The Heiress Behind the Mask

At the most famous rich-girl’s birthday party on campus, a nearly thousand-dollar Black Swan cake sat untouched on display while the hottest band in town sang her happy birthday. The rich girl asked if I had never seen such an extravagant event before. I shrugged. “It’s fine.” That was enough for her followers to start ostracizing me. Her fans, watching the livestream, launched a full-scale cyberbullying campaign. They called me a judgmental nobody who could only afford to wear rags. I curled my lips and had my butler dig up every lie and scandal hidden behind her perfect public image. The rich girl refused to back down. She used every connection she had to investigate me, determined to drag us both into the mud. In the end, she fell to her knees, clutching the hem of my dress and crying her heart out. She begged the heiress of a billionaire family—me—for forgiveness. Chloe Sterling was the most famous rich girl on campus. She was also an influencer with more than a million followers. It was her birthday, so she invited every freshman in our year to her family’s villa to celebrate with her. Chloe had ordered a nearly thousand-dollar Black Swan cake, but she never cut it or shared it with anyone. I wasn’t surprised. That was the common disease of influencers. Real food was only meant to be eaten by the camera. There was also a live band performing at the party. Chloe claimed they were close friends of hers. I didn’t recognize them, but my classmates said they were one of the hottest groups around. Personally, I thought the female singer’s voice was weaker than a country star’s, and the male singer had less rhythm than a backup dancer. They were like a bargain-bin version of a famous pop duo. Not exactly impressive. I gave Chloe a Chanel perfume as her birthday present. The corner of her mouth lifted. “Amanda, your family isn’t well-off, and you’re not wearing a single designer logo. Why did you buy me something this expensive?” She wasn’t wrong. Nothing I wore had a logo—not my clothes, not my shoes. That was because everything had been custom-made for me. But after spending all of high school surrounded by people with ulterior motives, I had decided to keep my identity hidden in college. I didn’t want to explain myself to anyone. Besides, it was only a bottle of perfume. “It wasn’t that expensive,” I replied modestly. Brooke Harper covered her mouth and giggled. “That bottle probably cost more than your entire monthly allowance. And you’re still pretending it’s cheap?” Brooke considered herself Chloe’s best friend. Everyone with eyes knew Chloe only treated her like a lackey. Chloe lightly patted Brooke’s arm and scolded her in a soft voice. “Don’t say that. We’re classmates. Don’t embarrass Amanda.” Then she turned to me. “Amanda, you probably don’t get to attend events like this very often. Go ahead and try whatever desserts you like. My family’s pastry chefs made all of them.” Brooke immediately chimed in. “Chloe’s pastry chefs are Michelin-level. You really lucked out today.” I answered honestly. “I tried one earlier, but there was too much vanilla in the cream. It made the dessert overly sweet and heavy. I couldn’t finish another one.” Chloe’s expression stiffened. Anger flashed clearly in her eyes, but she forced herself to remain composed. Brooke, however, acted as if she were furious on Chloe’s behalf. Her voice shot up several octaves. “You hillbilly! If you’ve never tasted anything high-end, don’t pretend to have an opinion. Who are you trying to impress? Even if you worked your entire life after graduation, you probably wouldn’t earn as much as Chloe had the moment she was born!” Chloe soothed Brooke, who was practically foaming at the mouth, then raised an eyebrow at me. “Amanda, I assume you’ve never seen an event this grand before. Were you overwhelmed by all the luxury? Is that why you said something so inappropriate?” To be honest, Chloe’s birthday party looked more like an influencer’s content shoot than anything luxurious. But it was her birthday, and I didn’t want to ruin it for her. So I forced myself to offer one last polite comment. “It’s fine. Moderately luxurious.” Brooke suddenly shoved me by the shoulder. “You’re just bitter because you can’t have any!” Chloe’s birthday party was set up beside the villa’s pool. I stumbled sideways and nearly fell into the water. My reflexes were quick. I twisted away and used Brooke’s momentum to regain my balance. Brooke, however, was thrown off balance by the recoil and fell straight into the pool.The pool wasn’t deep, and it was filled with the inflatable unicorns influencers loved so much. Brooke couldn’t swim. After flailing in panic, she scrambled onto one of the unicorn floats. With her terrified expression, soaked clothes, and pink unicorn beneath her, she looked both pitiful and