Chapter 3She Runs the World on Money

Gina had been keeping an eye on me the whole time.

The second she spotted a crowd gathering around me, she snuck over to listen in.

She caught me offering one million a head.

She came racing over. "Harper, how could you forget to humiliate me? This is outrageous."

I patted her on the head. "Fine, you can direct the operation. Two million for you."

Gina's eyes lit right up.

She was starting to look at me with something dangerously close to loyalty.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You know, Gina, I still miss the old you. Wild and unbothered by anyone."

She scampered off happily to start directing.

When I'd first met Gina, she'd looked down on someone like me, a princess who'd bought her way onto set.

She'd told me to my face that spoiled brats like me had no business trying to break into show business.

She hadn't been wrong. I just loved being a star too much to care.

I'd tossed her a hundred thousand dollars and told her to apologize.

She'd apologized on the spot.

I only found out later that she'd been desperate for money. Her mother was seriously ill, which was why she'd been taking on role after role like her life depended on it. That hundred thousand dollars had bought her a little room to breathe.

Suzanne turned around and realized Gina was gone.

The people who used to drop by occasionally to help her had all gone off to build my shelter instead.

My pace had blown right past her team's, and I ended up finishing first.

Suzanne stubbornly kept her eyes red and her head down, working through it alone.

When Gina came back, Suzanne choked out, stubborn to the last, "If you're going to pick Harper's side, why even bother coming back here?"

Gina didn't hold back. "Over there, it's one million a head, and I'm getting two for directing. I..."

Suzanne turned her head away and cut her off. "Money, money, money. That's all you ever think about. Aren't you supposed to be Harper's archnemesis? Why would you cave for a little cash?

"If money's all it takes to make you fold, then you're not my partner anymore. I can finish this shelter on my own just fine."

Suzanne cut Gina loose without another word.

Gina, knowing she genuinely had it coming, apologized to Suzanne, then trotted happily back over to join my team.

She never noticed Suzanne slip off to a corner to cry.

The production crew made sure to catch every second of it on camera.

The comments went wild.

[Gina is such trash!]

[Can somebody dig up where Harper's money is even coming from?]

[I tried. There's nothing. Zero information on her anywhere.]

[Guess she's such a washed-up nobody there isn't even a record of her.]

[If she's this loaded, why is she even bothering with show business? This has to be a fake persona.]

The production team announced that I'd won the hot meal.

Nobody said a word.

The comments exploded, insisting it shouldn't count since I hadn't built anything myself.

Suzanne, who'd never taken so much as a scrap of criticism since her debut, went straight on the attack.

"I don't accept that. My team finished slower, sure, but we still came in second.

"Harper only finished first because a whole crowd of people helped her. She never lifted a finger the entire time."

I stopped fanning myself and tossed the fan to Gina.

"The rules only said to try to build it yourselves as much as possible," I said lightly. "They never said it was mandatory.

"Besides, I paid for it. I hired them to build my shelter for me. I don't see the problem."

Suzanne glared at the others, furious that I was talking my way out of it.

Too bad for her, they'd all genuinely taken my money.

Once you've taken someone's cash, it's hard to talk back to them.

Every one of them chose to keep quiet.

Suzanne turned to look at Gina.

Gina was happily fanning me.

Suzanne stomped her foot. "Gina, how could you ditch me halfway through for a little money to wait on that fake, spoiled princess!"