Cruel Riches: A Dark Bully Romance (The Kings of Crestmoore Academy, Book 1)

by Elle East

  “How did you get this anyway? Personal phones aren’t allowed here,” Manuel said while examining the device.

  “The Queens gave it to me.”

  I saw the look of terror on his face and he almost dropped it. I made a move to dive for it, but he recovered.

  “I’d throw it out if I were you,” he said, his face pale.

  “I can’t! It’s a brand new phone. This is wayyyy nicer than my old one and I really want to keep it—if I can. So I was hoping you could take a look at it and tell me what Victoria had done to it. Maybe we can disable it somehow.”

  I could tell Manuel didn’t want any part of what I was trying to do, but I needed him. He was the tech wiz of the scholarship students, if anyone could do it it was him.

  “I know I don’t have any right to ask you for this favor. I know that you guys don’t trust me right now, but I really need this. I’m so isolated here without a phone. Please help me. There’s a guy back home who I think could be my ‘Beth’, if you know what I’m saying.”

  I saw him look down with a sheepish smile.

  “But I can’t communicate with him, except through email. I’d be so grateful if you could help me, Manuel. Please.”

  I could see his resistance slowly crumbling and he eventually sighed.

  “Ok.”

  “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

  Manuel took the phone over to his computer and plugged it in. I went and sat on his couch, eagerly waiting for his diagnosis.

  It took a couple hours, and I was nodding off in my seat, before Manuel said that he found something. I jumped up and rushed over.

  “You see this here?” He pointed at a jumble of letters and numbers on his computer screen that meant nothing to me, but I nodded like they did.

  “That’s a keystroke logger. They’ve had one installed on the phone.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It records everything you type and transmits that data to whoever had it installed.”

  My heart dropped. The phone was ruined. The Queens were trying to use it to spy on me. Was that Victoria’s master plan? Seemed pretty tame to me, a lot of hassle just to see what stupid stuff I search on the internet.

  “I think I can disable it,” Manuel said and my heart leaped back up.

  “Really!?”

  “Yeah, this isn’t a very sophisticated software. If I just make a couple tweaks, I can turn it off and this phone will be like new—completely uncompromised.”

  “Do it!” I said excitedly before I thought about it and then added, “Will they know that I’ve shut off the tracking device?”

  “If they see you using it and they receive nothing from this device then yes, they’ll know that it’s been disabled, but I think if I make a couple changes to the source code I can configure it to send them random feedback. So it won’t be obvious that you turned it off, it’ll just look like you’re unpredictable and kind of crazy.”

  “Not a problem for me! Please do it.”

  “Ok, give me about half an hour.”

  When Manuel was finally done, he turned around.

  “I was able to do it. Your phone is as good as new. The Queens will be sent random feedback so they’ll just think you’re an insane person, not that you’ve turned off their tracking device and are using the phone normally.”

  I took it from him and thanked him profusely.

  “Not a problem. It was actually a really interesting challenge for me. I enjoyed it.”

  We walked to the door.

  “Just please don’t tell the Queens I had anything to do with it if you get caught,” he almost begged.

  “Of course not! As far as I’m concerned you never touched this phone. Thanks again, Manuel. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem, Maddy. I hope you get everything you want from hanging out with the Queens.”

  “I have no choice, but having a phone makes it better—a bit less lonely.”

  He looked at me sympathetically.

  “Well… I guess I’ll see you around,” I said as I left.

  “See you around.”

  He closed the door.

  Chapter 16

  “Are you coming to the party tomorrow?” Victoria asked me as we sat in the Queens’ Study on Friday at lunch.

  “What party?” I looked up from the text I was sending to Dean.

  I saw all the Queens roll their eyes. Victoria laughed. “THE party. The only one that’s happening tomorrow that matters.”

  “I haven’t heard of it,” I said and I thought I heard Grace say “of course” but I wasn’t sure.

  “Archer’s having his yacht brought in and anyone who’s anyone is going. Are you in?”

  “Sure,” I said automatically.

  I was getting used to just agreeing with whatever Victoria said; I had no power to say no to her.

  “Great.” She smiled.

  I couldn’t believe that I was going to a real Crestmoore party. I had been hanging out with the Queens for a couple weeks now, their world was one of status and power, and I hated to admit it but I think I was enjoying that power—just a bit. Their world was also kind of boring too. They were usually on their phones when we were in private and in public we stuck to superficial topics of conversation. All of them were nice to the other student’s faces, but I heard the little jabs that they couldn’t suppress once that student had turned their back.

  I didn’t really want to go to a party with all the popular kids; I knew it would be awkward and uncomfortable. Only the Queens were going to talk to me and I knew the Kings would hate that I was there, but at the same time I had never been on a yacht before, never seen one in person in fact, so I was excited about that. Also, the party was Archer’s so the Kings would definitely be there and that would help me with my plan.

  I had tried to casually bring up the Kings while the Queens and I were hanging out, to see if I could get them talking, but they had said nothing useful. If I got REALLY lucky the Kings might be so drunk that I’d be able to get enough dirt on them at the party that I could go straight to Detective Smith that night. My mom could be out of jail by the end of the weekend! I knew that that was a long shot but that little bit of hope lifted my spirits.

