You Threw Away a Diamond Chapter 03

You Threw Away a Diamond Chapter 03

Caleb’s umbrella was still sitting by my desk.

I picked it up and noticed for the first time a delicate, matte-black silver charm hanging from the handle.

It was custom-made from my favorite designer. The subtle flex of quiet wealth was impossible to ignore.

I pulled out my phone and sent him a message.

“When are you free? I need to return your umbrella.”

The screen showed he was typing. I smiled, tracing the small charm with my fingertip.

“Lending a girl an umbrella this fancy… aren’t you afraid your girlfriend might get jealous?”

His reply was almost instantaneous.

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Right, he was a year younger. He probably wasn’t focused on that stuff yet.

I dropped it and we arranged a time to meet.

I was about to put my phone away when a call came in from an unknown number. I sighed and answered, expecting spam.

“What is it?”

But the voice that barked through the speaker was Julian’s.

“Scarlett, you fucking hypocrite!”

“So that’s it! You dumped me because you’re already sleeping around? Getting into some Aston Martin with a rich guy?”

“Have you no shame!”

I was completely baffled, with no idea what he was yelling about.

I could faintly hear a girl’s delicate voice trying to placate him in the background—Cassidy, no doubt.

I sneered. “I don’t know about my shame, but you’ve definitely lost your mind. Are you high?”

“If you have this much free time, go play in traffic.”

I hung up.

Just then, my roommate shoved her phone in my face, her eyes wide with shock.

“Scarlett, look at the campus Gossip app! You’re trending!”

I took the phone. There it was: a blurry photo of me getting out of Caleb’s car last night.

The caption was completely unhinged: *Spotted: Kingsbridge’s ice queen downgraded from frat royalty to hooking up with some old sugar daddy for an Aston Martin ride. Guess money buys everything.*

Seriously, are people this bored?

I didn’t need a detective to figure out who was behind this.

One of Cassidy’s little sorority clones, probably.

This was making my blood boil.

I immediately redialed the unknown number.

“Where are you?”

“What, thinking of coming to apologize? It’s too late!” Julian’s tone was smug. I could practically see his triumphant, punchable smirk through the phone.

“Weren’t you so tough yesterday?”

“I asked, where the hell are you?”

My patience was already worn thin. This latest pile of crap was the final straw.

“The quad, by the student union.”

I hung up without another word. Good. It was close.

I strode over, spotting them from a distance, getting cozy on a bench.

“Scarlett, I said…”

Before he could finish, I snatched the iced latte straight out of Cassidy’s hand and dumped it right over Julian’s lap.

“You’re fucking insane!” Julian howled, jumping up, a mixture of fury and shock on his face as the ice cubes scattered on the grass.

“Scarlett, please don’t be mad at Julian. This is all my fault, I only showed him the post because I was worried…”

I turned my cold gaze on Cassidy, stepping into her personal space until she shrank back. “Save the innocent act for someone who cares. Control your pathetic stray dog.”

Looking at the furious Julian and the weeping Cassidy he was now pulling behind him, I felt a wicked, adrenaline-fueled smile spread across my face.

God, that felt good.

It caused quite a scene, and a crowd of students quickly gathered, phones already out.

At this, Cassidy’s performance escalated. She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with manufactured sobs.

“Scarlett, my friend sent me that photo. I only showed it to Julian because I was worried you were making bad choices…”

What a load of bullshit. Leaving aside the fact that Julian wouldn’t be worried about me, how does spreading a rumor confirm I’m safe?

Does she think I was born yesterday?

But her damsel-in-distress act was working perfectly for the frat bros and sorority girls watching. The public rarely cares about the truth, only the spectacle.

In this scene, I was the vicious, jealous ex, and she was the helpless victim.

Whispers started to ripple through the crowd.

They were probably calling me the shameless gold digger.

And hey, why does a guy with an Aston Martin have to be an old man? Can’t he be young, filthy rich, and devastatingly handsome?

I wanted to fight back, but the crowd was pressing in, their murmurs growing louder, a suffocating wall of judgment.

“I heard she totally cheated on him first!”

Someone in the crowd chimed in, eager to stir the pot. I recognized her—one of Cassidy’s sorority sisters.

I glared at her, then back at Julian and Cassidy, and scoffed.

“Trash like him belongs in a dumpster.”

“I couldn’t get away from him fast enough. You think I’d fight you for a guy who kisses other girls at parties?”

“It’s your own deep-seated insecurity that’s showing, Cassidy, and now you’re putting on this pathetic show for an audience.”

I was so furious my hands were trembling.

These people were brainless, just parroting whatever gossip they were fed.

There were too many of them to argue with, and I’d vented enough. I decided to push through the crowd and leave.

But a couple of Julian’s frat brothers moved to block my path, smirking down at me.

I was no match for their size and was roughly shoved back.

My elbow slammed against the rough brick edge of a planter. A sharp, blinding pain shot through my arm, and I hissed, cradling my elbow.

They moved to press in further, but then, the entire crowd fell dead silent, the air suddenly turning frigid.