Chapter 1

It was a week after graduation, and I was killing time scrolling through the Northwood University accepted students’ forum when a title snagged my attention.

[My boyfriend got into Northwood, and his personal doormat is buying him a condo.]

I frowned, clicking the link. The poster was in our graduating class, same as me and Leo Sterling. I hoped this wasn't going to be about someone we knew.

The post continued:

[My BF grew up in his doormat’s house, and he’s so sick of her. Getting into Northwood was his ticket out.]

[But she’s insisting he’s ‘used to living in a big house’ and that the dorms are too cramped, so she’s buying him a place near campus.]

[Question for upperclassmen: is the new development by the East Gate or the one by the West Gate more convenient for freshmen?]

[Because this is going to be our little love nest, obviously. ;) ]

The sheer, shameless audacity of it all made me laugh. I tapped out a quick reply.

[Why not both? I hear freshman year is split pretty evenly between the two sides of campus.]

I was about to screenshot it and send it to Leo with a caption like, Get a load of this, when my phone buzzed with a message from him.

[Chloe, I was just thinking. I hear the freshman classes are on both sides of campus. Maybe we should just get one place at the East Gate and one at the West.]

I stared at my phone. The words blurred.

Wait a second.

Was I… was I the doormat?

1

Leo Sterling and I grew up in the same house. His parents died in a car crash when he was five, and my father, unable to bear the thought of his best friend’s son going into the system, brought him home to live with us.

For more than a decade, I believed we were the most important people in each other’s lives. My own parents had even hinted, more than once, that if we ended up together, the Sanford family fortune would one day be ours to share.

But the Leo I knew was cautious and reserved, so mindful of his position that he’d never even dare to reach for a serving dish at the far end of the dinner table.

Could that boy be the same person who was letting some girl call me his “doormat” on a public forum?

My hand trembled as I clicked back to the thread. The user ID was RainyDaysJess. The profile picture was a selfie of a girl with huge eyes and a pointy chin, the classic Instagram-influencer face. I racked my brain, trying to place her among Leo’s friends. Nothing.

The replies were already piling up.

[Who’s your boyfriend? Sounds like a big deal!]

RainyDaysJess replied:

[He’s only the top scorer on the SATs in the entire state! We’ve been together for a month now!