The Hidden Heiress's Campus Betrayal

ity, becoming a plain, forgettable film student. I fell hard fo

, a decoy to protect the real object of his af

te to my mother's memory-and gave it to Karmen to claim as her own.

deo to the entire auditorium, branding me a

she screamed, as the

cutting through the noise. "You're acc

e delivering the final blow. "I don'

pte

Zamor

ful echo of my mother's own tragedy. Her beauty, her fame, had become her downfall. A relentless media spotlight, a stalk

akeup, a careful mask, to flatten my features, to blur my edges. I became forgettable. Just

men, too aggressive, cornered her. Instinct took over. I stepped in, a plain girl

arp eyes, the kind of beautiful that stole your breath. He looked at me, a flicker of

't. Not

ho he was, and they scattered. Hayes McCall, the notorious playboy, heir to a new money fortune everyone talked a

hated feeling anything that made me visible. But h

d like. My attempts were clumsy, a stark contrast to the effortless glamour of th

lips. "Black," he said, "always black." My heart hammered. He spoke to

, Hayes." The words were a whisper. I expected a la

you have to accept all of it. Everything that comes with me." I was

nd' s thought. I promised him

ook it, for him. I thought it was just the price of loving someone like Hayes. Then came the kidnapping. It was terrifying. I was brui

eyes wide with fear. Hayes was a different man with her. His anger, his protectiveness, it was raw,

had been attacked before. Hayes felt responsible. He used me. My plainness was a shield. "You're j

about love. It was about her. My mother's ghost whispered in my ear.

y the carefully constructed plainness. The disguise was gone. I just didn't care anymore. When I reached my