Villainized Sponsor: I Canceled Every Scholarship

"And don't think we're playing favorites," Mom said, in the patient, reasonable voice she saved for me. "You lived out in the country for all those years. The Sterlings are so far above us. It wouldn't suit you."

Then she registered what I'd just said.

Her eyes widened.

"Wait. You agreed to marry him?"

I nodded obediently.

Dad looked just as stunned.

"You're not going to fight Ava for the Sterling engagement?"

I answered like the sensible daughter they'd always wanted.

"No. I'm the older sister and she's the younger one. I shouldn't have been fighting her for anything in the first place."

The two of them let out a long breath.

They'd clearly braced for me to tear the house down the way I always had.

Ever since I'd been found and brought home, we'd fought constantly. Little arguments every few days, screaming matches every week, and every one of them was me measuring myself against Ava.

If my allowance wasn't enough, I fought about it.

If my room was bad, I fought about it.

If there was nothing I liked on the dinner table, I fought about that too.

Mom and Dad told me to be the bigger person, over and over, until they finally just sighed and said I thought too highly of myself.

What nobody let themselves remember was that Ava's allowance was five thousand dollars a month.

Mine was fifty.

Ava had the master suite with the best light in the house. I had the empty housekeeper's room on the first floor.

The table was buried in seafood every night because Ava loved it, and I have a severe seafood allergy.

Every fight, every scene, all I'd ever wanted was for them to be a little fair. I'd never once wanted to take something of Ava's.

But now I'd changed my mind.

The floating comments called me the villain. They said I grabbed at everything.

Fine. This time I'd grab something worth having, and let them all watch.

The comments were still scrolling like mad.

[She said yes! The villain actually said yes! Has she lost it? She's coming for our hero now?]

[It's fine, it's fine. He doesn't love her. She'll marry him and rot in that house alone. The second he finds out the truth he'll drop her.]

[Everybody watch. The hero's about to walk in, and he'll know right away that our girl is the one he's meant to have.]

I followed the comments' cue and looked toward the door.

Sure enough, the butler was showing a young man in.

His shirt had been washed so many times it had gone white. The cuffs were frayed. His trousers ran a little short, showing his ankles.

But his face was almost unfair.

Deep-set features, a high brow, a back held perfectly straight. There was a quiet, well-bred elegance in him that the clothes couldn't explain.

"Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster. My name's Luke Hayes. I'm Sophie's boyfriend."

The comments boiled over.

[Oh my God, he's gorgeous! He and our girl were made for each other!]

[This is killing me. His real name is Sebastian Sterling. He only changed it to hide who he is. Don't actually believe he's a scholarship kid!]

[Tell him! Tell him you're the one he was talking to, not Sophie!]

However frantic they got, Ava couldn't see a word of it.

Mom moved Ava behind her and pointed at me, a little nervous now.

"Luke, right? Sophie's over there."

When Luke turned to look at me, the comments started wailing.

[It's over. He recognized the face from the photos. He has no idea the girl he was talking to is standing right here!]

[Have faith in him. He's brilliant, he'll figure it out. Our girl is so good, he'll see the villain isn't the one he loves!]

[Right. He's not shallow enough to fall for a face. He only loves our girl.]

But I was looking at the red creeping up Luke's ears, and I raised an eyebrow.

The comments were doing an extraordinary amount of wishful thinking.

Because from where I stood, this so-called hero looked a great deal like a man who was in love with my face.