de the Columbia University dormitories, Chloe unbuckled
of the car. She did not
he driver's seat. His dark, unreadable eyes watched her fra
reached her dorm room, pushed the door open, and collapsed against
a sheet mask. Paige jumped when the door slammed. She
d, peeling the edge of the
eyes. "No. I just... I skipped breakfast to make
ssed a packaged oatmeal cookie toward the door. Chloe caught it. Her finge
r behind her. She dropped the cookie on the counter, turned o
skin dry. When she looked up into t
just a fraction of an inch. Right there, on the side
a tube of heavy concealer. She dabbed it over the mark, blending it in with frantic, rough
ack on the concealer, her
an encrypted text messa
"The passcode to the penthouse at
It made her physically sick. He was treating her like a call girl. He thought he
ast as her fingers would move. "I do not n
instantly. It was a
to enlarge it. Her pupi
room from last night. Lying perfectly flat on the cold sto
you need me to have someone deliver your pers
rners of her eyes. She knew Arthur was not bluffing. He was exactly the
her hands. She typed her response. "Thr
turned the phone completely off. She tossed the dead device into t
mirror, fixed her sweater, a
the couch with her la
her nerves completely frayed.
ed her closer. "Look at the Columb
letters. Beaumont Capital donates fifty million dollars t
and imposing in his custom suit, surrounded by the beaming un
resting her chin on her hands. "He is so cold. So untouc
n the screen. Her stomach churned violen
y how this cold, untouchable man had pinned her to the mat
en't you sponsored by the Beaumont family
rced her face to remain blank. "I am just a charity case. I have
"Makes sense. He is old money. People like u
g so hard into her palms that the skin nearly broke. She s
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