ridiculous. But before I had time to laugh, a pair of strong arms seized me. “Why did you push Brooke? Don’t you know she’s Chloe’s best friend?” It was Jake Dawson, one of Chloe’s most devoted worshippers. “Are you blind? Brooke pushed me. She was the one who fell in.” Even though I was speechless, I patiently explained what had happened. Chloe quickly spoke up too—not to us, but to the cameraman livestreaming the birthday party beside her. “Babies, I’m so sorry. I never expected something like this to happen at my birthday party. I only wanted to spend this important day with all of you and share my happiness with you, but someone had to ruin it…” She lowered her eyes sadly. “I’m really sorry, babies.” What? Someone had ruined it? Technically, she was probably referring to Brooke. So why was everyone looking at me and whispering? “Amanda, please leave. You’re not welcome at my birthday party.” Chloe’s words were so ridiculous I almost laughed. We weren’t close to begin with. She had invited every freshman, and I didn’t want to seem antisocial, so I had turned down an invitation to a friend’s movie premiere and come to her party instead. I had gone along with everything. And now she was saying I wasn’t welcome? “Chloe, I’ll say this one last time. Brooke deliberately pushed me. Your villa must have security cameras. Check the footage, and the truth will be obvious.” Chloe let out a quiet laugh but didn’t answer. Fine. I understood. She didn’t believe me, and she had no intention of checking the cameras. It didn’t matter. I had never wanted to be friends with any of them. “Chloe, if you’re as blind as Jake and you don’t even want to investigate, then I have nothing else to say. Don’t invite me to your birthday party again. I absolutely won’t make time to come a second time.” The moment I finished speaking, I heard laughter and whispers from the crowd. I couldn’t be bothered to care. Mr. Hayes had driven me to the villa and stayed nearby, waiting for me. There was no reason to make him wait any longer. When I left the party and got into the Maybach, Mr. Hayes immediately noticed that something was wrong. “Miss Bennett, did something unpleasant happen? Would you like me to deal with it?” I still wanted the same thing: a quiet college life. I shook my head. “Not for now.” It wasn’t until I went to campus the next day that I realized things were far worse than I had imagined.I wasn’t surprised when my classmates started pointing and whispering at me. After all, I had publicly “offended” Chloe Sterling, the most famous girl in our year. Brooke came strutting toward me with a smug smile. “Well, well. If it isn’t the judgmental nobody who can only wear rags.” I glanced around before realizing she was talking to me. Then I looked down at my clothes. They were custom-made by one of the finest designers in the country. I genuinely had no idea which part of them Brooke considered “rags.” “Brooke, it’s too early in the morning for you to bring this kind of bad energy.” I wanted a peaceful college life, but that didn’t mean I would turn the other cheek whenever someone came looking for trouble. “Oh, listen to that poor-person accent. You’re making the entire classroom smell cheap.” Then Brooke raised her phone and began reading aloud. “Where did this hillbilly come from? How dare she mock Chloe’s birthday party?” “Chloe is beautiful, wealthy, and a top student at one of the best schools in the country. That judgmental nobody is obviously just jealous.” I snatched the phone from her hand. The livestream from the previous night had been recorded, edited, and reposted. The two-minute video made me look like a vicious girl who had relentlessly insulted Chloe and shoved Brooke into the pool. Every clip showing Brooke attacking me had been removed. So had every moment proving I had only defended myself. I almost laughed. Apparently, I was finally getting the full cyberbullying experience. “Amanda, it’s not just our year anymore. More than a million people online know how cheap and unreasonable you are. Are you scared now?” I ignored Brooke and lowered my head to send Mr. Hayes a message. [Find a way to delete the video about me online. Do not reveal my identity.] Chloe saw me staring silently at my phone and smiled. “Amanda, I’m really sorry. I do have some influence online, and the party was livestreamed. Unfortunately, there are always unreasonable viewers who spread things around. Even if I wanted to protect you, there was nothing I could do.” Wow. The smell of fake innocence was overwhelming. “Chloe, if you really want to comfort me, you should at least try to hide your smile.” Before Chloe could change her expression, she received a phone call. Her face froze. She hung up and forced out an awkward smile. “Amanda, we’re still classmates, after all. I’ve taken down the replay from last night. And the person