Chapter Four
The guy on the phone sounded confused, but
he said, “Sure thing,” and showed up at
school thirty minutes later.
After hanging up, I picked up those nasty
photos and glared at Mark and Sarah.
<
“Where’d you get these?”
Sarah looked shifty.
“Doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t be doing this,
Lindsay.”
Mark chimed in, his voice icy.
“Lindsay, I knew you were a climber, but I
didn’t think you’d stoop this low to get
funding. You’re using dirty tricks to steal our investment! Someone like you doesn’t belong
in the business school.”
I snorted, my eyes cold.
“Not talking, huh? Then we’ll talk to the cops. Spreading lies is illegal. And these are
obviously photoshopped!”
<
I threw the pictures in their faces.
Mark’s face was a mask.
“Lindsay, three days ago, I saw you cozying
up to the Thompson Group VP, getting out of
his car. You gonna say that’s fake? I even
have video!”
He pulled out his phone and played a clip.
There I was, getting out of a Rolls–Royce,
hugging the guy in the car, and waving
goodbye.
My stomach dropped. That did happen. I’d
told my dad I wanted to start my own
business, and he sent me to my Uncle John to
talk about it. My uncle insisted on driving me
back, and we just hugged goodbye. Mark’s
<
angle made it look way worse.
Sarah saw my face fall and got even cockier.
“Pics might be fake, Lindsay, but the video
can’t be, right?”
I nodded, not denying it.
“The video’s real, but…”
Mark cut me off, all smug.
“I knew it! There’s no way you, all by yourself,
could snag Thompson Group’s investment
from our awesome team! You used your…
charm.”
I slapped Mark across the face, hard. “You
say one more thing like that, one more lie,
<
and I swear I’ll sue you blind.”
Sarah went for the sympathy play. “Lindsay,
you did Mark wrong. And I heard Mr.
Thompson has a wife and kids. You wouldn’t
want to be…” She gave me a knowing look,
implying I was trying to be a homewrecker.
She pointed the finger at me and my uncle’s
relations, and the other students looked at me
and nodded.
“I’ve always wondered about Lindsay. She
says she’s from a normal family, but she
carries bags worth thousands. I thought she
was a secret heiress.”
Someone laughed.
“Heiress? You ever see a rich heiress working
her butt off on a startup? They inherit their
family money!”
“Now it makes sense how she’s got so much
money. You can keep the cash if that is how
it is made.”
I tried to explain. “Mr. Thompson is my uncle.
It’s not what you think.”
Mark scoffed. “Lindsay, you can dream all you want about being related to the Thompsons, but you need to change your last name first.”
