The Poorest Rich Girl

My boyfriend's childhood friend had set her sights on the one keepsake my mother left me. She wheedled and needled at me for weeks, but I never gave in. A few months later, my boyfriend came to me again, saying his business had failed and left him buried in loan-shark debt. He said that if he couldn't pay it back, the collectors would cut off his limbs. To help him settle it, I handed over every cent I'd saved, even my mother's bracelet. That same night, while I was working at the club, I overheard a conversation in one of the private booths. "Eric, if it weren't for Donna's idea to have the rest of us play loan sharks and put on this whole act with you, there's no way your girlfriend would've handed over that bracelet she'd been hiding away." Eric laughed, pleased with himself, and downed the wine in his glass. "It's just a busted old bracelet. Donna wants it, so of course I'll find a way to get it for her. "Now help me think of something else. What's the next test for Liv?" So this was it. Everything I'd given up for him over five years of loving him had just been one long test. His so-called loan-shark debt had only ever been a scheme he'd written and directed himself. I turned and walked out of the club, and called the wealthiest man in the country, the father I'd been too stubborn to speak to for years. "Dad, I lost. I'll marry the man you picked out for me." Chapter 1 I'd just hung up with my father when I spotted Donna Gibbs stepping out of a luxury car up ahead. Eric Kramer came out of the club a moment later and pulled her into a smiling embrace. They exchanged a few whispered words before reluctantly letting go of each other. His gaze drifted over without meaning to and caught mine, and he found nothing but bitterness and resentment staring back at him. Thrown off guard, he hurried over to me. "What are you doing here?" Before I could answer, Donna reached up and swept her hair back on purpose, letting the bracelet my mother had left me catch the light on her wrist. Eric saw how much it bothered me, but he kept his expression perfectly steady as he slid an arm around my shoulders. "Donna's always loved this bracelet, and out of respect for me, she paid a small fortune for it. You should be thanking her." Thanking her. That was rich. Eric was the one who'd talked me out of the bracelet in the first place, and she'd gotten it for nothing, yet somehow I was the one supposed to be grateful. What a ridiculous lie, and what a convincing performance. He'd fooled me for five whole years. Now that I finally saw him for what he really was, I felt something like relief. I was done pretending. "I'm sorry, but the bracelet's not for sale. Give it back to me. Now." Before I even finished, Donna burst out laughing. She looked me up and down, and the moment her eyes landed on my work badge from the club, her contempt showed without any attempt to hide it. "Give it back? Sure, but this bracelet cost me three million dollars. How much wine would you have to sell to pay that off?" Three million dollars. She had some nerve. All I wanted was my mother's bracelet back. Worst case, I'd chalk the money up to a hard lesson learned. I opened my mouth to say so, but Eric cut in first, backing her up and turning the blame on me. "I already used the money from selling that bracelet, and now you want it back? "You're a cocktail waitress. How long do you think it'll take you to pay for it?" He looked down on me completely, that much was clear. He seemed to have already forgotten that for the five years we'd been together, he'd been living off the money I earned pouring drinks the whole time. I gave a bitter laugh. "I can settle it. Tomorrow at the latest. If you're worried, I'll put it in writing. Now give me back the bracelet." That only made them laugh harder, Donna especially, laughing so hard she nearly collapsed against Eric. "You're awfully eager to get it back. Don't tell me it's a fake, and you're scared I'll find out and call the police." Chapter 2 "You're trying to swindle me? Just so you know, my family runs the largest emerald business in the country." The Gibbs family with the emerald business empire? Wasn't that the very family my father had picked out for me to marry into? Before I could think it through, Donna pulled the bracelet off with obvious distaste and held it up in front of me. I reached for it, but she stepped back and pulled it out of my grasp. For one dazed second, I didn't understand what was happening, and then I saw her fling the bracelet straight at me. "It's just a fake. If you want it back that badly, here, take it. Don't forget, you still owe me three million dollars." I watched, helpless, as the bracelet fell, watched the triumphant smile spread across Donna's face. I lunged for it the instant it left her hand, but I was too slow, and the crisp sound of it shattering rang out anyway. I dropped to my knees, and the shards cut into them. Blood welled up almost as fast as my tears did. That bracelet was the token of love my father had given my mother all those years ago. She'd treasured it her whole life and only taken it off right before she died, to pass it on to me. Now it was destroyed, and it was my fault. I really did deserve this. I knelt there, crying too