Chapter 191

It seemed like Olivia had taken my place in every way. All the Alphas who used to try to be my friend now flocked to her.

She was petite and pretty, with curly brown hair reaching the middle of her back. Her brownish-green eyes were perfect ovals, and she moved gracefully, like a ballerina.

The way she touched William’s arm when they spoke told me she was attracted to him. He seemed flattered by her attention, and I saw them chatting in the hallways later in the day.

The rest of my Friday was as dismal as the first half of the day. Besides losing my seat next to William and all my friends to Olivia, some of the Alpha kids resumed their attempts to torment me.

However, I wasn’t the shy, geeky girl of the past. Their efforts to humiliate me didn’t always work out well for them.

At lunch, as I sat at an empty table near a gaggle of popular girls, one asked me how it felt to go from riches to rags. Another called me a homeless nobody.

“Wow, you girls are getting your gossip from a lame source,” I loudly declared. “I have my own apartment on Third Avenue, a housekeeper, and a fat bank account to do with as I please.

They stared at me with open mouths until one said, “But you came to school on the city bus.”

I shrugged. “The car I ordered hasn’t been delivered to the dealership yet.”

“Good one, Daisy,” I mumbled when they turned away and began eating. “Now you have to buy a car and find someone to teach you how to drive.”

Similar things happened twice more before the last bell rang. I didn’t understand why anyone would want to rub someone’s nose in their misfortune.

But I tried not to make myself an easy mark for bullies. It was a relief to leave the school and return to my apartment.

I spent the weekend with Mrs. Carson. She was a lifeline in a stormy sea. Besides being an avid reader, the woman was a card shark and beat me soundly at gin rummy three times.

We also read on the balcony, walked around town, and watched a scary movie before bed, which made me ask her to sleep in my apartment that night.

“No more zombie movies for you,” she giggled as she went into the guest room for the night.

I was sorry to see Monday arrive so quickly. It was more of the same from Friday.

Amy still wouldn’t speak to me; it seemed like William was always talking to Olivia, and I was the most popular target for bullying.

I couldn’t walk the halls between classes without snide comments and catcalls. The details of my life were the biggest gossip of the school year.

Sometimes, I felt like that frizzy-haired geek with the thick glasses again. But I fought to keep my self-awareness in the here and now.

I told myself that their uninformed opinions of me didn’t matter. But it bothered me when I overheard wild stories about myself from groups of chattering students.

I ignored most of these stories, but I had to stop and correct them a few times when they were repeating outright lies.

As I rolled my eyes and kept walking past another group of giggling Alpha girls, I wondered when they would get bored with discussing me and move on to someone else.

The most challenging things to endure at school were seeing Amy and being unable to talk to her about everything that was happening and seeing William join the Olivia worshipers while he ignored me.

It hurt when I received no texts from him all weekend. Now I knew why.

When the last bell rang, I sighed with relief and headed for the bus stop. Sadness and jealousy washed over me when I got to the gate and saw Joe helping Olivia into Alex’s limousine. She was on her way back to Alex’s mansion.

Was she sleeping in my room?

“At least she’s not getting into Victor’s Lamborghini,” I mumbled. I couldn’t have handled seeing him with Olivia. But it could still happen.

I caught the bus and rode to my stop on the corner of Third Avenue and Grove Street. Then, I walked the two blocks to my apartment.

Seth was coming on duty. He stopped talking to one of the daytime doormen to let me in and escorted me to the elevator with a pleasant smile.

“Have a nice evening, Miss Wilson,” he said as the elevator doors slid closed.

Mrs. Carson was waiting in my apartment’s kitchen. She was sitting on a stool at the counter, making a list.

“I’m going to the market,” she explained. “Is there anything you are hungry for?”

“Burgers and fries, pizza, ice cream, and chili dogs,” I replied.

“Gotcha,” she said with a twinkle in her gray eyes. “You want broccoli, baked potatoes, and steak.”

“With the ice cream for dessert,” I giggled. I knew she would buy the things I mentioned. She spoiled me with anything I could want to eat.

“I’ll be back soon.” She put the list in her ginormous purse and hoisted it onto her shoulder. “I left you a snack on the table.”

“Thanks,” I said and spotted the freshly baked cookies on the table. I got a glass of milk and sat down to eat two of the soft, delicious cookies.

I finished my snack and was deciding what I wanted to do until Mrs. Carson returned with the groceries when my phone rang. My Caller ID read Doorman.

“Hello,” I said into the phone.

“Miss Wilson, there is a young man here to see you,” Seth said. “He said his name is William. Should I send him up?”

William was here to see me? I was happy and confused.

“Send him up, please, Seth,” I replied.

While I waited for William to knock at the door, I decided to act calm and polite toward him. He flatly ignored me at school and spent every free moment chatting up Olivia.

Was he ashamed to talk to me in front of the other Alphas? I thought we were good friends.

Someone knocking on my door interrupted my internal rant. I should see what William had to say and be nice to him. I wouldn’t be mean like the Alphas at school.

Opening the door, I had to smile at the sight of his handsome face. “Come in, William,” I said. “I’m glad you came to see me.”

“I’m glad you’re not mad at me,” he said and entered my living room. “Wow, this apartment is great.”

“Thanks,” I replied and led him to the couch. I waited for him to sit down before asking if he wanted a soda or something.

“No thanks,” he said. “I came here to talk to you about something important.”

I sat at the other end of the couch and prayed he wouldn’t tell me he was in love with Olivia. He was with her every chance he had at school, so it was the first thing that came to mind.

I looked over at him and fake-smiled. “I’m listening.”

William sat forward and turned himself my way. “I’ve been talking to Olivia a lot, and I sent some emails to some people my dad knows in the importing business.”

I nodded and wondered where this conversation was going. I already knew he was extremely interested in Olivia.

“I haven’t gotten any replies back yet from the country where she lived before coming here, but I’m pretty sure I’m on the right track,” he said and looked at me like I should understand what he was saying.

“On the right track for what?” I asked. He wasn’t making any sense to me.

“Just listen, please,” he said.

“Um, okay,” I said, wishing he’d be clearer about what he was trying to say.

“My dad thinks it’s a scam, too,” William added. “We think somebody is using her to get Alex’s fortune. They must have someone working for them at the lab.”

“Who’s after Alex’s fortune?” I heard the same thing said about me several times in school. What did William mean by it now?

“Daisy, aren’t you listening? I’m trying to tell you I don’t think Olivia is Alex’s daughter. You are.”

My mouth fell open. “What? Why do you think that?”

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