Chapter two

ANAYA

He was the heir to the Vicenzo family. Then it clicked—the Vicenzo family was the same family my mother had worked for as a private chef when I was little, the family I had sworn to take revenge on and the reason I had spent six years living in disguise.

A cigarette rested between his fingers as I stood frozen among the crowd. I sighed when I remembered I had lectures, turning to leave just as his eyes darted toward me.

“You there!” he called. His gaze locked onto mine, and he lifted two fingers in my direction. 

I stopped, glancing around as I wondered if he was actually referring to me. I looked down at my clothes and instinctively checked my chest, wondering if there was any way he could have recognized me.

The last time we had met, I was fifteen and he was twenty, and he had always called me his little pet. Could he somehow remember me after all these years?

I turned around slowly, and the students were still gathered around us, their phones raised as if they had forgotten they were supposed to be attending lectures. I walked toward him with my gaze lowered, desperately hoping he wouldn't look too closely at me.

“Why are you acting like a girl?” Anthony asked, his voice carrying across the crowd. “Look me straight in the eyes.”

My heart thudded against my ribs as I forced myself to meet his gaze. “What is your name?” he asked.

“Brian,” I replied flatly, praying he would let me go. He studied me for a moment before a smirk appeared on his face.

“Ohhh, Pauper Brian.” His gaze shifted briefly toward the crowd. “The pauper my sister is crazy about.”

The crowd immediately erupted into whispers and some laughed, everyone eager for the latest piece of gossip. 

“Lisa is your sister?” someone finally asked.

Anthony grabbed the front of my hoodie and pulled me slightly closer. “And the pauper rejects my sister?” he said with a mocking laugh. “Imagine a beggar actually having a choice.”

Laughter erupted around us, and heat rushed to my face. Before I could respond, a familiar voice rang out from somewhere behind the crowd.

“Stop it, Anthony.” A familiar female voice cut through the crowd, sharp with irritation.

I turned and saw Lisa approaching us, her expression hardening as she pushed through the students. “You don't speak to my boyfriend like that.”

Boyfriend?

I stared at her in disbelief. “Me? Boyfriend?”

“He's mine, Anthony,” Lisa declared, stepping between us. “So don't disrespect him just because he's poor.”

She reached for my hand, holding it firmly as she looked at her brother. “Status means nothing when it comes to true love.”

The students around us started clapping, while others stood frozen in shock at the revelation. The hottest girl on campus was apparently the daughter of the feared and wealthy Vicenzo family, and Anthony Vicenzo was her brother.

This is all messed up.

The commotion had grown so loud that word eventually reached the university administration. Soon, a staff member announced that the university president was on his way, sending the students scattering toward their lecture halls.

I slipped away with them, desperate to put as much distance between myself and the Vicenzos as possible. The rest of the day passed in a blur because I couldn't concentrate with Anthony Vicenzo occupying every corner of my thoughts.

The Vicenzo family was the very family I had sworn to take revenge on, the family that had forced me to abandon my identity and disappear. Now I had somehow ended up caught between their daughter and their son.

I sighed and forced my thoughts away from six years ago.

When I returned to the men's dorm, I heard a woman's moans coming from inside. I opened the door, immediately realized Joseph wasn't alone, and dropped my bag before turning around and heading downstairs.

“What a bad day,” I muttered as I stepped outside. “I can't even have one day of peace.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to find a message from an unknown number.

There is a party at six. Meet me there. You can't say no.

I stared at the message, wondering who had sent it. My first thought was Lisa, so I shrugged it off and shoved my phone back into my pocket.

What else could she want after I'd already told her no? Six o'clock was only an hour away.

When I eventually returned to the dorm, Joseph was still occupied, leaving me with no choice but to enter quietly and head straight for the bathroom. I turned on the shower, hoping the noise would drown out everything happening outside.

“Can you guys just put it down?” I yelled, my manly voice almost slipping from frustration.

“Don't you want to know how it feels?” Joseph shouted back.

“Then fuck Lisa,” he fired back.

Silence.

When I finished bathing, I locked the bathroom door and carefully wrapped my chest before putting on my clothes. I pulled on a face cap and styled my hair to make my appearance as masculine as possible.

I checked myself in the mirror and nodded at my reflection, satisfied with how convincingly handsome Brian looked. I stepped out of the bathroom only to find the lady from earlier getting dressed and approaching me.

“I can give you a blowjob,” she said.

“I'm good, thanks,” I replied, stepping away from her. She brushed her hand against my trousers before her expression suddenly changed.

She frowned, looking confused, but thankfully didn't say anything. I hurried out of the room before she could embarrass me further.

I got to the road and flagged down a cab, giving the driver the location from the message. As the car pulled away from campus, I wondered who had sent it and why they sounded so certain I would come.

When I arrived, I looked around for Lisa.

She wasn't there.

Instead, someone I least expected was waiting for me.