  Saturday evening came and Victoria sent one of her minions, a junior named Blossom, to come get me from the Bell Tower. I followed Blossom out of the school and down the paved path that led to the other student’s dorms. I hadn’t been inside anyone else’s room besides the scholarship students and I was curious to see how the other half lived.

  The night was warm for Fall but I still shivered slightly in the brisk air. I was wearing the nicest clothes I had—which wasn’t saying much compared to what the other students would be wearing. I had on tight, black jeans, black ankle boots, a golden yellow top that cinched-in at the waist and my “vegan leather” jacket—which was just a fancy term for plastic. Even though my jacket wasn’t real leather I had had to save up for three months to buy it and I was proud of it. The other students would probably turn up their noses at my outfit because it didn’t cost as much as a house but I didn’t care, I thought I looked good.

  Blossom led me into one of the nicest, largest student accommodation buildings. We walked passed the fancy common area and took the elevators to the top floor. She walked me to a door at the end of the hall and motioned to it with her head before leaving me. It was then that I realized she hadn’t said a word to me after we left my room.

  I knocked on the door and Grace answered a few moments later.

  “Hi!” she said cheerily and led me inside.

  I could tell we were in Victoria’s room and now I knew why she thought the nicest place I had ever been, the Queens’ Study, wasn’t that nice. Her room was beautiful and expensive and modern—oh, and also huge. There were wrap-around glass windows that overlooked the ocean and because we were a couple stories up, it looked like we were sitting right on top of the water.

  Grace led me into another room which t
urned out to be Victoria’s closet and dressing area. It was massive and so full of clothes that it looked like a department store. The other three girls were sat in front of a makeup counter that took up one wall, staring at themselves in the mirrors that stretched all the way around.

  “Hi, guys,” I said, and they acknowledged me without stopping their application of lipstick and blush. “Your place is amazing, Victoria.”

  She turned to me. “Oh? This place? I know, it’s not that nice but when I first got here they tried to give me a place that was a third this size. Can you believe that? So we had them renovate and combine a couple rooms—oh and also added better windows, those old ones were so old-fashioned and yuck.” She pulled a face before turning back to her mirror.

  “This is three dorms?” I asked in shock.

  Victoria nodded.

  I shook my head in disbelief. If this place wasn’t that nice to her then I wanted to see what her room at home looked like. She must have a palace all to herself. No matter how long I was around it, I didn’t think I could get used to the opulence. I couldn’t imagine how my father, who’d grown up as wealthy as Victoria, had managed to adapt to life with mom and I and not much else. I imagined that would have been as much of a culture shock for him as what I was experiencing.

  “Take a seat,” Victoria said to me.

  I went and sat on a fancy stool next to her. I stared at myself in the mirror ringed with lights. I looked so out of place, I could see the shocked look in my wide eyes and the large closet full of clothes that I would never be able to afford in my life, behind me.

  “Put on your face,” Victoria said kindly.

  “Oh, um, I already did my makeup before coming here.”

  I noticed the way her eyes swept over my face for a brief second and the judgment that she quickly covered up, and I felt embarrassed.

  “Ok, well if you need anything else, all that is yours to use.” She motioned to the mountain of expensive, unopened makeup piled in front of me.

  All the brands were designers that I had barely heard of. I hesitated for a second but then decided that if I had the option why not indulge for once? I used the wipes that were there to take off my dollar store makeup and giddily started opening packages like a kid at Christmas.

  It took me twenty minutes to take off and reapply my makeup, but the Queens still took another two hours to get ready. I occupied myself by sitting on Victoria’s fainting couch and texting Dean. There was nothing as unnecessary as a fainting couch and so I wasn’t surprised that rich people had them. I also discovered that fainting couches were not comfortable for long periods of sitting.

  Dean: What are you doing now?

  Maddy: Just fainting on this couch waiting for their majesties to get ready lol

  Dean: Sounds dull

  Maddy: Yup! What are you up to?

  Dean: Studying but I’d rather talk to you

  Maddy: Oh yeah? What are you studying?

  Dean: Trigonometry

  Maddy: zzzzz

  Maddy: I’m glad I rate slightly higher than trig

  Dean: You rate higher than most things ;)

  I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. Victoria noticed it and pounced. “Who are you texting?”

  “No one!”

  “Oh, come on, you can tell us. It’s obviously someone you’re into. And you know all about our boys so it’s only fair.”

  The other girls agreed.

  Yeah right, bitch. Don’t act like you don’t think you know what I’m doing on my phone.

  But what she said was true, after hanging out with them the last couple weeks I knew all about their romantic lives. I knew that Victoria had had something with Archer and possibly Brett. I knew that both Grace and Jayla were into Grayson. I also knew that Claudia liked a boy in her grade, but Victoria had scoffed and dismissed him as unworthy of a Queen because his family was “poor”—by Crestmoore standards—and only had thirty million. Claudia had seemed crushed. I couldn’t believe that one word from Victoria and Claudia felt like she couldn’t date the guy she liked, but I guess that was how it worked in the Queens. What a fucked-up group.

