Gold Behind Closed Hands : Read Online

Chapter 1

1

I had just tucked the gift list away when the front door burst open.

Caleb Brooks stumbled in, a little tipsy, and plopped down next to me.

“You were gone for a few days. I bet you thought you wouldn’t come back.

“However, you missed me too much, didn’t you? You just had to come back.”

He almost said out loud that I returned just to con him out of his money.

Maybe he’d always seen me as just a girl after his cash.

Without even glancing at him, I scooted away, avoiding the arm he tried to drape over me.

He looked at his hand, then at me, confused.

He figured I was just upset about the $2,000.

“I’m a little thirsty from all the drinking. Go fetch me some lemon soda,” he said.

He was always like that, bossy and dismissive. A typical spoiled rich kid.

However, when he first pursued me seven years ago, he pretended to be poor.

He had me completely fooled.

“Jess, I’ve got nothing, and I can’t promise you a future.

“However, we can work hard and make a good life together.”

I believed his honest face back then and agreed.

I needed money, but I could get by on my own hard work.

I was touched by his promise to work hard together.

However, the longer we were together, the more I realized that he was not like everyone else.

He would turn his nose up at anything cheap.

He would make me do things that he could easily do himself.

It all clicked when I saw him step out of a fancy car and into a swanky club, treated like a star.

That was when I knew our relationship was built on lies.

He was always afraid that I was just after his money.

Caleb spoke up again, snapping me back to the present.

“If you need money in the future, just ask me. Don’t use your mom’s sickness as an excuse.

“You’re not scared of getting what’s coming to you, huh?”

His words seemed so silly to me now.

I looked up at him with an icy stare.

“Would you actually give me the money if I asked?”

He paused, looking unsure for a moment.

However, then, as if proving a point, he gave me a mocking glance.

“Nevaeh was right. You’re only with me for my cash.”