004 Amber's Gross Game

“I can’t believe you actually did it! That was wild! Hector is going to be sooooo pissed!” Tanya shouts with loud laughter, and by instinct, I glance around nervously, even though there is no one around us.

“Don’t worry, I told Travis to close the rooftop bar for us today,” Tanya raises her cup, “cheers for your brilliant win!”

Tanya’s last name is Moore, as heavy a last name in the city as the Morgans and the Dunns. None of the rich kids in our circle likes me. None except Tanya. She is a total free spirit, with a big brother to take over the family throne and a big sister to take all the pressure from the parents, so she can just be the loser she is without any worry.

I’m a loser, too. So.

Travis Moore is her older brother, and the rooftop bar we are at is on the 30^th floor of the Spring Hotel, a five-star chain, and one of the most valuable assets of the Moores.

“I’m not trying to win anything...” I sigh, gulping down my drink and feeling my shame burn off a little by the spice of the tequila.

I could never win with Hector. He owned me, and we both knew it.

On my 15^th birthday, some of the rich brats lured me into a dark basement with my cat -- my only friend I took to the Morgans from my switched mom, and locked me in there. I shouted and cried and panicked in there for hours, but nothing worked, like always.

Hector opened the door for me. I dashed out, only to see him holding my cat’s cold body in his arms.

My cat died that day.

But Hector filled my world that was left empty.

He buried Fluffy with me. He comforted me as I cried my heart out on his shoulder. And after that day, never did a bully ever bother me again.

Hector was their king.

The Dunn Empire holds the real estate of the city in its grasp. Even in the same circle, their wealth and power are not easily matched.

“I asked Travis to find Hector’s sorry ass!” Tanya waves her cup as if it’s a scepter, “I have some serious questions that he needs to answer for!”

Tanya talks big, but she can’t act on it even if she wanted to.

The family power aside, Hector is not a man to be trifled with. He is not just any heir of a rich family. He got into the family business early, and is known for his iron wrist in business. No one in the circle, actually, in the whole city, dares to cross him.

Not to mention, Travis is Hector’s best friend, and of all people, he hates me for daring to lust after their king the most.

In their eyes, I’m a thief.

My switched mom found her real daughter first. Amber Morgan. My switched sister. Mom wanted to switch us back, but the Morgans didn’t want to give up the daughter they had loved and nurtured for years. Instead, they persuaded my mom to give me back for money.

She did. She handed me over while I cried my lungs out.

I have never heard from Mom again.

That year, the Morgans got an extra daughter, and worrying that the truth that Amber was not their real daughter would traumatize her, they chose to announce me as adopted instead.

The thief princess, the kids called me.

In the summer in the 13^th year of my life, I lost my mom, my home, basically, my whole world. I came to the Morgans with only my cat in my arms, having no one. And the Morgans were on the front page, praised for adopting a 13-year-old who lost both her parents.

So in Travis’s eyes, I AM a thief.

I stole Amber’s parents from her, I stole a rich princess’s life that didn’t belong to me, and I stole their king’s attention when an ignorant girl from a poor household didn’t deserve to.

Tanya’s phone beeps.

She grabs it, only to freeze with a horrified look before she shoots me a worried glance.

“What? Travis found Hector?” I ask.

Hector was my whole world, and if there is anything that Tanya would worry about letting me know, it’s news about him.

“Hmm...no...I mean, I don’t know if it matters...I mean, I’m sure Hector had his reason to miss the wedding, and he will make it up to you for sure--” Tanya panics with gibberish, her phone slipping between her long, useless nails that she paid 300$ for.

“I know he is with Amber,” I say calmly, and Tanya’s jaw drops to the ground along with her phone.

I work for Hector’s company, and I know no “emergency” from the company could pull him away like that. He might not care about me, but he has a father to please with his good public image.

Abandoning his bride, a Morgan no less, does not paint him a good public image.

And yet, our parents not only allowed it, but they left early, too.

There is only one explanation: The REAL princess of the Morgan.

But none of these was how I knew--

Not too long before I got Hector’s message this morning, there was another one from an unknown number, and it had one line--

[Happy wedding day]

No name, no number, no nothing. But I knew it was Amber. Bullying me and then letting me know what she did in a way that leaves no traces -- It’s Amber’s M.O..

I didn’t want to play her gross game, but she had never given me a choice. I couldn’t expose her, and there wasn’t any eye that cared to see. I could only wait for Hector’s decision, and watch him make me lose to her, just as always.