The Inauthentic Billionaire Princess

Chapter 1

"Miss James." My Bio/Genetics cluster professor, Ms Brown said calmly in surprise. I looked at him with apologetic eyes.

"I'm sorry, Professor." I said, clutching my bag strap on my shoulder nervously when I realized there were some eyes watching me.

He looked at me through his thick red-framed glasses, pushing him further up his nose. "Are you aware that you're almost twenty-five minutes late for class?"

"I know, but someone-"

"I don't want any excuses. You can't be late for class. Come on time or don't come at all."

I turned my eyes from her to the floor. Ms. Brown is a slightly angry woman. He's kind and friendly, but he can be scary if he wants to. And no one dared to be late to his class. But I'm. It just so happened that a girl accidentally spilled her drink all over my body before class started and I went to clean it up. And I didn't even hear the bell signifying that Bu Brown's class had begun.

"If you're only five minutes late, that's OK, Miss James, but do you realize that you're twenty-five minutes late? Twenty-five minutes is a lot."

"I-I'm sorry," I stammered, as a result of being the center of attention of many people.

"I'm also sorry that I had to deduct one point from your academic grades."

"No!" I explode. "I mean, Mrs Brown, please don't, don't do this. This is not gonna happen again. Please."

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't, Miss James. Do you realize how bad your performance was on the last test?" She asked.

I remained silent. I did very poorly on that test. The concepts are not easy and I rarely have time to study because of my part-time job.

"Do you remember what Centimorgan, Aneuploidi, Monosomy, and Trisomy are? I'm pretty sure you learned it in AP Biology class in your high school."

I looked at him with a shy smile on my face. "Eh, Centimorgan is a .. genetic disorder in which a person has four-no, um three copies of a chromosome instead of two," I said in a tone of disbelief, looking at him expectantly.

"That's Trisomy. Not Centimorgan."

"Oh, um. sorry." I said quickly. His gaze intimidated me and I stared again at the suddenly interesting patterns on the tiles, hoping he would just disappear.

"You don't know what it is? I subtract two points from your academic grade." He said calmly. "I don't want you in my class today."

I'm not flinching. "Please."

"No," she almost raised her voice. I breathe out slowly. I don't want to embarrass myself any further.

I left before he told me again. I spent the rest of my time in the library studying.

For the next class, I made sure that I arrived early. The professor wasn't there when I entered the class. I walked towards my seat which was in the far corner, away from the lecturer's view.

There are a lot of students in the class. They were all chatting with their friends. I looked away from their happy faces and pulled out my book. I'm not very smart, but I get pretty good grades in all subjects except for the Bio/Genetics cluster.

I opened my book and stared at it page by page. I don't read but I don't want to see people around me who are with their friends.

I have a friend, Olivia who works in a cafe with me. He was like family to me. And then there's Mrs Odin. She was a kind woman who owned a cafe where I worked. She treated me like her own daughter and I loved her very much. He lost his daughter in a car accident a few years ago. It was something horrible that he told me when I started working in his cafe less than a year ago. He is very understanding and I am sure he will not be angry with me for being late today. I already consider Olivia and Mrs Odin to be my family.

Shortly after, the professor entered the class. I watched what he taught me and took notes.

I saw him scolding a guy in class. He spoke harshly to her. I hate my classmates. They are all rich like me. But that's not why I hate them. The way they talk to others, the way they behave that makes me angry. Most people don't talk to me because my status isn't as high as theirs and I'm not rich. But that doesn't mean I'm poor and hungry. Mrs Odin paid me well. Some people are kind enough to be my friends, but I can see that they are being friendly to me because they pity me. And I don't want their sympathy, I want a true friend. I'm not good at reading people so I can't be sure. Maybe my inferiority is to blame.

The teacher continued his teaching and after an hour, the class was over.

I walked out of class and that's when someone pushed me away from their path. The books in my hand fell off and I turned to glare at the person who pushed me.

Ashley Johnson walked past me. He didn't notice my look.

"Can't you walk right?" I spit. He looked back.

"You're blocking my way" he sneered at me. "And oh my God! Did you just touch me?!" He made a horrible face towards me.

"I don't touch bad things. I'm pretty sure you pushed me." I'm not like them, but that doesn't mean I'll keep my mouth shut when something like that happens to me.

"What do you call me?" He moved closer and grabbed my arm. His perfectly manicured nails stuck in my skin.

