My Online Boyfriend Mistook Me for Someone Else—I Left Chapter 04
Weston Sterling and Cynthia Valentine’s relationship became the loudest spectacle in school. True to his word, the fifty grand was delivered—though Weston didn’t give it to me himself.
He sent his best friend, Wilder Vance.
Wilder’s reputation matched his name perfectly—wild, arrogant, and entirely untamed.
That morning, right after the lunch bell, before anyone had left the classroom, he slammed through the front door. He walked straight to my desk and rapped his knuckles against the wood.
“Hey. Give me your Snapchat.”
I froze, looking up in confusion.
He frowned slightly, scanning my face. “Your name’s Rainy Miller, right? Sounds kind of poetic.”
As I stared back at him, his arrogant gaze faltered for a fraction of a second.
He cleared his throat lightly, shifting his weight. “Your ID. Give it to me. And then send me your bank card number, and I’ll transfer you the money.”
I quickly grabbed a scrap of paper and scribbled down a secondary number. “Here.”
He took it, gave me one long, unreadable look, and vanished as quickly as he had arrived.
The second his shadow cleared the door, a crowd of classmates swarmed my desk.
“Holy crap, I thought that post was just a joke! They actually paid up?”
“That’s Weston Sterling we’re talking about—the heir to a literal empire. Fifty grand to him is pocket change.”
“I am so jealous! But honestly, Cynthia is still the real winner here. Imagine marrying into the Sterling family…”
“Speaking of which, Rainy, you owe Cynthia a massive thank-you. If she hadn’t lost the watch, you wouldn’t have cashed in on this free jackpot.”
I had always been the quiet, invisible girl in the back. Facing this sudden spotlight made me incredibly uncomfortable.
I kept my mouth shut, offering nothing but a polite, empty smile to get them to back off.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Cynthia tying her hair up. Hearing the chatter, she offered a soft, effortless laugh. “Alright guys, stop gossiping.”
With that, she glided out of the room.
Her hair tie was a striking sky-blue, accented with a tiny, delicate butterfly charm. It looked beautiful on her.
The irony was, I had the exact same one sitting in my drawer at home. Weston had picked it out for me over our texts. But I had been too terrified of drawing attention to ever wear it to school.
That evening, I logged into my secondary phone and saw Wilder’s friend request.
Ever since discovering Weston went to my school, I had created this burner account for anyone from Bridgewater Academy to keep my world separate.
I was terrified he would connect the dots through mutual friends and find out that his witty online confidante was actually the plain, silent Rainy Miller.
But looking back, I had completely overestimated my own presence. My social circle was non-existent; I was nowhere near his radar.
Wilder Vance was the very first person on this account who had any connection to Weston Sterling.
I hit accept and sent my card number.
A second later, the transfer notification popped up.
I counted the zeros. Not a single penny missing. Fifty grand.
My finger hovered over the screen for what felt like an eternity.
[Thank you,] I messaged back.
I threw my phone on the bed and went to take a shower. When I came back out, I expected the chat to be dead, but a new notification flashed on the screen.
Wilder: [Hey, sorry if I sounded like a dick today. Blame Weston. He was too damn lazy to track you down himself, so he dragged me out of my nap to do his dirty work.]
Picturing Wilder’s notoriously wild, unbothered face making excuses over text was unexpectedly funny.
I typed back: [Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.]