A False Heiress's Guide to Love and Power

New posts kept popping up in rapid succession. Alessia sat quietly in the cafeteria with her three friends, eyes fixed on her phone as she scrolled through live updates, while the others chatted animatedly beside her.

She wasn’t the least bit surprised that stories of Ileana’s bullying at school had finally come to light. People always leave traces behind–it was only a matter of time. What did catch her off guard was just how eventful Ileana’s life abroad had been.

If Ileana herself had leaked the information at first, who was behind the rest?

A memory flashed through Alessia’s mind: that day she’d seen Ileana and Fortune Thorne arguing in the middle of the street. Fortune was a wild card–sometimes charming, sometimes volatile, but always impossible to figure out.

Alessia unconsciously tapped her fingers on the table, a habit she slipped into when deep in thought.

“Lessie, do you think this whole ‘real daughter‘ thing is legit?” Esme leaned over, lowering her voice.

“It’s probably true,” Alessia replied, snapping out of her thoughts and setting her phone down.

“Wow. That’s insane.” Esme gaped, at a loss for words.

“My mom just texted me–she wants me home this weekend. I’ll head back after classes this afternoon, and I’ll bring you guys something to eat when I return. She’s an amazing cook,” Alessia said, a hint of pride in her tone. But instead of coming off as smug, her words made her friends envious in a familiar, bittersweet way–like that childhood feeling of being the only one picked up from school by your parents on a rainy day, while everyone else had to wait for the storm to pass.

“You’re lucky,” someone sighed. “Getting to go home for the weekend.”

our first weekend here,”

instead?”

yourself in books, go ahead. It’s only the start of freshman year–let me be lazy a little longer,” Esme groaned, hands pressed

09:56

Chapter

shoulders drooped

week? My boyfriend’s new amusement park opens then. If

but the cafeteria was noisy enough that no one paid

that massive complex downtown?” Mia joked, only to choke when Alessia

were wealthy, but I didn’t

“You work hard, but maybe you should

visited an amusement park before, nodded eagerly, her eyes shining with

bring for their day out, completely unaware that Scott Tate was

match with Ileana the night before, he’d kept at it well past

awake by his phone blaring. Groggy,

“Yeah?”

thought you could fob me off with some junkie? Are you trying to