Chloe ran on an emotional auto-pilot. Mentally she was somewhere else, but physically and emotionally she appeared calm.

     She sat at the back of the luxury car Abigail had called for her. The smooth black seats had that new car smell and the cup holders were furnished with imported bottled-water from Iceland. The driver up front was a man in his late 20's named Michael Mendez and he only had high praise to say of Henry. He explained how they gave him the job to help support moving his family from Puerto Rico to New York and how grateful he felt for the opportunity.

     Chloe smiled and pretended she was listening.

     She told him nothing about herself. There really was no point to talking about herself, it would only end with sourly uncomfortable silence and unwanted pity.

     "Have you ever seen Manhattan before?" Mendez asked when he looked into the rear-view mirror to meet Chloe's gaze.

     Chloe shrugged a little along with a small head shake. "Just in movies and on tv."

     "Well, you are going to like it. There's lots of good food and things to do and see. There's a kinda magic in this city that makes people feel like they wanna stay when they visit, especially if they got money," Mendez emphasized about money and she could see why.

      They drove through the "Upper East Side" of Manhattan, a place where even the cracks on the pavement looked expensive. People dressed from head-to-toe in the latest winter fashions. Everything from their hair, to their shoes looked perfect and unmarked.

     She wondered if these people bought a brand new outfit to wear each day. There was no wear and tear on their shoe treads, or spots on their yellow coats, and definitely not even a scratch on the material of their tan colored designer purses.

     Chloe started to feel a self-conscience in her gray sweater with the owl imprint on the front and wash worn jeans. She knew it was cold outside, but her sweater was the warmest top she owned; in Cairo the temperature rarely got below 61 degrees. She paired it with her black jacket and scarf, but neither of those were crowd stopping.

     "So where am I going to go eat?" Chloe asked curiously.

     Mendez kept his eyes on the road. "That's up to you and young Mr. Price. We're on our way to pick him up now."

     Suddenly, Chloe felt flustered. She wasn't ready to socialize or deal with people. "But—I mean—I didn't make any plans with Prince. I haven't even called him yet."

     "Mrs. Martin arranged everything. She told me to pick him up so we're picking him up."

     Mendez didn't seem to mind or notice how shocked Chloe felt. He simply did what he was paid to do, drive.

     She found herself slumped back into the car seat. She had Prince's number, maybe she could text him and tell him she was sick, or had the flu. Maybe he'd be disgusted and not show up wherever it was they were picking him up from.

     But it was too late, because Mendez quickly called out, "And we're here! Welcome to Park Avenue, Miss White."

     Chloe pressed her face close to the window to gaze up at the neck-breaking-tall luxury condominium building. There were doormen, white & black marble tiles, gray stone mason-work, perfectly manicured topiary in stone mounted vases and one of the most impressive entryways she'd even seen.

     This building wasn't simply for people who were rich, this was a building intended for the 1% of the 1%.

     "Prince's family has a condo in this building?"

      Mendez laughed. "Miss White, the Price family owns the building. They got a whole floor to themselves. These condos start at about six-point-five-million dollars for two bedrooms and that's just the starting price."

      It started to make sense to Chloe now, why Henry and Elizabeth wanted to kiss-ass with the Price family.

      The Price family were elites.

      In comparison to what these people possessed, Henry's four bed-room home on the rich side of town looked like a child's play house.

     The glass doors were pushed open by the two doormen with perfect etiquette. Out into the elements, exited Prince Price. He had a way about him that reminded Chloe of a teenage Alex Pettyfer. He had the perfect hair cut, a gray wool coat and pricey sunglasses.

     He definitely looked like he belonged on a fashion week runway and not on the street.

     Great, he was on a completely different level from her in every possible way. What could they talk about? She would read web comics and this guy probably read the wall street journal for fun. This was going to be a long day.

     Mendez left the engine running as he dived out of the car and opened the backseat passenger door for Prince. Chloe slid from the middle car seat over to the far left.

     Prince slipped in and reached up to remove his sunglasses. The car door was firmly shut and Mendez rushed back to assume his role as the driver. Meanwhile, Prince smiled very warmly at Chloe in a way she completely hadn't anticipated.

     "Hey Chloe, it's good to see you again," Prince said with sincerity.

     "You too?" Chloe said it like a question.

     He turned his body just enough so he could talk with her face-to-face. "I felt really bad about what I said over dinner. I had no idea about your—you know—situation."

     Now Chloe felt foolish. Yes, she had gone through something terrible, but she shouldn't have said anything, she just should have never left her room in the first place.

     "No, I'm the one who is sorry. This is a problem between me and Henry. It has nothing to do with you."

