Page 55 of My Fiancé's Brother 2

“They left mean notes in my locker. Gossiped about me. Mocked me.” I flushed as I remembered coming out of the gym shower in my towel and all my clothes had been taken. “Awful pranks, like really mean. Food trays in the cafeteria would accidentally get dumped on me. Any chance they could find to humiliate me, they took it.”

“Where were the teachers?”

“They looked the other way.”

“What?”

“You have to understand. These kids were the brats of congressmen, judges and high ranking lawyers. They had as much power as their parents did because of who their parents were.”

“Jesus, Em. What did your granny do when you told her?”

I took a deep breath. “I didn’t tell her. I was so devastated by my parents' death and so traumatized by everything that was going onaround me, and I just endured it. She took my silence and my sadness as part of my grieving process.”

“Why didn’t you tell her?”

“I didn’t think she could do anything.”

“What happened?”

“Beth happened. She wasn’t exactly top of the food chain at that school, but she held her own. She watched and saw what was going on. She tried to befriend me, but at that point, I trusted no one. So, she started gathering evidence. Enough to incriminate the three worst ringleaders. And she went to the headmistress and made a complaint.”

“Did it stop?”

“Nope. I guess the headmistress shut her down and threatened to expel Beth.”

“No shit.”

“So, she showed up at the club where my granny played bridge and told her everything.”

His eyes widened in admiration. “I always knew I liked Beth.”

“My granny nearly lost her mind. That's when I realized just how connected my granny was. By the time she was done, the headmistress and two teachers were fired, and four of the worst perpetrators were expelled.”

“Your granny was a force.”

I nodded slowly. “She knew everything about everyone. She didn’t like to play the game, but when she did, she played it well.”

“Did you leave that school?”

“No. I graduated there. After that, I was considered hands off. No one so much as looked at me. Plus, I had Beth. After that, we became fast friends.”

He leaned back, his arms crossed. Thinking. “Beth drives a shit Corolla that is older than my truck. Why was she attending that school?”

“Beth’s dad is one of the most powerful people in New York. He’s a billionaire and incredibly connected.”

His eyes opened wider. “And she drives a Corolla?”

“She loves her parents, but she refuses to take a single penny from either of them.”

“Why?”

“Too many strings. Her dad uses the money to control everyone and everything. Beth just got sick of it. So she made her way in life, and it drives her father crazy.”

He took another sip of his beer. “That’s the world you come from?”

I shrugged, “Not if I can help it. But I have no interest in private preschools.”

“Fair.”

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