hard to make a sound. I don't know how much time passed before Eric hauled me up off the ground. "It's just a fake bracelet. Is it really worth all this? Worst case, I'll buy you another fake one. It's not like it costs much. You'd be better off spending all that crying time figuring out how you're going to pay Donna back." Money, money, money. That was all he ever cared about. He didn't actually care about the money at all, not really. He just used it as an excuse, some absurd scheme to back me into a corner. I wrenched my hand out of his grip and crouched down, carefully gathering up the broken pieces of the bracelet. Only after I'd picked up the very last shard did I finally look up at him, my eyes rimmed red. "Eric, I have nothing left. Haven't you had enough?" He froze, confusion creasing his brow, as if he genuinely didn't understand what I meant. But I wasn't interested in giving him another chance. "Let's break up." I saw Donna's eyes light up, delight flooding her face at once. No wonder she'd been the one feeding Eric ideas on how to mess with me, to deceive me. She'd wanted me to give up and walk away all along. Eric went rigid, clearly not expecting me to be the one to bring up breaking up. After all, in his mind, I was supposed to do everything in my power to pay off his debt for him, because I loved him that much. I'd even worked as a cocktail waitress for his sake, supporting him for five years. What else was there that I wouldn't do for him? "Liv, you're breaking up with me? "So this is how it is. The second things get hard, everyone scatters. You're leaving me right when I need you most. "I really misjudged you. You've been looking down on me this whole time, haven't you?" With that, he stormed off, dragging Donna along with him. I watched his back as he left and understood exactly what he was doing: trying to force me into backing down. I'd said it before. I would never abandon him just because he had no money, and I would never leave him the moment things got hard for him. I wiped my tears away and turned back toward the club. I'd only ever taken the job pouring drinks there to support Eric. Now that we'd broken up, there was no reason to keep working there. I was going back to the Camerons anyway. When the floor manager heard I was quitting, she stared at me like she couldn't believe it. "Liv, so you actually passed the boss's test? You really did have it rough. The boss sent all those rich boys to grope you and try to tempt you with money, and you still made it through. That's not easy." I frowned. There was too much in that to process all at once. What did she mean, sent rich boys to grope me and try to tempt me with money? And what exactly did she mean by the boss's test? Chapter 3 "The boss?" Seeing my blank expression, the floor manager looked confused too. "The boss is Mr. Kramer. He's the one who set you up selling drinks in the first place. Still, you came out the other side of it, and he definitely won't shortchange you now." Only then did it finally click. Five years ago, I'd refused the marriage my father had arranged for me and stormed out of the Cameron house on my own, out of spite. That same act of running away was how I'd met Eric Kramer. He thought I was a country girl who'd fled an arranged marriage because her family had worked her to the bone. I thought he was a down-on-his-luck nobody who hadn't caught a single break. We decided to build something together and make it big together. The first time he told me he needed startup capital, he had me quit my nine-to-five job and got me a spot pouring drinks at the club instead. He said the commission was excellent, that if I put in the effort, I'd make two or three times what a normal job paid. I believed him. Every day, I lowered myself to flatter customers and put up with their wandering hands, while he spent his days and nights burning through money, all in the name of "networking" for the business. "It really was a bit much, what Eric put you through. Some of the rich boys who used to hang around with him would even pretend to be customers sometimes, just to grope you. "It was all because Eric was worried you couldn't resist temptation. Making it through that test, that's a small miracle in itself." Making it through the test. A small miracle. How ironic. The person who'd dragged me through four miserable years was Eric. The person who'd stood by and watched me get groped was Eric. The person who'd had his friends pretend to be customers just to toy with me, to manufacture my misery, that was Eric too. He knew perfectly well that I sometimes let customers pour drink after drink down my throat for the money, until my stomach bled. And still, he'd sit there in his private booth at the club with his pack of good-for-nothing friends, watching them string me along like a puppet. Just thinking about it, I nearly laughed until I cried. I turned to leave, the floor manager still calling after me. I just pulled out my phone and called my father again. "Dad, I want to come home right now. Will you come get me?" I hadn't expected that he'd be away on a business trip overseas. "Don't worry, Liv. Just tell me where you are, and I'll send someone to pick you up." I'd just sent him my location when I heard a woman's mocking