Chapter 4

Half an hour later, a commotion broke out at the edge of the courtyard. The four Sterling brothers were here.

Vanessa immediately told the student council members to turn on all their cameras. She forced me to kneel at the end of the red carpet and set the dog bowl full of fake cash in front of me.

"Keep your mouth shut when they get here. If you try to talk your way out of this, I'll tell them all about the other guys you've been sleeping with."

I looked past her toward the crowd. Adrian was leading the way, with Blake, Caleb, and Dylan close behind.

They'd been on campus meeting with alums on behalf of the Sterling Foundation and had rushed over after getting a call from home. The moment they appeared, students started screaming.

Vanessa quickly smoothed her hair, grabbed the cardboard box full of "stolen goods", and hurried over to meet them.

"Adrian! I'm so glad you're here. I've finally exposed Emily Dawson for the gold digger she is. She hasn't just been spending your money. She's also got Blake's black card, Caleb's apartment, and Dylan's sports car."

Adrian didn't take the box. He looked right past Vanessa, his eyes settling on me. The moment he saw the dog collar around my neck, he stopped in his tracks.

Blake noticed my swollen knees too. "Who did that?"

Vanessa apparently thought he was asking who'd arranged the whole thing, because she immediately took credit. "Me! She refused to kneel at first, so I had a couple of people give her a little help."

Blake's jaw tightened.

Vanessa didn't seem to notice. She turned to Caleb and handed him the broken pieces of my pendant. "Oh, and she tried to pass this cheap piece of junk off as a Sterling family heirloom. I already smashed it, so you don't have to worry about it."

Caleb stared at the broken pendant in his hand as the color slowly drained from his face. "You smashed this?"

"Yeah." Vanessa laughed dismissively. "It's just some cheap junk she got for sleeping around. What was I supposed to do, keep it?"

Dylan suddenly stepped forward, but Adrian threw out an arm to stop him.

The longer the brothers stayed silent, the more convinced Vanessa became that they were furious with me.

She turned back toward the crowd and raised her microphone. "Emily took advantage of these four guys and scammed them out of eight million dollars! She acts like she's already part of the Sterling family, and she even makes them call her 'Your Highness'!

"She actually had the nerve to say that all the money they've given her was their way of paying their respects!"

The crowd erupted in boos.

Vanessa grabbed the dog leash and held the other end out to Adrian. "Adrian, why don't you make her crawl down this red carpet yourself? Maybe that'll finally teach her where she stands. She needs to understand that she's nothing compared to the Sterling family."

Adrian finally reached out and took the leash.

The crowd went wild. Some people started shouting for me to crawl. Others aimed their phones at my face, waiting to capture the moment the Sterling brothers humiliated me in front of everyone.

Vanessa came over and gave me a look of fake sympathy. "Bit late for regrets now, isn't it? Did you really think sleeping with a few rich guys meant you could push the Sterling family around?"

I ignored her. I just watched as Adrian walked toward me.

He didn't tug on the leash. Instead, he crouched down and carefully unfastened the metal collar around my neck.

Then he took off the sign that read "Campus Gold Digger of the Year" and helped me to my feet.

The courtyard slowly went quiet.

Vanessa frowned. "Adrian, you've got it wrong. She's a gold digger!"

Adrian tossed the leash into the dog bowl. He looked down at my injured knees, then spoke so quietly I could barely hear him.

"I'm sorry."

Vanessa immediately cut in. "Why are you apologizing to her? She's been scamming all four of you!"

Adrian ignored her. He turned to his three brothers, who were still standing a short distance away. "What are you waiting for?"

Blake was the first to come over. Caleb joined him, carefully holding the broken pieces of the pendant in both hands. Dylan's eyes were already red-rimmed.

The four Sterling brothers, who usually acted like they owned the place, stood in a neat row before me as the entire university watched.

Then they all bowed their heads at the same time. "Hello, Great-Aunt Emily."