The Queen They Buried

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Aubree was done with the Wilsons. No way was she sticking around their swanky mansion anymore.

20

She took a cab back to their place-empty, quiet as a graveyard. In her room, she dragged an old, beat-up suitcase from the corner and stuffed it with everything she’d brought from the orphanage.

Under her bed, she found a bank card.

One grand sat on that card, a goodbye gift from some guy named “Mr. Quinn” when she left the orphanage. She’d told him she didn’t need his help, but he never asked for it back. Now, that money was her way out.

Aubree swapped her Wilson clothes for an old orphanage outfit. Good thing years of barely eating kept her small enough to fit.

With a bitter chuckle, she grabbed her suitcase and headed out, running smack into Wendy Carter, the housekeeper.

Wendy’s gut twisted. “That suitcase? Aubree is bolting?’

ID and luggage in hand, Aubree caught a bus to Rithol City’s rough edges. The city was pricey as hell-only the sketchy suburbs had rentals she could afford. Three hundred bucks got her a tiny room.

Small, but it had the basics. Cozy, even.

Back at the Wilson house, the mood was worlds apart.

Carmen swept in like a queen, her usual posse hyping her up.

Wendy hesitated, then spilled. “Mr. Wilson, Aubree came by. Grabbed a bag and split. Hasn’t been back.”

“What?!” Mr. Wilson’s face went red, his mind racing. ‘Is she serious?’

Daxton smirked, arms crossed. “Oh, please. First, she ‘cuts us off,’ now she’s pulling this runaway stunt? Thinks we’ll beg her to come back? Lame. Bet she’s back in three days, crying.”

“She’ll regret this,” Ronald snapped. “When she drags her sorry butt back, I’ll deal with her.”

Carmen played sweet, batting her eyes. “Should we look for her? What if she’s in trouble?”

fake concern made the Wilsons roll their eyes at Aubree even harder. They told Carmen

clouding his eyes.

place, Aubree was settling in. She grabbed some cheap sheets, made the bed, and felt a spark of

but it was hers. No more tiptoeing or stressing about getting the

up: school,

away, and senior year would start

self-study and keep up. She was

heart condition, so they stuck Aubree on a strict diet- tiny meals to

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Chapter 5

scrape by, never enough to

got those meals? Nope. The

spend hours cooking stomach-soothing meals for Daxton, who’d skip food for his experiments. She

her. But no one cared about

Wilsons for good. If I can stack some cash, I’ve got the old-school herbal tricks from my old life

at her reflection in the dingy mirror. She was skin and bones-thinner than her orphanage days. Her chin was sharp as a knife, and

my grades.” Aubree mumbled, frowning. Then it hit her. One killer

pro gaming was the place to be. Betting on a team was like

They rode that wave, turning into an esports dynasty. Later, they cashed in on their star players, jumping

plan? Beat them to it. The internet was always a safe bet, no matter

now, LOL was in its fall finals. Emery’s Apex Squad was up against GOD’s Fury,

was out with a hand injury, and they were hunting for a

This was Aubree’s shot.

and invest it. Player to team

by the idea,

at the market for fresh food to fix her health, nights at the internet café grinding LOL, and the

Aubree crashed early, ready to crush her first

had no clue the school’s

wild post about the Wilson family’s “real vs. fake heiress” drama-fighting over inheritance-blew up. Bored teens

out-the juicier the

name was the

took the bus to school and went straight to her old