He said once he passes the grad college exam, he'll lay it all out for you. You won't be able to control him anymore.] [Your big 40th birthday last week? He skipped it. He was at the movies with me.] [That pen you gave him? He handed it right over. I use it as a bookmark.] The words pressed against my chest, heavy and suffocating. Last week. My 30th birthday. Kieran told me he had a prep class for the exam. Couldn't miss it. I didn't want to hold him back. I nodded, told him it was fine, and even sent him two thousand dollars as a bonus—a little treat for working so hard. And he took my money. To take another woman to see my favorite movie. And that pen. I'd gone to Switzerland on business. I'd hunted through shop after shop to design that custom order. He'd held it like a treasure back then. Said he'd keep it forever. Then he turned around and handed it to her. I stared at the familiar profile of Kieran in the photo. The last trace of warmth inside me went cold. For years, I'd told myself he was just young. Still growing up. I'd protected his fragile ego at every turn. Even when he came home late, even when he turned cold with me—I'd convinced myself it was the stress of the exams. The truth was, he had simply learned to take me for granted. My fingers hovered over the screen. The decisive, commanding business manager that I was—gone, at this moment. In the end, I typed nothing. I was suddenly tired. Four years of keeping Kieran. For the first time, it all felt unbearably dull. Right on cue, his message popped up. [Raven, three thousand dollars is nothing to you. You've got five minutes to send it. If not, I'll never take another cent from you again!] The threat in those words made me laugh. His misbehavior had disappointed me. My father taught me long ago. If a pet misbehaves, don't bother training it. Just get a new one. I figured people worked the same way. My fingers moved. I sent four words. [As you wish.]