who edited the video must have seen my request and deleted it too.”Mr. Hayes had acted as quickly as always. As for Chloe’s carefully crafted image, it was making me sick. “You don’t have to pretend in front of me, Chloe. We both know why the video was taken down.” She studied me suspiciously, but before she could say anything, Professor Grant entered the classroom. Ten minutes into the lecture, I sneezed. Professor Grant immediately looked displeased. “Amanda, do you understand what it means to respect your professor?” I stared at him. Was sneezing now considered disrespectful? “Amanda, what are you waiting for? Go stand over there!” Laughter echoed through the lecture hall. This was a college classroom. Professor Grant was actually ordering me to stand in the corner for no reason at all. “Achoo!” Chloe covered her mouth and sneezed. “Professor Grant, I’m sorry. I caught a chill yesterday.” But as she spoke, her eyes stayed fixed on me. The challenge in them was unmistakable. Professor Grant didn’t punish Chloe. Instead, he looked concerned. “Are you feeling unwell, Chloe? If you’re sick, you can take the day off. You don’t have to push yourself.” I stood up and questioned him in front of everyone. “Professor Grant, we both sneezed once. Isn’t this a little too obvious?” By then, I understood that the people on campus trying to please Chloe weren’t limited to the students. Even professors were part of her fan club. Professor Grant sneered. “Chloe is a Sterling heiress. Naturally, she’s more delicate than ordinary people. Catching a cold is perfectly normal for her. You, on the other hand, look strong enough to work in the fields all day. Your sneeze was obviously deliberate!” The flesh on Professor Grant’s face shook as he spoke. I felt sick. “You’ve really opened my eyes, Professor Grant. I never knew illness was a privilege reserved for rich people.” I didn’t want to argue with him. I went straight to the point. “If you insist on handling this unfairly, you’ll be out of a job tomorrow.” The laughter from the students grew louder. Professor Grant laughed too. “Get out! Go stand outside the classroom right now!” He had been given a chance to back down, but he refused to take it. There was nothing I could do. I turned and left the lecture hall. Of course, I didn’t go stand outside. I went straight to the cafeteria to get lunch. While eating, I called Mr. Hayes. This time, he moved even faster.Professor Grant was fired that afternoon. I had once again asked Mr. Hayes to handle everything quietly, but somehow, rumors about me still spread across campus. Everyone said I had written an anonymous report to the dean, falsely accused Professor Grant, and gotten him fired. Now I wasn’t only a delusional, jealous nobody. I was also a snitch. The students ostracized me, but that actually brought me closer to my goal of having a quiet college life. Unfortunately, after only a few peaceful days, I realized I was being followed one evening as I left the library. I pretended not to notice. In fact, I cooperated with the person following me and allowed him to complete the entire kidnapping process. When he took me to an abandoned garden on campus and removed my blindfold, I confirmed that the person who had kidnapped me was Jake. Chloe and Brooke were standing beside him. I wasn’t surprised in the slightest. “Were you three really so eager to go to prison?” I couldn’t understand how three educated college students from one of the country’s top schools could commit kidnapping. “Stop talking! You’re in no position to mock us!” Jake finished speaking and turned to Chloe with a heroic expression. “I did all of this myself. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility.” Chloe smiled shyly but said nothing. Brooke, however, spoke up. “There aren’t any cameras around here. As long as the three of us keep quiet, no one will know. As for Amanda… Let her report us tomorrow. I’d like to see whether anyone at this huge school will even listen to her.” For someone who was only Chloe’s lackey, Brooke certainly sounded confident. Finally, Chloe spoke. “Amanda, even though you deliberately ruined my birthday party, I didn’t want to hold it against you because we’re classmates. But then you maliciously framed Professor Grant. That was too much.” It was laughable. “You just wanted revenge because I embarrassed you at your birthday party. And you still needed a noble excuse to attack me?” Jake’s face turned red with fury when I insulted his goddess. “You’re about to learn what happens when you refuse to admit reality.” He gathered his strength and threw a punch at me. The three of them had been far too confident. They had only tied one rope around my wrists. I easily twisted aside and dodged Jake’s fist. He missed, which only made him angrier. He charged at me again. Bang! My fist slammed into his face.