Chloe’s legs went weak. She sat down hard on the edge of the bed.
Three won.
Three children.
By twenty-five.
"That’s fucking dieval," she whispered.
"I know."
"Why would your grandfather even want that?"
Jordan sat next to her. Not touching. Just close enough that she could feel his body heat through her hoodie.
"My grandfather cos from a different generation. Different culture. He grew up during a ti when n having multiple partners wasn’t just accepted, it was expected if you had money and status." Jordan’s voice was flat. "He moved to Arica and built his fortune here but he never let go of those old world values. When he wrote his will, he made it clear that he wanted the McKnight bloodline to flourish. One son wasn’t enough. One grandchild wasn’t enough. He wanted to make sure we multiplied."
Chloe felt sick. "And your parents are okay with this?"
"My dad thinks it’s archaic but he won’t challenge it. My mom pretends it doesn’t exist. My sister Cassie thinks it’s hilarious." Jordan’s laugh was bitter. "She doesn’t have to deal with it. The inheritance only applies to male heirs."
"Of course it does." Chloe pressed her palms against her knees. Her hands were shaking. "So you’re telling that if we’re together... I have to share you with two other girls?"
"Technically you’d be sharing with other won, yes."
"And you’re okay with this?"
Jordan turned to look at her. His eyes were dark. "No. I’m not okay with it. I’ve spent my entire life hating this stupid condition. Hating what it says about my family and what they think I’m worth. Hating that my future is already mapped out by a dead man’s ego."
"Then don’t do it." Chloe grabbed his hand. "Refuse the inheritance. Tell your grandfather to shove his money and his archaic bullshit where the sun doesn’t shine."
"It’s not that simple." Jordan’s voice ca out flat.
"Why the hell not?" Chloe’s grip on his hand went tighter, almost painful in its desperation.
"Because my grandfather’s will has twenty million dollars attached to that condition." Jordan stared at their joined hands.
"If I refuse, the money goes to charity. My parents lose their stake in the family business. Everything my dad built gets absorbed by the board."
Chloe’s breath caught. Twenty million. The number was so big it didn’t feel real.
With twenty million dollars, her mom’s dical bills would disappear. Daniel’s college fund would be set for life. She could quit OnlyFans tomorrow and never have to pretend to be Calypso again.
Her brain imdiately felt dirty for going there. For calculating what twenty million could buy.
"That’s a lot of money," she said quietly.
"Yeah."
"And you need three girlfriends to get it."
"By the ti I’m twenty-five. I’m eighteen now. I have seven years." Jordan squeezed her hand. "The won have to verify the relationships are real. They can’t be paid actresses or friends doing a favor. My family has investigators who will make sure everything is legitimate."
Chloe pulled her hand back. She stood up and walked to the window. The parking lot below looked empty. Her white Civic sat three spaces away from Jordan’s. Both cars looked so normal. So ordinary.
Nothing about this situation was ordinary.
"Why are you telling this now?" She didn’t turn around. "We just had sex for the first ti. You could have waited. Could have let think we were normal for a little while longer."
"Because I care about you." Jordan’s voice was closer. He’d followed her to the window. "And I don’t want to lie to you. Not about this. Not about sothing that affects your entire future if you stay with ."
"If I stay with you." Chloe repeated the words. "So I’m number one?"
Silence.
She turned to face him. Jordan looked miserable.
"I don’t have anyone else right now," he said carefully. "You’re the first girl I’ve been with since Eliza. The first girl I’ve actually wanted to be with."
"But you’ll need two more."
"Eventually. Yes."
Chloe laughed. The sound ca out sharp and wrong. "This is crazy. You know that, right? This entire situation is completely insane."
"I know."
"I should walk away right now. I should tell you to leave and never co back and pretend this whole thing never happened." She wrapped her arms around herself. "That would be the smart choice."
"I wouldn’t bla you if you did."
Chloe looked at him. Really looked at him. Jordan stood there in his borrowed joggers with his damp hair curling slightly at the ends and his hazel eyes full of guilt and hope and fear all mixed together.
