When Celeste White dropped Nathan Prescott’s black credit card onto the ballroom floor, four hundred college students gasped as if they had just witnessed a saint turn down the devil himself. Nathan stood beneath the anniversary-gala lights, pale and stunned, while Celeste lifted her chin for the cameras. By midnight, everyone on campus would worship her for what she had done.
Chapter 3
Arthur Prescott removed his glasses and exhaled like a man released from a monthlong hostage negotiation.
“We were terrified Nathan had managed to scare you away,” he said.
Megan made a strangled sound.
“There’s been a misunderstanding,” she blurted. “That’s Ava Lynn. Celeste is the girl Nathan confessed to.”
Arthur slowly turned.
“And you are?”
Megan shrank backward.
Celeste stepped forward with shining eyes.
“Mr. Prescott, your son approached me publicly. I rejected his card because I believe values matter more than wealth. Ava took advantage of him while he was vulnerable.”
Something inside Celeste’s purse hissed.
Six thousand dollars on rented jewelry. Four sponsorship requests sent to Prescott Global last week. Virtue apparently has excellent Wi-Fi.
Eleanor gave a short laugh.
“Miss White, my son made an awkward romantic gesture because several equally awkward friends convinced him it was a good idea. You turned his humiliation into online entertainment.”
“I was standing for my principles.”
Arthur’s expression hardened. “Were those the same principles behind the emails asking our foundation to sponsor your personal video channel?”
Megan stared at Celeste.
“What emails?”
Celeste froze.
Arthur signaled security. “Escort them off the private drive.”
As two guards approached, Eleanor linked her arm through mine.
“Come inside, dear. Nathan has been pacing near the conservatory for two hours.”
The mansion was enormous, but Eleanor spoke to me as though we were walking through an ordinary family home.
Before opening the conservatory doors, she stopped.
“There’s something you should understand about Nathan.”
Her voice softened.
“When he was eight, he was kidnapped. They kept him underground for almost three weeks before we got him back.”
My breath caught.
“He remembers darkness. Locked rooms. Men telling him that his parents would pay because money was the only reason anyone cared whether he lived.”
She looked toward the closed doors.
“After that, he came to believe people stayed only when he made staying profitable.”
Suddenly the transfers, the gifts, the panic whenever I became quiet made painful sense.
“He gives money because it’s the only language he trusts,” Eleanor said.
“I know.”
She studied my face and smiled faintly. “Then perhaps you’re exactly who he needs.”
The conservatory doors opened.
Nathan stood beneath an iron arch covered in white flowers.
He wore a midnight-blue tuxedo and looked every inch the heir to an empire until he saw me.
Then his ears turned red.
The watch on his wrist cried into my mind.
She came. Do not faint. Do not mention helicopter. Do not offer property within first sixty seconds.
“Hi,” I said.
“You came.”
“I said I would.”
He swallowed. “If this is too much, we can leave. There’s a helicopter outside.”
The watch groaned.
Failed immediately.
I laughed.
“We can get dumplings near campus,” Nathan added. “The greasy place you like.”
“That sounds better.”
“I could buy it.”
“Nathan.”
“So they never close.”
I took both his hands.
He went completely still.
The card in my evening bag practically purred.
Physical contact. Happiness catastrophic. Marriage proposal impulse rising.
“Nathan, look at me.”
He did.
“I’m not here for your helicopter. I don’t need you to buy restaurants.”
His expression became uncertain.
“I’m here because you remembered when I forgot to eat. Because you helped Grandma without making me beg. Because you were terrified in that elevator and still tried to pretend you were fine so I wouldn’t worry.”
His eyes softened.
“And,” I added, “I like the awkward part.”
“You do?”
“It might be my favorite part.”
A slow smile appeared.
It changed his whole face.
For once, he didn’t look like a lonely young man hiding inside a famous name.
He looked happy.
“Will you come downstairs with me?” he asked.
“Depends.”
His smile disappeared.
“You’re not buying any restaurants before dessert.”
He laughed.
“No promises.”
When we entered the ballroom hand in hand, conversations died one after another.
Presidents of corporations, senators, diplomats, old-money families and journalists turned toward the staircase.
Nathan’s grip tightened around mine.
At the bottom, Arthur approached a microphone.
“Before tonight’s program begins, our family has an announcement.”
Nathan took the microphone.
For one instant, he looked terrified.
I squeezed his hand.
He steadied.
“Many people have seen stories about my private life over the past month,” he said. “Some were created by people who found public humiliation useful.”
Cameras shifted toward the rear entrance.
Celeste, Megan and Rachel stood beyond the velvet security cordon. Apparently Arthur had allowed them just close enough to witness what came next.
Nathan continued.
“This is Ava Lynn. She is an honors student, a tutor, a devoted granddaughter, and the woman who reminded me that being needed is not the same thing as being loved.”
My throat tightened.
“Tonight, Prescott Global is creating the Lynn Critical Care Foundation with an initial endowment of two hundred million dollars. Its purpose will be to help families facing catastrophic medical bills.”
A murmur moved through the room.
“Ava will chair the foundation.”
I stared at him.
He had never told me.
“Nathan…”
He lowered the microphone. “Too much?”
“Yes.”
His face fell.
“But good too.”
Relief flooded him.
Then a voice tore through the applause.
“She’s using you!”
Celeste pushed through the press barrier.
Security moved, but she was already close enough for every microphone to catch her.
“She took your money because her family was desperate! I was the one who treated you like a person instead of a bank!”
Nathan stepped in front of me.
His expression became very still.
“Miss White,” he said, “Ava accepted money to keep her grandmother alive.”
Celeste opened her mouth.
Nathan continued.
“What did you need when you diverted five thousand dollars from the campus arts fund into invoices for handbag rentals?”
All color vanished from her face.
The ballroom went silent.
Arthur lifted two fingers.
The large screens behind the stage changed.
Bank records appeared. Forged invoices. Messages discussing fake vendors. Private conversations in which Celeste bragged that Nathan’s rejection video would increase her follower count and attract sponsors.
Megan covered her mouth.
Rachel backed away.
Arthur’s voice remained calm.
“Our attorneys completed their review this afternoon. The university has received the evidence, and a criminal complaint regarding the missing funds has been referred to the district attorney.”
Celeste stared at the screens as if they had betrayed her personally.
“No.”
“You wanted an audience,” Arthur said. “Now you have one.”
Security took her by the arms.
Her saintly composure finally shattered.
She screamed at Megan. She blamed Rachel. She accused me of ruining her life.
I said nothing.
Because the truth was, I hadn’t ruined anything.
I had simply stopped protecting the lie.
