My Bestie Called Money ‘Dirty’, Now She’s Watching Me Get Spoiled by Eight Men Chapter 07

My Bestie Called Money ‘Dirty’, Now She’s Watching Me Get Spoiled by Eight Men Chapter 07

Life with the Whitmores felt more like a dream than reality.

The very next morning, Lucian took me in for a physical.

The results came back quickly.

[Malnutrition. Anemia. Chronic sleep deprivation.]

Mrs. Whitmore’s eyes filled with tears on the spot.

Spencer looked at me, his voice choked, “We’ll take care of you, sweetie.”

From that day on, there was a nutritionist on staff at the house.

Every day, someone made sure I drank my milk, ate fruit, and went to bed on time.

Finn was put in charge of helping me study after school.

He complained that I learned too slowly, but his pen kept circling the most important questions.

“This one shows up on the SSAT all the time.”

“Memorize this formula.”

“And quit looking at me like that. It’s not like I’m helping you because I care.”

“I just don’t want you embarrassing the family.”

I nodded. “Thanks, Finn.”

The tips of his ears went red instantly.

My days became so full that I barely had time to overthink anything.

Seraphina, meanwhile, texted me every single day.

[Are they making you serve meals?]

[Do they have a million rules? Are they mean to you?]

[Don’t be scared. Just tell me. I won’t laugh at you.]

When my replies started getting shorter, she took it to the Silver Creek Group Home group chat

instead

[Brynn’s probably busy doing chores. She can’t really get to her phone.]

[Living with a rich family isn’t as easy as it looks. Let’s give her some space, okay?]

Someone asked if I was doing okay.

Seraphina replied: [Hard to say. She keeps saying she’s fine.]

[But you know how she is always too proud to admit anything. She’s probably just putting on a

brave face.]

Before long, everyone at the group home believed I was miserable.

When Finn overheard the rumors, he frowned.

“Who said we make you do labor?”

I handed him my phone.

The more he read, the darker his face became.

“Is Seraphina seriously out of her mind?”

I shrugged. “She needs to believe that.”

“It’s the only way she can convince herself she didn’t lose.”

Finn looked at me.

“And you’re just going to let her keep saying all this?”

I looked down and kept working on my practice questions.

“No rush to set the record straight.”

The comments floated into view again.

This time, they weren’t calling Seraphina their girl anymore.

[The Welcome Home Party is almost here! Just wait until the truth comes out!]

[The Whitmores are throwing Brynn a party for her birthday. Everyone from Silver Creek Group

Home has been invited!]

[Seraphina’s planning to show up all dressed up, ready to gloat. Too bad she’s the one who’s gonna

be the laughingstock.]

That evening, Mrs. Whitmore came to my room.

She brought up the same thing.

“Brynn, next week’s your birthday-your first birthday with our family.”

“We’d like to throw you a small party.”

“Nothing big-just close friends and everyone from the group home.”

She looked at me carefully.

“Would that be okay?”

Seeing how nervous she was made my heart ache.

No one had ever really celebrated my birthday before.

At the group home, there were too many children.

Most years, a birthday meant nothing more than a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a boiled egg.

I smiled. “Yes.”

“Thank you… Mom.”

Mrs. Whitmore froze for a moment.

Then she wrapped me in a tight hug and burst into tears.

Outside the door, all eight of my brothers had clearly been eavesdropping the entire time.

“Who just stepped on my foot?”

“Stop pushing!”

“Did you get it? Tell me you got it on video!”

“Delete that. It’s a total invasion of privacy.”

Buried in Mrs. Whitmore’s embrace, I let my eyes fall shut.

For the first time in my life, I felt it-I was truly loved.