Chapter 2

Brandon stormed forward and raised his hand to slap me. I sidestepped and grabbed his wrist.

"Brandon, you really think you're tough now? You lay a finger on me today, and the consequences aren't something the Cooper family's second son can afford."

Brandon's expression shifted, something like humiliation crossing his face. "You…"

I used to love Brandon's looks and that stubborn streak of his. When we were together, I'd always go along with whatever he wanted and smooth things over. Hitting him where it hurt this directly was clearly more than he could handle.

But there was nothing he could do about it. His family's company still depended on mine for business, so he couldn't afford to burn that bridge. Brandon was so furious a vein throbbed at his temple, but all he could do was yank his hand free.

"Nicole, watch your mouth!"

I put on a look of mild surprise. "What did I say wrong? Isn't it the truth?"

A few classmates jumped in with nervous laughs to break the tension.

"Come on, why are you two fighting? It's Lacey's party. Don't do this."

"Yeah, Nicole, calm down. You've always had such a temper."

"But actually, how did Lacey suddenly have this kind of money? I know the Dixon family treats her well, but…"

But she wasn't actually family. The classmate who'd spoken seemed to realize she'd said too much and quickly shut up.

Lacey had recovered by then, and her eyes turned red at the question. "No, no, it's not the Dixons' money. After exams ended, I got a job working for Bran. The whole time I was at the Coopers' company, I was the first one in and the last one out every day.

"Bran felt sorry for me and gave me a decent salary. Everyone at school helped me so much back then. I just wanted to give a little something back."

By the end of it, tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she turned the blame straight on me. "Nicole, there's really nothing going on between Bran and me. How could you say something like that about me?"

Her heartfelt little speech had even our homeroom teacher, Max Coleman, tearing up. "You've always been the most responsible kid in the class, and now you're showing gratitude on top of it. That's really something."

The class president, Jordan Burk, chimed in right after, "Isn't that right, Mr. Coleman? Some people can have all the money in the world and still not measure up to someone who earned every penny on her own."

The tide turned instantly, and the way everyone looked at me changed.

"Isn't Nicole being kind of aggressive?"

"Just because her family's rich, she can bully people like that? Lacey earned every cent she has on her own!"

"So, being rich means you're above the rest of us? She didn't come here to celebrate. She came here to start something."

I kept my expression cold and acted like I hadn't heard any of it.

Brandon gently patted Lacey's back and shot me a cold look. "Lacey, let's go. Don't waste your time on this psycho."

The two of them didn't spare me another glance and focused on smoothing things over with the guests and the teacher. Brandon stayed by Lacey's side the entire time, pouring her drinks and taking shots on her behalf.

Whenever she dabbed at her eyes, he was right there handing her a tissue. Every gesture was natural and intimate. They were obviously a couple.

That was when Jordan piped up again, seemingly on purpose, "Brandon, you're really going all out taking drinks for our Lacey. What's the deal between you two?"

Lacey blushed and denied it immediately, "Oh, stop. Don't say things like that."

"Bran's just a nice guy helping out. There's nothing between us."

But Brandon never denied it. If anything, he stepped half a step closer to her. "I've always thought of Lacey as my closest little sister. Taking drinks for my sister is the least I can do."

None of the waitstaff had come to seat me, but I didn't care. I found an empty chair and sat down on my own. Watching Brandon's little performance, I stood right back up and clapped my hands.

"Great! What a wonderful 'sister.' Lacey, this graduation party turned out really nice! Congratulations!"

The sound drew everyone's attention. I made a show of thinking it over.

"Lacey practically grew up under the Dixon family's roof, and today, she's finally graduating. I'm happy for her. I got a little carried away earlier and caused some drama, and I'm sorry about that.

"So how about this? My treat—a car for every single person here to celebrate graduation! As long as each one stays under 100,000 dollars, I'll cover it. Consider it a graduation gift!"

The room erupted.

I immediately put on a troubled expression and turned to Lacey. "But would you mind if I charged it to your card first? I left in such a rush today that I forgot my Black card. I heard you made pretty good money working on that project with Brandon, so you could front me the cash, right?"

Lacey knew I was doing this to humiliate her on purpose. But since it was technically "my card" anyway, she only thought about it for a second before nodding.

"Of course. It's no trouble at all."