"You are rubbish. Get your paws off me." I said and wriggled to release my hand from its tight grip.

"Silence, you.. you ******!" He took my hand and glared at me. "You deserve what you got."

"What do you mean?"

I don't understand what the problem is. He has never acted that way in others, even in people who are on the same level as me in terms of wealth. He was always nice to everyone but me. It seems he deliberately wanted to upset me.

That was enough to destroy my self-control. My hands were clenched and before I knew it, my hands were already on her pink and tender cheeks. He stumbles backwards and his henchmen catch him.

"Don't you dare say anything about my life. You're nobody to comment on." I snapped at him as I watched him struggle to get up without showing any expression. I ran out of class without waiting for an answer.

I don't care what people say about me. But things like that hurt. I lost my parents when I was thirteen and then I was adopted by my uncles and aunts. They were very kind to me and raised me well. I know I am a burden to them. They were poor but they never made me feel deprived. So, when I was eighteen, I rented a restroom to myself that was a bit away from them and got a job as a waitress in a cafe. That's where I met Olivia and Mrs Odin. It happened almost a year ten months ago when I was a freshman in college and was just eighteen. My uncle and aunt moved back home in the countryside.

And how could Ashley talk to me like that? What have I ever done to him? He doesn't know what it's like to live without parents and I hope he doesn't have to experience it. It was the most painful thing for me, the loss of a parent. But I will not let him control me. I am strong, I know I am strong.

After I finished with the class, I arrived at the cafe at about 4:16 p.m. I saw Olivia behind the counter, taking customer orders. I opened the door of the cafe, heard a bell ringing on it and walked towards it.

"Hey, it's been a while" Olivia said with a smile to me as I came and stood beside her.

"Not everyone has a beautiful car like yours. Some farmers have to walk or take the bus" I replied.

He laughed and shook his head. "You forgot the part where I basically stole it from my parents."

"And how lucky. They didn't report it."

"A farewell gift for not acknowledging me, I guess." He's cleared his throat. "I'm going to clean up today. You're the one doing the record-keeping. Don't make mistakes."

I nodded at him and started working. Not many customers came. At the end of the day, I was done with the notes and even had time to study.

It was a fun part of this part-time job, I had a lot of free time even when I was working. I was also paid pretty well. But the time is very long. I worked at the cafe from four in the afternoon to nine in the evening.

"Julie," Olivia called from behind me.

I'm turning. He was also done with his work and was leaning against the table, with a cup of coffee in his hand. He took a sip, his tongue sliding over his lips as he wiped the coffee from his lips.

"Yes?"

"You know my friend, Wilma. He's on his birthday this Saturday. He had a big party and he invited me. You should come too."

Olivia is a party star. He likes parties. However, I am not. I hate parties because they make me feel uncomfortable and out of place, and all I see at parties is loud music, people dancing like there is no tomorrow and alcohol. It really wasn't my choice to have fun.

"I can't, Liv. I don't like parties. You know it. But don't worry, you can go with your other friends" I said and saw his face bowed.

"No one else is free for tonight. Don't worry, this isn't a party like it was at High School. Please, come. We won't be there long, just a few hours. Please, for me." He looked at me with a puppy.

"No, I have to learn. Why don't you go alone?"

"That would be very awkward for me. I don't know anyone but him in his entire family! I will never leave you. I will always be with you. You're gonna be fine. Don'worry. Please." She begged.

Why was he so desperate to go to the party? Did he never go to that party?

I know how Olivia is. He won't give up until he gets what he wants. Sometimes he makes me dizzy.

"please. Just for a few hours. We'll be back before eleven. You won't regret going there. Please!"

I let out a breath. No matter how much I hated the party, no matter how much I turned it down, I knew he would get his own way in the end.

"alright. But as you promised, just for a few hours, we should be back before eleven. You'll stay by my side all the time. Understood?"

He nodded his head excitedly. "Yes, yeah!"

"Good," I said and he turned to leave when I suddenly remembered the most important thing I had to say to him.

"Liv!" I exclaimed. He looked with curious eyes.

"What?"

"And no, I mean no drinking at all."

"What's? Not likely. I'll drink a little. Who said no to free drinks?" He whined at me as I turned around to leave. There's no way I'm gonna let him drink.

"No." I said.

She kept whining but I ignored her and walked towards my apartment.