I lean into the backrest of the sofa, pressing my thighs tighter together as I fidget with my fingers while Spencer Wright keeps his entire focus fixated on me. 

"I loved being rich. It was a part of me, an inseparable part. I loved doing all those stupid things rich people do, and most of the time it's only for flexing but I loved it." And now I'm tossed aside from that world.

I rub my brow before tangling my fingers together. "My mom used to work in the same office as my dad. They were both rich, and when they married, their families' companies sort of combined, so Mom was most of the time out with Dad. They sent me to kindergarten early on and there I met my first friend, Everly. About a year later, we became friends with Olivia. We went to a school that was only for the elites. In first grade, Alexander got added to our group before three other guys joined."

A bittersweet smile tugs my lips. "We were the perfect pact, the richest kids of the school in a group, you messed with one of us and you were officially screwed. We grew up together, we were there for each other, for our first kisses, first fights, first date nights, first time drinking... for all of our firsts. We knew each other's deepest darkest secrets, wishes, anything you name it. Olivia used to steal her mom's notes and magazines and we would spend hours looking through it, to the point where we had every little detail of our perfect weddings planned out."

My voice breaks. Talking about them now makes me realize how much I truly miss them. I press my hand to my temple, staring at the table, willing myself to stay composed. I inhale sharply and fiddle with my fingers.

"Fast forward to high school, we were the popular kids. I loved the attention I used to get; every second of either receiving attention from a girl, who envied me for having more expensive dresses, or a guy crushing on me. I relished in it." A sad smile curls my lips, my chest aches and I gaze out of the window. Wright slightly shifts on my right.

"I was never in an actual relationship in high school, I didn't want to limit myself. A few weeks before prom, Alex asked me to be his date and I accepted. It made sense, we had been friends forever, he was the richest guy in school and we were the perfect match. And when he asked me to be his girlfriend, I agreed to that too."

Shakily I inhale a deep breath, fidgeting harder with my fingers, and chew my bottom lip, sensing my energy seeping out of me. I drop my head and my hair falls over my shoulders like a curtain covering me from Wright's intense gaze.

Half of me doesn't want to continue. Because I know talking about it will force me to live through everything once more. But at the same time, bottling them up inside of me is exhausting me far more than I'd like to admit.

Maybe I need reassurance from someone outside of this entire shitshow to tell me nothing's my fault. That I'm prey to this misfortune and the way everyone treated me is wrong. Those who separate me from the person I was before bankruptcy are wrong, including myself. That at the end of the day, I'm the same person.

But when everybody has started treating me like I'm a nobody, an absolutely worthless girl, it's hard to make myself believe otherwise.

"Gracie," Wright whispers as he gently pushes my hair away from my face and tucks it behind my ear. His fingertips brush my cheek, making my breath hitch as I dare to spy a glance in his way.

My chest tightens as our eyes lock. His warm hand engulfs one of my palms, stopping my excessive fidgeting. Warmth courses through me as tingling sensations run up and down my body.

"Don't force yourself, okay?" his gentle voice makes my heart skip a beat, as knots tie and untie around it. Mindlessly, he traces idle circles on the back of my wrist with his thumb, momentarily making my mind go blank.

With a shaky inhale, I nod. "Everything was just going so good. Almost perfect."

He squeezes my hand in a benign way, a gentle reminder of his presence.

"My dad has a younger brother... Benjamin... they had never been on good terms, things got worse when my granddad made my dad the CEO and left uncle as an executive manager or something." I frown trying to recall and lift a shoulder. Not that it matters now.

"Anyway... about a year ago, uncle Ben finally began moving according to his grand plan. He started drawing unnecessary loans from banks under my dad's name... and changed almost everything that the accounting department always prepared to present to my dad. And Dad," I groan and throw my head back and stare at the black ceiling.

"He trusted uncle Ben way too much! I mean, I get it they were brothers but you should never trust anyone that much, especially when you're perfectly aware that person is jealous of everything you have." 

Anger boils my blood. The sudden frustration towards my dad surprises me. I thought I had made peace with the part he had trusted the wrong person way too much. Looks like I haven't.

Waving my hand around I continue, "So, I really don't know what he did, but about six months ago, he somehow managed to get my dad's financial manager behind the bars. And brought one of his own friends instead and from there the real problem started. Tax frauds, anything illegal, you name it, they did it under my dad's name. Then Uncle helped Dad to get out of this mess by finding the real culprit. He blamed it on one of Dad's trustiest friends and threw him in jail." I sigh. They were always around the house, I grew up watching them work for Dad. I miss them.

