Chapter 1Dumped By A Cheater, I Inherited A Billion-Dollar Fortune

On Valentine's Day, my boyfriend gave me a box of decorative straw and tried to coax me into booking a room at the Sunset Lodge with him.

Instead, I got into a G-Wagon, and he called me a gold digger.

Then my childhood friend, who comes from old money, smirked and said, "Your family’s thousands of acres of ranch land aren’t big enough for you? Why settle for this one little weed?"

"Happy Valentine’s Day, babe!" Tanner stood in front of me, beaming as he handed me a small gift box in our room at Sunset Lodge, just outside of Lakeshore University. Cigarette smoke drifted through the door cracks, irritating my eyes, but I still felt touched. I knew he had been working a summer job for two months, and all his effort was in that tiny box.

Eagerly, I reached out to open it, but he gently stopped my hand.

"Wait, Riley, open it later, okay?"

"Okay," I smiled sweetly at him.

As Tanner went to shower, I nervously scrolled through my phone, reading advice for girls on their “first time,” growing more anxious with every word. I needed something to distract me, so my eyes fell on the unopened gift box. Just a peek wouldn’t hurt, right?

Carefully untying the ribbon, I opened the layers of packaging. But what I saw inside made me freeze. After two months of hard work, Tanner had given me... shredded paper confetti?

I dug through the confetti, refusing to believe it, until my fingers brushed something hard. I pulled it out—a cheap plastic keychain, complete with a $5 price tag still attached. In that moment, all my joy and anticipation drained away. It wasn’t just a cheap keychain. It felt like it had put a price tag on me, too.

"See, Riley," it seemed to mock, "you’re worth $5 to him."

Suddenly, Tanner’s phone buzzed on the bed, snapping me back to reality. Absentmindedly, I picked it up and saw a string of messages from his mom:

"Son, how’s school going? I sent you $500. Let me know if you need more."

"Make sure you’re eating well! Don’t spend all your money on that girlfriend!"

"By the way, our neighbor’s son just got married—no fancy ceremony, no new house, just brought the bride home."

"You better hurry and get her pregnant, then we won’t need to worry about paying for the wedding!"

"And if it doesn’t work, poke some holes in those things. No one will notice."

I stared at the screen, horrified. My body went cold even though it was the height of summer, a shiver running down my spine. Anger, disgust, shame—all of it swirled in my head. I couldn’t take it anymore. Pushing open the door, I ran out of the room, gasping for air.