     "I know that you probably don't feel like having a tour in your current state, but if you couldn't tell, our parents are insistent. My family wants me to get closer to you so they can understand more about your father, and I'm sure your parents want you to get closer to me for the same reasons," Prince explained.

     Well, at least they were both in the same position, forced by their parents to have a play-date. Prince didn't seem like a stuck-up jerk either, at least not yet.

     "Excuse me, I'm sorry Mr. Price, but where would you like me to take the two of you?" Mendez apologetically interrupted.

     "Oh don't drive off yet, there's going to be three of us," Prince replied.

     Chloe furrowed her brow in confusion. "Three of us?"

     "Yeah. You see, I go to a boarding school called Darkwood, and yes it is about as grim as the name sounds. I have a classmate who also goes there and we're only allowed back home to New York twice a year, so his family forced him to spend time with me. I guess you could say that's how he and I became friends," he answered with a sigh.

     She couldn't help, but wonder if this was the case with all Prince's "friends". Were they all just connections rich families were forcing him to make?

     A figure approached the car and Mendez popped out faster than popcorn to open the door. Another boy slipped into the car, it gave cause for Prince to slide over closer to Chloe's side. The new boy had sharp-piercing blue eyes and unruly dark curls of black hair. There was something eerily familiar and dauntingly attractive about the boy.

     Prince gestured between the two and decided to make the introductions. 

     "This is Chloe Martin—"

     "Chloe White," she corrected quickly.

     Prince nodded slowly before mending the name. "—Sorry, this is Chloe White. And Chloe, this is Dominic Huntsman."

     Dominic's dark brows and crystal eyes made him look like trouble. He smiled beautifully and hauntingly before speaking with a deep English accent. "So do you hate her yet?"

     He couldn't be asking her about who she was thinking about. He couldn't be!

     "Hate who?" Chloe asked, just to be sure.

     Dominic tilted his head, his expression holding quieted mirth as he tried to tame his wild smile.

     His rich voice articulated two simple words, "Our mother. . ."

There should have been a million-in-one questions, but the three of them rode in the back of the car in silence for a full fifteen minutes. 

     Dominic had to be joking. Elizabeth wasn't really his mother. She couldn't be, because as far as Chloe knew—from internet searches mostly—Elizabeth had been childless. In what world did this make any sense? How did he know Prince? Were they even friends? Was this a set-up? Chloe drowned in questions.

     "So, where are we going?" Dominic finally broke the silence.

     "What do you mean she's your mother!?" Chloe blurted out unable to contain herself any longer.

     Prince lifted a hand to rub against his forehead, "Dominic, stop it. And Chloe, don't listen to Dominic, he's enjoys upsetting people, you could say it's almost a pastime of his. He's the son of Hubert and Emily Huntsman, he has no relation to your step-mother."

     Dominic dug out a string of sour Twizzlers from a candy bag in his coat pocket and bit down on it, "Yes, yes, the adopted son of Hubert and Emily Huntsman, but look at this face and look at my mother's pictures when she was young and the family resemblance is uncanny. White, do you want a twizzler?"

     She narrowed her gaze at the boy. Why did he call her by her last name?

     "No, I don't want a twizzler," she answered through her teeth.

     Dominic ate the rejected candy, "You'll definitely want some when you are at Darkwood with us and they have that strict, no candy policy. You know, red 40 dye is cancerous, so twizzlers are treated like crystal meth."

     "She isn't attending Darkwood," Prince informed him. Chloe nodded in agreement to this statement.

     "Not yet, but you will, White. The same way my mother put me up for adoption, because she couldn't deal with the idea of a child ruining her lifestyle, she'll do the same to you. Have you heard of Elizabeth Bathory? The woman who bathed in the blood of maidens to stay young? She is like that. She is jealous and she doesn't like to have people around her that are prettier than herself. If you don't believe me, just take a look for yourself. She's famously vain for it. Her stylists, her managers, any females who work for her have to look plain," Dominic predicted.

     Prince finally reached out an arm to place Dominic in a playful headlock and messed with his hair, "I told you to stop it. She isn't your mother! You're filling her head with lies you jerk!"

     Dominic laughed as the two boys clearly seemed to be having a better time than Chloe was.

     She couldn't help feeling annoyed with them. Here she was, clearly trying to overcome her grief and they were having fun at her expense.

     However, there was something she couldn't deny. During the whole ride with Prince and Dominic, she hadn't once felt sad or sorry for herself. 

     Maybe that said something, and besides, the alternative was either spend time with the boys or go home and spend time with Elizabeth. The idea of the latter was cringe worthy.

     Chloe inhaled and tried to seem a little more cheerful, "So, yeah, like Dominic asked earlier, where are we going?"

     Prince and Dominic looked at one another and then as if both of them came to the same conclusion, they smiled.