#Chapter 3: Eavesdropping

"We don't hire people with a criminal record, miss," the manager of Graham's Grocery says coldly, shoving my resume back across his desk as if it's contaminated. "This is a family business. We hold our employees to a certain standard."

 

I gather my resume, trying not to cry, but tears overspill and trickle down my cheeks, anyway. The manager looks embarrassed, annoyed at my emotion. He turns his face away and ignores me as I stumble from his office.

 

A nearby security guard clocks my tears as well, and is equally unfeeling about it. He gestures to the fire exit nearby. "This way, please, miss." I slip out into the alleyway and straight into an ankle-deep puddle, the heavy door slamming behind me with an air of finality.

 

Still no news about or from Charles. No one will tell me anything, and I don't understand why. What does my family have to gain from lying like this? If they're so worried about humiliation, why don't they stand up for me?

 

What are they getting out of still protecting the Robinsons? It doesn't make any sense.

 

I turn a corner and skid to a halt. Becki is standing in a huddle with a bunch of her friends, smoking cigarettes outside an upscale wine bar. Becki's always been a loudmouth, and her voice carries over to me.

 

"Yeah, our families have been so close for, like, generations. Like basically back to the Mayflower times. Charles is practically my older brother."

 

"You really think he's going to introduce you to Marcus?" one of her friends asks. Muff, I think her name is. Becki's friends have always had strange names, I remember.

 

"Um, yeah," Becki blows a stream of smoke over Muff's head. "He's already said he would. We're both going to be at the wedding, after all, and he says Marcus doesn't even have a date. It's the perfect opportunity."

 

I gasp, feeling like someone has punched me in the stomach. Of course – this is why everyone is still protecting Charles. I've taken the fall, not just for Charles, but for the whole family. They're going to throw me under the bus so they can climb up the political ladder on Charles's coattails.

 

I've been such a fool – a naive, trusting fool.

 

I know I should keep my mouth shut and keep moving, that nothing good can come from a confrontation, but I can't help it. I'm so overwhelmed by everything that's happened in the past few days, I can't seem to stop myself.

 

I approach Becki and her friends, walking quietly and unseen until I'm standing right behind her.

 

"Charles is a complete fraud, Becki," I say, loud enough for everyone to hear me. "And you know that. Was this really your plan – to throw me under the bus and rely on the same man who betrayed me in the first place? What happened about being so embarrassed by what he's done to our family?"

 

Becki jumps, but she recovers fast. She stubs out her cigarette and reaches for another with a sneer on her face as she turns to me.

 

"Oh, look who it is, the little family convict come to ruin my day," she says. "You're just jealous. Marcus is the most eligible bachelor in NYC, and I'm going to be his date at the biggest society wedding of the decade. I'm going to become the new Luna, and who are you going to be? Nobody."

 

"I'm not jealous, Becki," I say, crossing my arms. "In fact, I'm starting to think that you've always been jealous of me, and now you think you're going to get one over on me because you and the rest of the family have decided to ruin my life."

 

"Jealous of you? Just because you got into med school?" Becki's voice got even more shrill. Her anger meant I'd poked her where it hurt."We didn't ruin anything. You ruined your own life. Now I'm going to move up, and you're going to be left behind."

 

Muff joins in with Becki's laughing, and the others soon join in.

 

"You always did think you were better than the rest of us, Nicole," one of them says. She tosses her glossy red hair back behind her shoulder, shifting in her Jimmy Choos. "How the mighty have fallen."

 

I shrug. "Remember the fable of the farmer and the snake, Becki? The farmer tries to save the snake from the cold, but he dies of a snakebite anyway. Charles is a snake. He's always going to bite."

 

Becki stares at me blankly, her mouth half open like a gaping fish. "I have no idea what you're rambling about, Nicole, but I do know that I'm going to this wedding and you aren't. You don't stand a chance."

 

"I know where his wedding will be," I say, gripping the handle of my purse so tightly that my fingers hurt. I feel suddenly reckless, like I'm spiraling out of control. "I can tell everyone the truth, and then whose lives will be blown up?"

 

Becki throws back her head and laughs full in my face, her friends following suit.

 

"Please. Alpha weddings are the most heavily-guarded events in the world," she gasps. "They have more security than the president. You're not getting within 50 feet of any of us. Christ, you're delusional."

 

I grip my bag tighter, resisting the urge to throw it in Becki's face. What is happening to me? I never used to be like this, but now I feel so angry that I could snap.

 

"If I just go to the Alpha family and explain," I insist.

 

"You'll never get anywhere near them," Becki finishes her second cigarette, throwing it on the ground to grind beneath her heel. "Only the rich and powerful get an audience with the Alphas, and who are you? A nobody with a criminal record. No one would even believe you."

 

She turns and walks back into the wine bar, her gaggle of friends hissing and jeering at me as they follow. I'm left alone on the street again.

 

---

 

An hour later, I finish packing up in my little basement room. I don't have much – just a few important documents, clothes, my mom's jewelry that I was able to hide from Darlene when she seized most of it from the safe in my father's office.

 

Everything I own fits into one small suitcase, which I drag up the steps to the front door, not even bothering to be quiet about it.

 

"What the hell is all this noise?" Darlene asks, coming into the hallway, my father close behind her. She sighs when she sees me.

 

"Oh, Nicole. Are we going to have yet another one of your little scenes?"

 

"It's not a scene," I say. "I'm leaving. Never contact me again, either of you."

 

Then I kick open the front door and leave, not even bothering to shut the door behind me.

 

Yes, I have to leave the house. I can't stand to spend even one more second with these hypocrites.

 

I might not be able to find a job for a while, but I still had a fortune - a fortune that I had always treated as a secret. That's why it hasn't been taken by Darlene or Becki.

 

Perhaps I could use that money to buy a ticket to Charles' wedding. But first, I must find an auction house.