Chapter 2Pay Me Back Mr Billionaire

Back in the dorm, I couldn't stop shaking.

"Nina!"

Paige jumped down from her loft bed and threw her arms around me. "That was legendary! I’m staying up all night to help you draft the legal notice."

We started organizing the folder. It was a museum of his lies.

October 2020: Designer sneakers, $1,200.

March 2021: Isabelle’s birthday party at 'The Onyx,' $4,500.

September 2021: Art gallery rental fees, $8,000.

My phone lit up. Grayson.

[You have twenty-four hours to take down those posts on the forum, or there will be consequences. Don't test me.]

I screenshotted it and sent it to Paige. "Perfect. Direct evidence of a threat. He’s just adding time to his own sentence."

Paige told me to block his entire circle. I was about to, but Isabelle’s name flashed on the screen. I hit speakerphone.

"Nina, please..." her voice was weak, trembling with fake tears. "Just delete the post, okay? Grayson loves you. This was just... a test. He was going to propose after graduation. He already had the ring picked out..."

I almost choked on a laugh. Paige was typing furiously, but she didn't miss a beat. "Isabelle, are you paying the fifty grand? No? Then shut up and hang up."

"I’m trying to help Nina!" Isabelle’s voice spiked. "You have no idea what his family is capable of. Nina is going to get hurt! You can't win against them. Is the money really worth ruining your life?"

Before I could answer, a notification popped up from an anonymous group chat on the university forum. It was a leak of the group chat Grayson’s friends used.

Brooks: [Holy shit, Nina is actually going nuclear? Crazy bitch.]

Caleb: [She really thinks she’s special? Grayson was just slumming it. She’s just a broke architecture student with no connections.]

Brooks: [For real. Grayson letting her hang around for four years was charity. Now she wants a payout? Hilarious.]

And then, a reply from Isabelle. A "shy" emoji followed by: [Aww, don't be mean guys. Nina is actually kind of pitiful.]

I remembered the night of Grayson’s gallery opening. Isabelle was wearing a gown I’d paid for, smiling at him while they toasted his "genius." I was in the corner, sallow-faced from pulling double shifts at the cafe, getting mocked by his friends for my "cheap" clothes. Grayson hadn't defended me. He’d told me to go back to the dorm early so I wouldn't "embarrass" him.

"Nina?" Paige broke my trance.

I hung up on Isabelle. I found Grayson’s contact. Block. Delete. One by one, I scrubbed his friends from my life.

Ding.

A message from an unknown number.

[Ms. Nina, I am Grayson’s mother. Regarding the... misunderstandings between you and my son, I believe we should talk. Name your price. Fifty thousand? I’ll give you seventy-five to end this. Delete the posts and disappear.]

I stared at the screen for a long time. I handed it to Paige.

She read it and let out a sharp, dry laugh. "Nina, the accounting has just begun. Don't worry. With me on your side, we’re going to discuss the interest on this debt."