Part 1I Claimed My Best Friend's Brother

I am the designated sidekick to a super-rich heiress.

She calls me her best friend, swipes her card to buy me clothes and bags, and never lets me pay for anything when we go out.

Lately, she’s developed a massive crush on the campus king.

And she wants me to be the one to date him.

"I know we can never be together, but it would kill me to see someone else have him. So you go for it. He's all yours."

Help!

How am I supposed to tell my best friend that I just slept with her older brother?

"Anna, you're my best friend. Everyone else just wants my money. You're the only one who likes me for me."

Jenna linked her arm through mine, resting her head affectionately on my shoulder.

Hearing her say that, I felt a wave of guilt wash over me.

Because I didn't just want her money. I wanted her brother.

I’d seen him once in high school, dropping her off. He had the face and body of a runway model. The way he’d leaned down to stub out his cigarette, the sharp line of his jaw… it hit me right in the heart.

So, I latched onto Jenna.

She had a massive circle of "friends," but I managed to outlast them all.

Being friends with an heiress is the life. A luxury car picks you up, you never have to look at a price tag, and you get to experience a world completely different from the one you were born into. I studied my butt off to get into the same university as her, all because I couldn't bear to give up this lifestyle.

"Anna, I'm so in love with Alex," Jenna sighed, looking lost in a romantic haze.

As her loyal lackey, I immediately chimed in. "He's totally worth it! He's gorgeous, smart… his family is just a little… ordinary. Like mine."

In reality, Alex was from a perfectly normal, middle-class family, and he was one of the most popular guys on campus. But to an heiress like Jenna, he might as well have been a peasant.

"But I know we can never be together," she continued, a determined look on her face. "Still, it would kill me to see someone else have him. So you go for it. He's all yours."

She cupped my face in her hands, a playful smile on her lips. "My beautiful Anna, a guy like Alex will be a piece of cake for you!"

The serious look in her eyes made me panic.

Oh god, Jenna, how do I tell you? I just slept with your brother last night… My legs are still weak…

From her perspective, I was the worst kind of person.

I forced a tight smile. "Uh, Alex isn't really my type."

"That's not what you said a second ago," she said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"It just feels weird, you know? Since he's the guy you like…" I tried to hedge, hoping she'd drop the ridiculous idea.

"That's the point! If he got with anyone else, I'd be miserable. But with you? I'd be happy! I'd feel like my best friend found a great guy, and I could finally move on."

The more sincere she sounded, the more my guilt grew.

I racked my brain for an excuse. "Actually… I think your brother is way hotter than Alex. Can I go after him instead?"

It was a half-joke, half-truth.

She waved a dismissive hand. "No way. My brother will end up in an arranged marriage. My parents are already looking for a fiancée for him. If you go after him, you're just setting yourself up for heartbreak. It's the same as me and Alex. The gap is just too big."

My head started to spin. I’d always known this, of course. I’d even told myself that I wasn't losing anything, that a wild, passionate affair with a guy like him was more than I could have ever asked for.

"Well… I'll think about it," I mumbled, looking down.

"Trust me, Anna. Alex is the one. He's from your world."

...

She was right. We were both ordinary people. I shouldn't have aimed so high. But sleeping with Ken Gordon for so long… I’d already won.

"Okay," I said, forcing a smile. "If you're really sure you don't mind, then I'll do it."

Ken had been so busy lately. Sometimes I’d hear him take calls, his voice low and tense. It was probably his family, pressuring him. I was the girlfriend who wasn't even qualified to walk through his front door.

"You're the best, Anna!"

I pushed down my feelings and took the shopping list Jenna handed me. She sent me Alex’s contact info, followed by a series of cheering emojis. She had a fancy party to go to that night, the kind I wasn't invited to.

After we parted ways, I found a bench and started composing a breakup text.

I wrote and rewrote a thousand-word essay, but I couldn't bring myself to send it. A year as the secret girlfriend… our thrilling, illicit affair was finally coming to an end.

A voice message from Ken popped up. "What kind of love poem takes half an hour to write?" His voice was as magnetic and intoxicating as ever.

I sighed, deleted the essay, and reminded myself that a secret girlfriend doesn't get to do the breaking up. For a guy like him, being dumped was the ultimate humiliation.

"Just thinking about my hubby," I typed back.

I was shameless. I knew he would never marry me, but I called him "hubby" anyway. He’d hated it at first, but eventually, he’d grown to like it.

Ken is typing…

I quickly sent another message.

"Hubby, I saw this bag I really want… it's two million dollars… can I have it? meow~" I attached a GIF of a kitten aggressively nuzzling a teddy bear.

I never wanted for money when I was with him—he was far more generous than Jenna. But this was the first time I had ever asked for something so extravagant. Asking for a two-million-dollar bag the morning after sleeping with him… it screamed "gold digger."

He transferred the money without a second's hesitation.

"It's yours."

I stared at the number on the screen, and tears started to fall.

Maybe this was how it was supposed to be. In his eyes, I was just a woman after his money. It was a comfortable, easy dynamic for him. If I had demanded love instead, it would have been a joke.

I cried for a while, then picked up my phone again.

"You're so generous, hubby! Can you buy me an apartment, too? One of those penthouses at The Grandview."

"How much."

He replied instantly.

I looked up the prices. They started at ten million.

"Ninety million."

I scoffed, stopping myself from typing a hundred million. I could already picture him frowning at his phone, confirming his suspicions about me.

"I'll have Chen take you to sign the papers tomorrow."