Page 4 of Auctioned to the Billionaire Stalker

“Daisy Tiller.” I shifted uncomfortably. I hated to ask for anything, any help.

“Ms. Tiller,” she said, looking over the rims of her bifocals at me, “you need to make a significant payment, or you’ll be dropped from your current classes.”

“I know. That’s why I’m here.” I tried to smile at her, but she was decidedly unimpressed with my friendliness. Why was this happening anyway? “There was a mistake on my financial aid form, but the woman I spoke with assured me the money would be here in time.”

“Well, it’snothere. That’s the problem.” She was looking at me expectantly.

“Could you check one more time, please…”

“Ms. Tiller,” she said in a bored voice, “I have your file pulled up in front of me. I assure you, the money is not here. There’s a chance it could come in during the semester andthat you’ll be reimbursed, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

I stared at her, wondering what to do. I had a decent amount of money in my bank account, but I had it earmarked for other things. Important things.

“Um, since the financial aid check hasn’t come through, I was hoping I could get a payment plan? Last year, a friend of mine was able to pay twelve equal payments for tuition…”

“That option was discontinued. The best I can offer,” she sounded bored as she typed away, “is a quarterly plan. You’d owe four equal payments of eight hundred dollars.” She frowned while typing away. “Oh, that won’t work. You’re set to graduate in December. I can offer you two payments of sixteen hundred dollars each. One is due now, and one will be due in November.”

Damn. That was so much worse than I’d thought she was going to say. I opened my mouth to say something else, but she continued talking.

“What happened?” She stopped typing and stared between me and her screen and back to me again. “It says here you were on a full academic scholarship.”

“Well, I lost that scholarship. My mom got… sick. I had to help her out. I have five younger sisters at home. I went back home a lot that year and, well, it was a lot. I couldn’t maintain the grade point average I needed to keep that scholarship.”

“Oh.” She frowned and almost looked sorry for me. But her eyes trailed over me, and I saw a familiar look in them as a slight, satisfied smile barely showed on her lips. “That’s a shame.”

I knew what was going on. It had happened off and on all my life. I’d always been unusually pretty, and as I’d gotten older, I’d developed the kind of toned but curvy body that men noticed. For some reason, my looks had made other women hate me before I’d even opened my mouth. Before they even knew me at all.

It kind of pissed me off, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

“But I see here that you had a dance scholarship, too. For the dance team,” her beady eyes cut over at me again. “I didn’t know they gave scholarships for that.”

“They do. It’s actually a lot of hard work.”

She got a condescending smile on her face, and I couldn’t help but wish she had to go to just one practice and see how athletic the team was then. “What happened to that scholarship?”

I didn’t want to tell her, but my mind went blank. I suddenly couldn’t think of a good lie. And, I realized I was tired of feeling ashamed. I held my head high and met her gaze. “My sponsor found out I was working at one of the Salazar’s clubs to make money to send home to my mother. She kicked me off the team.” And I’d gotten kicked out of my sorority. I’d lost my room in the sorority house, and, when I’d gone to my boyfriend’s apartment to see if I could crash with him for a day or two… that’s when I’d found out he was cheating.

When it rains, it pours.

“Oh,” she said, with a look of distaste on her face. She arched an eyebrow at me. “Do you not make enoughthereto cover your tuition and fees?”

“Not if I want to send money home, too.”

She nodded, seeming to lose some of her superiority when faced with my lack of embarrassment.

That had faded over the months, then years, I’d worked at Sugar.

“Well, I need sixteen hundred dollars by the end of the day tomorrow if you want to keep your classes.”

I sighed and plunked down my debit card. I think I would have twenty bucks left after that. And my triplet little sisters needed new dance uniforms. And all five of my sisters needed school supplies and new clothes. And the rent was due on my mom’s flower shop. And she wasstillhaving a hard time getting out of bed after her most recent divorce, even though it had been years ago now.

I was drowning, and there wasn’t a lifelinein sight. To my horror, I felt tears start to swim in my eyes. I looked at the ceiling and tried to suck them back into my face. I wouldnotlet this woman see me cry.

“Here you go,” she said as she printed a receipt and handed it to me.

“Thanks,” I said brusquely and hurried out of the building. When I burst through the double doors, I took a deep breath of the fresh air. One payment down, one more to go. At least that would get me my degree. Just a few months and I’d be finished. I probably wouldn’t even walk in the graduation ceremony, either.

But that was okay. I was just ready to get the hell out of West Bay. I’d come here with such high hopes, and they’d all come crashing down around me. Now I just wanted to go back home to Crosston and help raise my sisters and run the flower shop. Well…wantedwas a strong word. It was what Ineededto do. My hopes and dreams of working in advertising for a big, glamorous company like Lancaster Games were fading fast.