Chapter 16 Billionaire boyfriend?
RORY POV
When I arrived, the party was already in full swing.
Music filled the room. People were laughing, dancing, drinking.
Everyone looked flawless.
My stomach dropped the moment I saw Steve and Katherine on the dance floor.
She was grinding against him while they both held glasses of alcohol.
They were moving like they had always belonged to each other and the rest of the world was a minor inconvenience.
I sniffed back something I refused to let become a tear.
I could handle a lot of things. I had proven that repeatedly in the past few weeks. But seeing them together still hit somewhere specific that hadn’t healed yet. It could have been anyone. He could have chosen anyone. But Katherine. The person I had called at midnight when things were bad. The person who had held my hand and told me everything would be fine while she was already doing this.
That was the part that didn’t get easier.
“Rory!”
Lia appeared through the crowd, face lighting up the moment she saw me. She pulled me into a hug and I held on for a second longer than was probably appropriate given we were at her birthday party and I was already dangerously close to feelings I hadn’t invited.
“Happy Birthday Lia,” I said when she pulled back. “I’m sorry I’m a little late, my boyfriend was finishing up at the office so I had to grab a cab.”
The room shifted.
Someone snorted. Then another. The room filled with the sound of mocking suppressed laughter.
"You? A boyfriend?" Emma, a girl who had always treated me like dirt, stepped forward.
"Are we in middle school, Rory? We’ve known you for years. The only man you’ve ever mooned over is Steve who is very much standing over there with your best friend. you expect us to believe a millionaire wants you?"
That witch never liked me.
I wanted to smash her head. But I didn't have money for lawsuit.
"Just like Steve was fucking Katherine behind my back," I snapped, the anger finally burning through the fear, "I was busy fucking a millionaire."
“Please,” Katherine’s voice cut through, clear and sharp and aimed. She had drifted over from the dance floor at some point, Steve behind her. “Don’t embarrass yourself. You practically cried every time Steve touched you. You huffed and puffed like it was a workout.
My throat tightened In embarrassment.
Every insecurity, every fear, every private thing I had trusted her with. And she was standing in front of me at her new husband’s side ready to use all of it as ammunition.
“Th — that’s a l—lie,” I said. The stutter hit and I hated it, hated the way it landed in the middle of everything and handed them exactly what they wanted.
Someone tsked. “That stutter gives me a headache every single time.”
Some of them laughed at the remark.
My phone beeped. Ella.
Ethan said he's almost there.
Thank freaking God.
I grabbed a drink from a passing waitress and downed it in one go. I didn’t even like alcohol, I hated what it did to people, what it had done to my father but I needed something between me and this room or I was going to do something with my teeth again.
I couldn't help but notice Steve stupid eyes on me or should I say on my breasts?
He hadn't said a word to me yet.
He knew better.
"Careful with the drinks," someone mocked.
"Your millionaire boyfriend might not want a girlfriend who gets bigger every time she breathes."
I didn't say anything, instead I grabbed another drink.
Steve finally spoke.
“Rory has a millionaire boyfriend,” Steve said then, loudly, casually, like he was making an announcement. “She promised to bring him tonight to show him off.” He looked around the room with that smile. “I’m still waiting.”
Emma snorted.
"Girl please," she said, eyeing me from head to toe.
"She even bragged about it to me at her apartment. So, where is he? Or did he realize he was dating a charity case and block your number like I did?"
The laughter that followed was jagged. It cut through me, sharper than the tight wires of my corset.
My eyes stung. I gripped my phone so hard my knuckles turned white. Ethan, please.
"Is that the millionaire?" a girl whispered, her voice trembling.
The room went completely still.
"You mean the billionaire?"
The voice was a low, velvet growl that sent a shockwave through my entire body.
Alexander.