Their Bet, Her Empire

than took Ava back to the Velvet Orchi

y on his part, Ava knew. To s

the one usually reserved for

Ava for a minor infraction, now fawn

ways gave her the worst shifts. Sarah' s eyes

dress (tags carefully removed f

a asked the manager, her voice so

he champagne, her ha

ed, "I mean, Ms. Mil

smile not quite reaching her eye

e shift in power, draped his arm over her shoul

ng moment. A taste of what was to come. She made a mental note to "accidentally"

y appeared in a new bank account Ava ha

er from an offshore account, traceable, with enough layers,

part of this "project." Perhaps Ethan had set a budget, and Ch

s financially invested in Ava' s suppos

up fund," as she now thought of i

l game, it was Chloe' s obsessive vendetta. And C

l, hidden investment account. The rest would be

An anonymous gossip blog and social media ac

ously" snagged a Beverly Hills heir. The tone was snide, condescending, and f

e photos of Ava with Ethan – photos that

one post read. "Already developing a taste for the high life she

tisfaction. Chloe was doin

Ava joined the blog' s comments

world-weary, and highly cr

ls think a rich guy is a meal ticket. They never learn. She' l

through a proxy, even "liked" some

stler_Exposed" became a predictable e

ner clothes, like a kid playing dr

the ghetto, but you can' t take the g

ly Chloe' s own circl

more months befo

try to get pregnan

ury is easy, but from luxury back to frugality? Tha

ereotype she was playing into. Their certainty of her "degradation" was the bedrock of her plan. The