Rich boyfriend

My ex-boyfriend, Chad, was loaded. And because of that, I was his total doormat. I mean, I perfected the art of kissing up. It worked like a charm until Brittany showed up. The day Chad and I broke up, I carefully asked, "Babe, about that condo you gave me…"

"Can you just get out?" he snapped. It was a scorching hot day, but after that, I grabbed the deed and ran like hell.

See, I've been a Grade-A brown-noser since elementary school. My desk buddy back then, little Ethan, had a serious allowance. His desk drawer overflowed with cash. I ran errands for him all day, five bucks a pop. I practically became his personal bathroom escort. Even at that age, I was stacking cash in my piggy bank. Ethan eventually moved, but I had enough saved to finish elementary school.

In middle school, I became a mini-entrepreneur. During lunch, I'd buy a backpack full of snacks from the corner store and sell them to my classmates during break, with a nice markup. My best customer was Ashley. She was this sweet, innocent-looking girl with hundreds of dollars in spending money every day. For some reason, she'd buy tons of snacks from me and then just give them away. After everyone tossed the wrappers on the floor, she'd pay me another twenty bucks to clean up. I was hustling, always trailing Ashley, picking up after her. Most kids didn’t really understand money, so I made a killing. I even hit three hundred dollars in a single day! Kid money is the easiest money, you know? They haven’t learned the value of a hard-earned dollar yet.

I didn't have parents, so I had to be smart. All I ever thought about was making money. That carried on into college. I was working my butt off until I met Chad – rich kid extraordinaire, with a bottomless wallet. He was a gift from the money gods. Chad was this artsy type, a "creative genius" whose family owned a real estate company. How did we meet? I was the student conduct board president, and I’d caught him skipping class for the twelfth time. His advisor, looking at the attendance sheet, was furious. "Like money grows on trees! Hey, you," he said to me, "don't bother clearing his absences."

So I didn’t. I kept recording his absences. Finally, right before break, Chad came looking for me. He asked what the deal was, and I carefully explained, "I have to follow the rules." He leaned back on the sofa, annoyed. "Well, figure it out." And I did. I ran around with him for a couple of days, pulling strings, and got it sorted. Chad was thrilled with my dog-like devotion. Maybe he felt sorry for my obvious poverty, but he gave me his gold pendant. A three-thousand-dollar pendant! I practically worshipped him after that. Morning texts, goodnight texts – the whole nine yards.

Then one day, he asked me if I was trying to date him. I carefully replied, "Do you not like my texts? I can stop." He didn’t reply for a while. Then, finally: "Your name is Josie, right?"

"Yes," I replied, adding a cute cat emoji.

"You know Ashley Price, right?"

"Ye...