Page 80 of Rivals
“I was spying onyou,Gabriella.” Nina smiled. “What do you think people will say when they find out about your recreational activity?”
Gabriella shrugged noncommittally. “They won’t believe it, coming from a nobody like you.”
“Except that I have proof. I got the whole thing on video.”
For a moment Gabriella just stared at Nina. And then, to Daphne’s utter shock, she lunged forward.
She and Nina crashed to the floor, grappling wildly as they wrestled for Nina’s phone. They were a tangle of elbows and hair and muttered curses, like something out of a bad reality show. Daphne flew forward, trying to pull them apart, a bit incredulous. Somehow she hadn’t expected things to get so physical.
When Gabriella rolled to one side, clutching Nina’s phone fiercely to her chest, Nina just laughed. “Go ahead, delete the video. I’ve already emailed it to multiple people, any of whom will blast it out to the world as soon as I say so.”
Gabriella scrambled backward like a crab. She looked nothing like a socialite right now; her hair was an auburn frizz around her face, and the hem of her dress had ripped in the tussle. She looked ruthless and ragged and wild, like an animal focused on self-preservation.
“You can’t post that.” For the first time all night, Gabriella seemed afraid.
Daphne hurried to jump in. “We won’t do anything with it as long as you back down. Get Nina’s financial aid reinstated, and protect my father from the Conferrals and Forfeiture Committee.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gabriella said unconvincingly.
“Don’t you?” Daphne reached out to snatch the phone from Gabriella’s hand. “Or would you rather I share this video with theDaily News?”
Gabriella’s eyes narrowed. She hesitated, seeming to consider her options. “You’re seriously blackmailing me?”
“We’renegotiating,” Nina corrected. It was such a Daphne-esque thing to say that Daphne smiled a little.
Gabriella stood, brushing off her wrinkled dress, adjusting her gold belt. “To think that I was actually going to invite you to Antibes this summer if you kept behaving,” she said to Daphne. “You’re clearly just as low-class as your low-class father. He deserves to lose his title. And as foryou,” Gabriella went on, rounding on Nina, “you shouldn’t be at King’s College if you can’t even pay for it. Why don’t you go somewhere you can actually afford?”
“The fact that you just said that is appalling,” Daphne interjected, seething with anger.
Gabriella just sniffed.
“I’m serious, Gabriella. You have until next Saturday to fix what you’ve done.” Next Saturday, when they would all be together at the League of Kings closing banquet.
Gabriella’s eyes glittered with hatred. “I don’t know why I wasted my time trying to ruin your lives when you’re both so capable of doing it on your own.”
Well, at least she wasn’t denying it anymore.
At the doorway she paused, whirling around to toss out one last barb.
“You know what, Daphne? I should have realized something was up when you said you could use a friend. You don’t know the first thing about friendship.” She laughed harshly. “No one has ever wanted to be your friend. Not at St. Ursula’s, and certainly not now.”
“That’s not true,” Daphne tried to say, but the words came out as more of a whisper.
Gabriella cast her a withering look. “It’s sad, watching you go to such lengths to protect your pathetic little baronetcy. As if anyone even cares about a rank that low! Honestly, we’re all confused why Jeff is still with you. You have no money, no breeding, nothing to offer except a nice ass.”
The room was deadly silent as Gabriella swept out, shutting the door behind her with a click.
Nina glanced over, her voice warm with concern. “Are you okay?”
Daphne was mortified to feel her eyes stinging again. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d wept, let alone twice in one night.
And she couldn’t remember the last time anyone had looked at her and asked, as if it was such a simple question,Are you okay?
“God, Daphne—don’t cry.” Nina seemed as startled by her tears as she was. “Gabriella isn’t worth it. You can’t listen to her.”
“No, Gabriella is right.” The words ached as Daphne spoke them, yet it was a relief, too. “I don’t have any friends except Himari, and I pushed her away. I’m too proud and too mean.”
“You haven’t pushedmeaway,” Nina said softly.
