Page 51 of Change
“Bryce is still holding my money hostage,” I told her. “And I need to make investments and do things.”
“How is he holding your money hostage?” Maria frowned. “That doesn’t sound like him. He’s a total pushover when it comes to you. It’s almost disgusting, the way he gushes. Just ask him for his credit card.”
“I don’t want to keep usinghismoney.” I was speaking faster now as urgency raced through me. How could I not have come to Maria about this sooner? Surely, she’d understand. “He says Mu’s money is tied up, and I am poor.”
“Well, itistied up.” Maria’s frown deepened and her voice was cautious as she slowly replied. “Have you just… If it bothers you, ask Titus for money. He’s loaded too. Hewantsto buy you stuff.”
“I willnot!” I’d been a freeloader long enough—and every dollar spent on me without repayment was a black mark against my soul. There were so many things on my private wish list, and Damen refused to even let me do a single chore. If he’d cooperated, I might have been able to strike a bargain, but alas.
I had no way to earn all the things I wanted, and I would be the one to gift myself the newestVoguecollection, and theHello Kittyautumn releases. Everything I needed was slipping through my desperate fingers.
“If you’re so poor, how did you afford those Jimmy Choo’s?” she wondered out loud. “They look good, by the way. Where were they when we first met?”
“It doesn’t matter!” I slapped my hand on the table. Never would I admit to her that these two hands once scrubbed Finn’s ink-stained blazers. It’d taken a while for my stash to become refilled. But thankfully, various prized items from my adoptive parents randomly appeared in my room one day. “Do you want to beat up things or not?”
“What are we beating up?” The doubt in her eyes cleared, replaced by an almost terrifying gleam. “I’m down for whatever.”