  “It’s just this guy from back home, nothing serious or anything,” I said.

  “What’s he like?” Claudia asked.

  “How much money does he have?” Jayla asked and Victoria shot her a look.

  “So are you two dating?” Victoria asked.

  “No, no, nothing like that. We’re just talking for now. We haven’t known each other very long.”

  “Is he cute?” Victoria asked.

  I couldn’t help but nod enthusiastically.

  “Well, lets see a picture of him then.”

  “I don’t have one.” Though I wished I did.

  “What’s his name? I’ll find him.” Victoria unlocked her phone and started typing.

  “Uh…” The Queens were getting dangerously close to an area of my life I needed to keep a secret. I had been so stupid to even tell them about Dean at all.

  “Well?” Victoria asked impatiently.

  “Bob Johnson,” I finally told her a random name.

  “Ew, Bob?” Jayla pulled a face.

  “Where does he live? Where does he go to school? How old is he? What are his parents names?” Victoria asked.

  “I don’t know, actually. We just started talking.” I was in danger and needed to steer us away from this path.

  Victoria eyed me for a tense moment, then shrugged and put away her phone to continue getting ready. “Ask him for a picture. I want to see him.”

  “Ok, will do!” I said but knew that I was never going to do that.

  The Queens kept taking shots while they were getting ready. I took one with them just to make the night more tolerable but for the rest I pretended to take the shot then held the liquid in my mouth and spat it into my sparkling water when pretending to take a sip after to get the taste of top-shelf vodka off my tongue. I needed to keep my wits about me. This was a working party in a dangerous situation, I needed to stay sharp.

  Chapter 17

  Eventually the Queens were finally ready, and we set off. We walked down a cobblestone path that led to a part of the island I had never been before. The Queens walked in their towering high heels on the rough ground as naturally as if they were walking in flats. We walked through the woods for a little ways before the path veered off towards the ocean. We were on the opposite side of the island from the harbor so I wondered where the boat would dock.

  I heard the sounds of other students before I saw them. The trees parted and revealed an alcove that was formed by the rocks of the island. In the middle was parked a massive yacht shining bright white in the moonlight. There was no way to get onto the boat except to jump from the rocks onto the deck. I saw that guys were making the small leap and then reaching back to help the girls they were with.

  We stopped for a moment while Victoria called someone. All she said was, “We’re here,” then hung up. A couple seconds later Brett appeared on the deck as we walked up. He saw me and his face went hard. I already felt out of place and his reaction didn’t help.

  Victoria smiled at him and reached out her delicate hand. He effortlessly picked her up by the waist in his massive arms as she held on to his shoulders and placed her gently on the deck. She walked inside without even a glance back.

  Next it was Grace’s turn and Brett performed the same action. Then Jayla. Then Claudia. All without a word. Finally, it was my turn. I stepped forward into position. Brett met my eyes with a hard, unreadable look. For a moment I didn’t think he would help me. He stood like a bodyguard protecting the boat from party crashers like myself. I could go home, but I needed to be at this party. I needed to get into the Kings’ inner circle and get information on them. I was getting on the boat whether Brett liked it or not.

  I looked around on either side of him for a place to jump. It wasn’t that far and the heels on my boots were low so I was pretty sure I could make it. I angled
to the left of the giant gladiator in front of me and leapt.

  Brett caught me mid-air. His large hands wrapped around my waist and gripped me firmly. My hands instinctively shot out and grabbed on to his broad shoulders. I was fit, but I wasn’t the lightest girl in the world but he held me like I weighed nothing. Our eyes locked and in his I could see the same storm raging that had been there that night in my room.

  It felt like we were in slow motion as he slowly lowered me to the deck. My feet struck solid ground, bringing me back to reality. His large hands left my waist, and it felt cold without their warmth. I was a little breathless, but I didn’t want him to know so I quickly walked around him to go join the other Queens.

  As soon as I walked inside I saw a table full of drinks and I grabbed one and sipped it to calm my racing heart. The inside of the yacht was what I expected—swanky as hell. There were a ton of students there and a couple crew members in their uniforms milling about. There were several bars and a couple bartenders. I had a brief stab of fear, there was no way this was legal, we were all very under age.

  “International waters,” Grayson said directly in my ear as he walked by.

  I jumped and spilled half my drink all over the front of my blouse.

  “Fuck,” I mumbled.

  I saw him smirk as he walked away. How had he known what I was thinking? I guess I had been staring at the bartenders with a scared look on my face. I hated that the guys had always been able to read my mind; I guess it was a talent that hadn’t gone away with time. A predictable pang of sadness hit me again at the thought of our long dead friendship.

  I started looking around for a napkin. Apparently this boat had every type of drink you could ever think of but no napkins. I was looking down so intensely that I almost ran right into Archer. I stepped back with a gasp.

  Clasped casually between his index and middle fingers was a napkin which he was holding out to me. He was looking out at the party when I ran into him but he turned his stunning dark blue eyes to me and raised a black eyebrow in a question, like “why haven’t you taken this napkin that I’m giving you yet?”