Chapter 4

Knowing she was in the wrong, Gina apologized again.

"I'm sorry, Suzanne. This one really is on me."

"But two million isn't nothing, and Harper pays on the spot. That's hard to say no to. I..."

Suzanne cut her off through gritted teeth. "Enough. I don't need your excuses. You'll toss out any shred of teamwork for a little money, and I don't want a partner like that."

Gina wasn't having it, and she pushed right back.

"Oh, and you've got teamwork? You only teamed up with me in the first place because I'm Harper's archnemesis and you wanted to use her as your foil.

"You act like you're so above it all, but you're in this industry same as the rest of us. Playing a sweet innocent character a few times doesn't make you one in real life.

"And another thing. Whether Harper's a real princess or a fake one is for me to decide, not you.

"You don't care for Harper's money, and that's fine. But has Harper ever actually used her money to humiliate you?

"You're not hurting for cash, so do us both a favor and stop mocking our choices."

I nodded, satisfied. "There's the old Gina I remember."

Suzanne's face flushed red.

The moment the words left her mouth, Gina clapped a hand over it, regretting them instantly.

She whispered anxiously, "Her eight backers are definitely going to swoop in now. Are you going to be okay? Maybe you should keep the two million and spend it on yourself instead."

I waved her off. "I'm not worried."

She'd always trusted me completely, and hearing that was all it took to put the confidence right back in her step.

A commotion rippled through the crowd.

Eight strikingly handsome men, every one of them well over six feet tall, came walking toward us.

The one leading the group was Leon Robbins.

Looking at their faces, I finally understood why they'd felt so familiar.

These were the same up-and-coming talents my father had been sponsoring for the past few years.

I'd occasionally heard him mention how sharp these particular men were. He'd known I wanted to break into show business and had even offered to have Cyrus Tilman, who was already in the industry, help me out.

I'd turned him down. I'd wanted to make it on my own.

Since I was set to inherit the family fortune one day, my father had shown me their photos before. I never forget a face, so I'd remembered every one of them.

My family had backed them heavily, and we held the largest stake of anyone in every one of their companies.

The moment the eight men saw Suzanne crying, they rushed over in a panic, crowding around her, fussing over her, trying to comfort her.

The comments practically gloated.

[Just wait, Harper's done for.]

[The last woman who messed with Suzanne got wiped out by these eight guys a long time ago.]

Leon pointed at me, his expression cold.

"You. Get on your knees and apologize to Suzanne, or I'll make sure you're blacklisted from this entire industry."

The comments went wild with excitement.

[Ha, finally!!! This is so satisfying to watch!]

[Poor Suzanne, she's been through so much.]

[Justice at last!]

I looked Leon over, unimpressed. "You'll blacklist me? You're not even in this industry."

Cyrus walked over. "Leon's like an older brother to me. Whatever he says goes."

His handsome face alone was nearly enough to crash the comment feed.

I nodded to myself. He really was good-looking. I'd actually seen a few of his shows.

Not bad.

Just not very bright.

Even with all my money, I'd never gone around throwing my weight around like this.

They'd only been rich for a few years and were already this arrogant?

Leon tipped his chin up, cold and condescending. "Harper McAvoy, is it? I'll give you three seconds to apologize to Suzanne."

When I still didn't move, he lifted a hand.

A swarm of bodyguards in suits and ties poured in and surrounded me.

Leon gave the order like it was nothing. "Deal with her. I don't want to see her here tomorrow."

Gina grabbed my arm, terrified.

I raised an eyebrow. I wasn't scared in the slightest.

"Leon, is this really how arrogant you are? Handling people out in the open like this? Do you have any concept of the law at all?"

Leon scoffed. "In Radley City, I answer to no one."

The next second, the bodyguards turned on their heels, planting themselves squarely between him and me. They were protecting me now.

I chuckled, pulled out my phone, and rattled off all eight names like I was reading a menu.

"Dad. Leon Robbins, Cyrus Tilman, and the other six. Liquidate everything under their names.

"Buy them out? No thanks. They're good-looking, sure, but I don't like any of them.

"So just let them go bankrupt."