Chapter 2

I explain. "One more hour and it's our one-year anniversary."

It's about my bet with Grandpa.

If I lose, I get dragged back to run the family empire. If I win, I keep my freedom and my research.

I have no choice but to give in.

But Nathan takes it a different way.

"See? I knew you couldn't stand losing me." His voice softens. "Babe, I can't lose you either."

"Don't be mad I'm backing Lauren up. You're my girlfriend. She's just my friend."

"Play her little game, and I won't bring up breaking up again."

Of course he's confident.

Last week, I went to drop off some files at his office. Walked in on Lauren sitting in his lap.

She shoved off him in a panic.

Lipstick smeared. A string of spit between their mouths.

Lauren, cool as hell: "Wow, checking up on him again? You're so obsessed."

Nathan, stone-faced: "It's not what it looks like. She lost her balance showing me something on her phone."

I didn't bring up breaking up then.

So now they both think I'm so desperate for Nathan that I'll swallow anything.

I hate this goddamn bet.

"Hey."

Spencer kicks the sign-in table over with one foot. The crash makes half the room jump back.

"Are we doing this or not? You know how valuable our time is?"

Lauren goes pale.

"Of course! Right away, Mr. Langley. Starting right now."

Nobody wants to piss off the four heirs.

Nathan shoots me a look. Pure warning.

"Vivian. Go. Now. One more second of stalling and we're done."

I can't blow the bet at the finish line.

I hold his stare for a second. Then I paste on a smile.

"Fine. I'll play."

Lauren exhales and opens the livestream.

"Hey everyone! I'm live from the gala!"

"Guess who showed up tonight?"

She pans the camera across Grayson, Spencer, Sebastian, and Hayden.

A few seconds. The chat explodes.

"NO WAY. How did this random woman get the four heirs to show up??"

"I see the Xavier heir! He only goes to events if there's someone worth looking at. Is there some hot girl at this company?"

Lauren straightens up, turns the camera to herself.

"Aww, you guys are too sweet saying I'm the prettiest one here! Stop!"

"Wait, some of you think they came for me? I'm literally blushing."

She steals a glance at Grayson, then reads another comment.

"This one says: why is that plain girl in glasses standing next to the CEO? She looks so basic."

"Oh! That's Nathan's girlfriend. She doesn't work here."

Her voice dips. Fake concern, real venom.

"We have standards here. Looks. Degrees. With that face and no education past middle school? I wouldn't hire her to clean the toilets here, honestly."

Employees laugh.

Nathan's face goes red, then white. He cares about image more than anything.

I'm worried he'll snap and dump me on the spot.

So I step up to the screen first.

"Let's start."

Lauren grabs the mic.

"Vivian, you and five employees each get a number. Your number matches a question on the screen. Slowest answer or wrong answer gets punished."

I nod. The others nod.

The screen lights up.

I'm number six.

The chat goes nuts.

"LMAOOO one through five got questions like 25 times 4 times 3. Number six got DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS."

"Duh, that's literally why it's funny."

"dont blame the host. she could give her basic multiplication and the middle school dropout would still choke"

Lauren grins.

"Review time over! Three. Two. One. Go!"

I slam my button.

"Zero."