voice behind me. "If it isn't the cocktail waitress, Liv Cameron. Instead of selling your wine, what are you doing standing around here like an idiot?" It was Donna. She stood there with her arms crossed, looking down her nose at me, raking me up and down with contempt before curling her lips into a smirk. "As it happens, our booth needs more wine. Go grab a few good bottles and bring them over. "Whether you can actually sell them or not, well, that's up to your luck." I could see the malice in her eyes and knew perfectly well they'd use buying wine as an excuse to make trouble for me. But I wasn't interested in being the Liv who let people push her around anymore, and I certainly wasn't going to keep worrying about their moods. I answered coldly. "I'm sorry, I've quit. If you want to buy wine, you'll have to find someone else." I turned to leave, only to be yanked back by a hand grabbing me from behind. Eric glared at me, his face furious. "Liv, you quit? Why didn't you talk to me about it first? You owe Donna money. Are you trying to skip out on the debt?" I owed Donna money? He had some nerve saying that out loud. The clearer I saw who Eric really was, the more I wondered just how blind I'd been through five years of living side by side with him. The friends trailing behind him started muttering snide little comments at me. "Owes someone money and now she's trying to quit and run." "Eric, man, your girlfriend is really something else." "A shameless woman like her doesn't even deserve Eric. Good thing he never made things official with her..." Chapter 4 One of Eric's friends nearly let something slip, and Eric cut him off fast. He still wanted to keep the act going, after all. I hadn't finished "paying back" that debt yet, as far as he was concerned. "What are you talking about? Liv's just scared she can't pay it back, that's all. "Liv, quit making a scene. You just quit your job. Even if I wanted to help cover part of it, there's no way you could pay it all back now." One breath it was him helping me pay off my debt, the next it was me owing someone else's money. I curled my lips into a bitter, absurd smile. I was about to speak when Donna grabbed my arm, playing the generous peacemaker. "It's not much money. I'm not exactly hurting for cash. Take your time paying it back, Liv. "Eric and I grew up together. If I hadn't spent five years abroad, who knows, we might already be married. "Since you're his girlfriend, though, I suppose I can buy a little extra wine from you. Consider it me looking out for him." There was a sour edge to her voice the whole time she said it. No wonder she had it out for me like this, even though we had no history between us. The second she finished talking, Donna had someone bring over the most expensive bottles in the club. I tried to walk away, but she held onto me so hard I couldn't break free. "I already told you, I quit, and I broke up with Eric. So who exactly owes who money here? Or does this debt not even exist in the first place? You all know the answer to that better than anyone." My words made everyone's expressions sour. Eric shot me a guilty look, and someone muttered that I was just making excuses not to pay. That seemed to snap something into place for him, and a thin, mocking look crept over his face. By then, the bottles had already arrived. Sure enough, they were the club's premium stock, each one worth several hundred thousand dollars. Donna ignored everything I'd said and pointed at one of them. "Here's how it'll work, Liv. You finish this bottle, and I'll buy it. If you can't finish the whole thing, though, don't expect me to pay a cent." Before I could even stop it, someone had already popped the cork with a loud crack. Donna kept a death grip on my hand, and a few of Eric's friends rushed over to pin me down. "Just drink it, Liv. You'll get your commission once you do. "Donna's the Gibbs heiress. She's not short on cash, but you can't just keep dodging what you owe forever. Once you pay it back, we can all get back to building something together." Eric said all of this without so much as a blush, without his pulse so much as ticking up. Shamelessness, on full and total display. I'd already given up hoping he'd say a single word in my defense. He was the one who'd caused me four years of misery, after all. "Eric, you're still putting on this act? Do you really think I don't know you own this club? "You think you're the only one who's been hiding who you really are? Don't forget, my last name is Cameron. "You don't know about the Cameron Group...?" Before I could finish, Donna had already jammed the mouth of the bottle between my lips. The sharp, burning liquid hit my throat and set off a fit of coughing. She grabbed a fistful of my hair, still not letting up, and snarled, "Oh, is that what you're trying to say? That you're the Cameron Group heiress? "She's the woman my brother's been pining after for years. Go take a good look at yourself before you say something like that. "You? Pretending to be a Cameron? As if." Unlike Donna's wild, unhinged behavior, Eric's face had gone pale. He'd just spotted a tall, broad-shouldered figure striding toward them with real menace in every step. He recognized this man. So did Donna, better than anyone. "Stop."