"Almost immediately uncle Ben pulled out all the money he had drawn from the bank, making Dad go bankrupt. My mom had a huge share and so did Mason, so automatically my entire family went bankrupt, except me. Because the moment things got a little shaky Mason transferred all of my shares under his name, so the bank wouldn't take away my stuff if anything happened."

I straighten up and angle myself towards Wright before going on.

"The company went bankrupt, and while the bank was auctioning our stuff, uncle Ben bought it and became the CEO, making sure my parents and Mason won't ever be able to get back. Dad filed a lawsuit against him, but he won the case and then he filed a lawsuit against Dad for false accusation or something like that, and that day at court, after losing again, we found out that he had bought our lawyer, paid him extra to make sure we lose all the cases."

Wright's brows raise so high, almost reaching his hairline.

I drop my gaze to my hand, the one Wright is still holding, his thumb moving in circular motions. I close my eyes and breathe deeply.

"On the way back from the courtroom... the accident happened," I mumble, squeezing my eyes, trying to stop the memories from rushing back into my head.

"Gracie," he murmurs, his free hand brushing aside my hair. My eyes flutter open and lock with Wright's deep blue ones. His fingers tighten around my palm. "You okay?" he softly asks.

I nod and inhale sharply. "We were officially broke, stuck in hospital and none of my friends... the people I'd known my entire life, showed up. Not even a text." I lift a shoulder as my voice quivers.

"My parents tried to find jobs, they went to their friends, even went on different job interviews of smaller companies... they even moved here, in hopes of finding a spot on Wallstreet... Dad's friends told him they'll call him back but never did. And that was it." I shake my head and rub my brow.

"After it was obvious and final that we won't be getting back up again, Olivia texted me we can no longer be seen together or have any sort of interaction adding that's what Everly wants too. A few weeks later, exactly thirty minutes before your class' midterm, in the middle of the sidewalk, right in front of my apartment, Alex dumped me, saying we're no longer in the same social status."

His mouth hangs open. "The personal issue you told me." I nod and he shakes his head. "You could have been more specific."

I shrug. "You didn't look like someone who would have understood."

He purses his lips and I smile. He huffs. "I suppose... now that I'm thinking, I probably would have been more annoyed."

I giggle. "Well, looks like I did the right thing." My smile fades and I glance at the window, the rain lashing down, hitting the glass with more force than an hour ago.

"Today, exactly before your class, I found out my best friend is pregnant and getting married in a few days. Everly is eight months pregnant." A sour smile curls my lips. "But that's not the best part. What makes this news mind-blowing is the fact that it's Alex's baby and now they're getting married."

Wright frowns, hesitantly opens and closes his mouth.

I nod. "He had been cheating on me for who knows how long, well before the bankruptcy. My best friend was sleeping with my boyfriend. Fine! Men are assholes, hell to Alex, but Everly?" I shake my head as another surge of anger courses through me.

"And they had the audacity to tell me the reason they don't want to be around me is because, I'm no longer rich and don't fit their social status. They were the ones who tossed me aside, while technically I should have done that to their cheating asses. They made me feel like a worthless piece of trash while in reality, they are the trash. All because I'm no longer rich. The moment the money was gone, I became a nobody."

But publishing the solution will fix that.

I gaze at Wright, his deep-set dark blue eyes shielded with black-framed glasses, ruffled dark brown hair, and perfect symmetric features. He has been kind to me so far, especially tonight. Guilt squeezes my chest, but I need to do this. That solution has to be shown to the world under my name. It will fix all my problems.

It's the only way I can stop being a nobody and build an identity over my family's misfortune. It won't be the same as being a billionaire but it has to be close to it.

He tilts his head to one side, his focus never moving away from my face. "Is that why you were trying so hard to convince me to help you write a paper... so you can get into one of the top universities for postgrad?" he asks with furrowed brows.

I nod.

He sighs and leans into the sofa, his hand falling away from mine and I instantly miss its warmth.

A blanket of silence falls over us as he watches the skyline and I catch glimpses of him from the corner of my eye as I clasp my hands and lay them on my thigh.

Wright inhales sharply, straightening himself. "Well, I guess we should get started. We have less than two semesters to get your resume MIT or Harvard worthy." He warmly smiles at me and the butterflies in my stomach go insane as I grin in return.

He's going to help me make my entire resume better aside from writing and publishing a paper! Maybe tonight wasn't that bad after all. 

∞ ∞ ∞

And that's part of Gracie's backstory =)

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The next update will be up tomorrow =)

Till then, stay safe, lots of love, happy reading <33