This morning she’d been selling content online and maintaining her carefully constructed double life. Tonight she’d took the virginity of her next-door neighbor and found out he ca with the most complicated strings attached she’d ever heard of.
Her phone buzzed downstairs. Probably Alexis wondering where she’d disappeared to. Probably subscribers asking for new content. Probably her mother checking if she’d eaten lunch.
The real world kept spinning outside this apartnt but inside here, ti had frozen.
"I need to think," Chloe said finally.
Jordan nodded. "That’s fair."
"I’m not saying no. I’m just... I need to process." She rubbed her temples. "Can you give tonight? To think about what this ans?"
"Of course." Jordan moved toward the stairs. "I’ll get out of your hair."
"Jordan."
He stopped. Turned back.
Chloe closed the distance between them. She pressed up on her toes and kissed him once, quick and soft.
"Thank you for telling ," she whispered against his mouth. "Thank you for being honest instead of letting find out later when it would hurt more."
Jordan’s hand ca up to cup her cheek. "I ant what I said earlier. About wanting you to be my girlfriend. That part was real. This other stuff is just... complicated."
"Complicated is an understatent."
"Yeah."
They stood there for a mont longer. Then Jordan kissed her forehead and headed downstairs.
Chloe heard him moving around her living room. Probably putting on his shoes. Probably grabbing his shirt from where she’d thrown it on the coffee table hours ago.
The door opened and closed.
Silence rushed in to fill the empty space.
Chloe sat on her bed and stared at her hands. They were still shaking.
Multiple partners.
The phrase repeated in her head like a broken record.
Part of her wanted to be angry. To feel betrayed that Jordan had dropped this bomb after they’d already slept together. After she’d already started catching feelings.
But he could have hidden it. Could have let her fall completely before revealing the truth. Could have trapped her with emotions and attachnt before showing his cards.
Instead he’d been honest. Painfully, brutally honest.
That had to count for sothing.
Her phone buzzed again downstairs. Chloe ignored it.
She thought about the way Jordan had looked at her tonight. The way he touched her like she was sothing precious. The way he’d made her laugh and made her feel safe and made her forget about Calypso and the subscribers and all the masks she wore.
She thought about twenty million dollars. About what that kind of money could do.
She thought about sharing him with two other won. About watching him kiss soone else. Touch soone else. Fall for soone else the way he was starting to fall for her.
Her stomach churned.
But then she thought about walking away. About never seeing that stupid soft smile again. About going back to her empty apartnt and her empty bed and pretending tonight hadn’t changed everything.
That felt worse sohow.
Chloe grabbed her phone and scrolled through her ssages. Alexis had sent seventeen texts asking where she was. Kumiko had sent ani s. Her mom had sent a recipe for kimchi stew.
One ssage stood out.
Jordan: I’m sorry. For all of it.
Chloe stared at the words. Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard.
She typed and deleted three different responses before settling on: Don’t be sorry. Just give ti.
The reply ca imdiately: Take all the ti you need. I’m not going anywhere.
Chloe set her phone down and lay back on her bed. The sheets still slled like him. Like soap and sweat and sex.
Tomorrow she had Econ at nine. She’d sit three rows behind Jordan like always. She’d pretend to take notes while actually watching the back of his head.
Except now she knew what his hair felt like between her fingers. Knew what sounds he made when she touched him. Knew that he tasted like white cheddar popcorn and felt like ho.
And she knew that loving him ca with conditions she’d never imagined.
Multiple partners.
Three won.
Seven years.
Twenty million dollars.
Chloe closed her eyes and tried to imagine what that future looked like. Tried to picture herself standing next to Jordan while two other girls held his hands.
The image made her want to throw up.
But the image of losing this opportunity entirely made her want to scream.
So she lay there in the dark, listening to the sounds of the building settling around her, and tried to figure out which pain she was willing to live with.
User Comments
0 comments from readers