Ficorpio
Chapter 1
I grew up with three boys from three other wealthy families, the only girl among the four of us.
When the Bennett family fell on hard times, our parents began considering a strategic marriage. They hoped I might marry one of them.
Sebastian Ashford, Westbridge University’s resident bad boy, gave me a disdainful once-over and refused without hesitation. “Couldn’t do it. I like sweet, obedient girls. Chloe’s always been one of the guys to me.”
Noah Sinclair spread his hands with an apologetic shrug. “Same here. I’ve only ever thought of Chloe as an older sister.”
Adrian Sterling, the brilliant and aloof one, was even colder. “She’s reckless and foolish. She wouldn’t make a suitable wife.”
They rejected me and insulted me without the slightest restraint. My parents could only sit there, forcing awkward smiles.
Whatever hope I had left died completely.
So I turned to them and said, “Mom, Dad, I already have a boyfriend.”
Sebastian sat sprawled in his chair with his sleeves rolled up, one arm draped carelessly over the backrest. A moment earlier, he had been laughing and joking with Noah.
Adrian had been looking down at his phone. His long fingers slid idly across the screen, while the light reflected in his glasses made him seem even more distant and unapproachable.
None of them had paid much attention as my parents tried to smooth things over. They had listened with obvious impatience, offering only perfunctory responses.
Then I made my announcement.
The private dining room fell silent.
Sebastian and Noah turned toward me at the same time.
Adrian raised his head as well, fixing me with a sharp, unreadable stare.
I pretended not to notice.
Instead, I looked at my equally stunned parents. “You should’ve told me about the marriage idea sooner. Then we could’ve avoided this whole misunderstanding.”
“They’re right,” I continued. “We may have grown up together, but I’ve only ever seen them as friends. Like brothers. I’ve never had romantic feelings for any of them.”
My parents had been afraid I would be embarrassed, so they hadn’t told me in advance that this was an arranged matchmaking dinner.
They had considered all three men carefully before settling on Noah. He was two years younger than me, cheerful and affectionate, and we had almost never argued.
For some reason, however, the other two had shown up as well.
I was a little angry that my parents had kept the truth from me, but what I felt far more keenly was the ache of seeing how much this cost them.
Before the Bennett family situation became this desperate, my mother had once asked whether there was someone I liked.
I’d turned my face away and refused to answer.
She had understood immediately.
Smiling, she had gently asked if it was one of the three boys I’d grown up with.
Chapter 2
My face had burned. Mortified at being seen through so easily, I’d snapped at her and told her to stop talking.
That had confirmed it for her.
Afterward, though, I’d become much more careful. I buried my feelings so deeply that neither of my parents could work out which of the three I loved.
Then my father’s investments failed, one after another. Our money vanished, our business declined, and the Bennett family lost nearly everything.
As our circumstances worsened, the other three families began distancing themselves from us, sometimes subtly and sometimes not.
My mother knew me too well. She knew that if she didn’t fight for me once, my pride and stubbornness would probably keep me from ever confessing to the person I loved.
That was why she had taken this reckless chance and arranged tonight’s dinner without telling me.
Noah’s parents hadn’t come, though Sebastian and Adrian had both appeared unexpectedly. Even so, my parents had treated the occasion with the utmost sincerity.
They had spoken openly about the Bennett family’s current difficulties. They explained that if I shared genuine feelings with any one of the three men, then a strategic marriage between our families would naturally be welcome.
But if none of us felt that way and we were only friends, then this would simply be an ordinary dinner. My parents wouldn’t pressure anyone.
What they hadn’t expected was that the three boys who had grown up beside me would reject the daughter they cherished so cruelly and publicly.
I was used to their behavior.
But as I watched my parents struggle to maintain their stiffening smiles, something clenched hard around my heart. A pain I hadn’t felt in a long time spread through my chest.
I couldn’t stand it any longer.
Before my parents could ask what I meant about having a boyfriend, I rose from my chair and swept a cold gaze around the table.
“It doesn’t look like any of you want to be here,” I said. “So let’s end this before it gets any uglier.”
My parents went to get the car first.
I was about to follow when someone suddenly seized my arm from behind.
I turned and found myself face-to-face with Sebastian Ashford, his expression dark with irritation.
He wore a white shirt carelessly open at the collar, revealing a black, low-cut T-shirt underneath. Two new diamond studs glinted against his perfectly defined collarbone, giving him a reckless, fashionably untamed edge.
Just like him.
He lowered his head and stared at me, one corner of his mouth lifting in a mocking smile.
“Been a while. Your temper gotten even worse?”
“Weren’t you taking a leave of absence? Where’d you find yourself a boyfriend?”
“How old is he? Is he good-looking? Do I know him?”
Chapter 3
The questions came one after another, each one carrying an unmistakably aggressive edge.
Every word sounded as though he cared.
But whenever I answered him honestly, he would simply blink, laugh, and mock me for thinking I was good enough.
It had happened too many times.
I reacted almost instantly.
I yanked my arm out of his grip and shouted, unable to control my voice, “That’s none of your business!”
Sebastian stared at the hand I had slapped away, momentarily stunned.
The smile disappeared from his face.
He frowned at me, his expression growing even more displeased.
Noah Sinclair poked his head out from behind him.
“What’s with the big reaction?” he asked with a grin, flashing the sharp little canine that had always made him look younger than he was.
He habitually raised his voice into a bright, playful pitch, the kind that made people feel at ease around him.
But his words were the exact opposite of his sweet demeanor.
“Don’t tell me you really found some random guy out there, Sis?”
“Wow. Aren’t the three of us enough for you?”
His smile widened as he looked me over, his tone suddenly loaded with meaning.
“What a slut.”
Noah loved describing the three of them as my personal harem.
As though I were some shameless queen with a decadent life and a position no one else could touch.
But in our little group of four, I had always been the one trying desperately to fit in.
For years, I had lied to myself to make it bearable.
They might constantly tease and belittle me, always coming up with ridiculous ways to amuse themselves at my expense, but maybe that was simply how boys acted.
Besides, they often came looking for me when they wanted someone to hang out with. Whenever someone bullied me, they would stand up for me and make them pay.
We had grown up together, after all.
Surely that meant I was different to them.
At least, that was what I used to believe.
It wasn’t until what happened last time that I finally understood the truth.
From beginning to end, I had only ever been a toy they could play with whenever they pleased.
A clown they brought out whenever they were bored.
I met Noah’s gaze.
The smile remained on his lips as he waited eagerly for my reaction, expecting his deliberately cruel words to leave a mark.
Instead, I stared at him without expression for several seconds.
Then I turned and walked away.
I had barely taken a few steps when another voice called after me, cooler and more restrained.
“When are you coming back to class?”
I stopped, but I didn’t turn around.
Still, the question had been ordinary enough that I gave him an answer.
“In a couple of days.”
Immediately afterward, I heard Noah click his tongue in annoyance.