The Heiress’s Online Boyfriend Fell for Me

My roommate wanted me to pretend to be her in an online romance with a rich, ugly guy who refused to send a single photo.

I was about to say no when the chat lost its mind. [He's not ugly, the scars from the car accident just haven't healed yet!] [He's actually the Graves family heir.

Don't hand the male lead over to this Flannel Girl!] I looked down at what I had on. Flannel shirt. Blackframed glasses.

By the time I looked up again, my roommate was already holding the phone out to me.

Chapter 1 The layer of text in front of my eyes was still scrolling upward, one line after another.

Like somebody had aimed a livestream at me and an audience I couldn't see was packed into the comments below, spamming away. I froze.

My roommate had actually told me about all this before. Her family had arranged an engagement for her with the son of a family they did business with.

She refused, and she ran away from home. After she left, they shut off her cards, her standard of living fell off a cliff, and with no other option she ended up rooming with me.

And me. Flannel Girl?

The text came back. [Cutting your own bangs and butchering them that badly isn't enough, you've also got those black frames on your face all day, and it's either flannel with jeans or flannel with sweatpants, the same look all four seasons — you're not even trying, are you?

You and our heiress in her pretty dresses are not in the same league, okay?] I looked down at myself. This was comfortable. It wasn't hurting anybody. And yes, I cut my own bangs.

So what if I wrecked them? They didn't cost me a cent. Kendall Vance poked me with one crystalcrusted nail. "Hey. Does this really take that long to think about?

It's not like I'm asking you to talk to him for free. When he sends me money, you take thirty percent, I take seventy.

How's that?" "Besides," she said, curving her red lips, "talking to him would broaden your horizons a little. You make money and you see how the other half lives.

Where else are you going to find a deal that does both?" I sighed to myself. Why hadn't she led with that? Broadening my horizons was secondary. The money was not optional.

So I took the phone and made her a solemn promise. "Don't worry.

I'll do a great job talking to him for you." Back in my room, I showered, flopped onto my bed, and started scrolling through their message history. They'd met in a game.

They'd traded names, and they'd sent each other voice messages. I read the whole thing start to finish and didn't find anything I couldn't make sense of.

It was just that this Knox talked a lot. He could send seven or eight "what's baby doing" texts in a single day.

Go more than half an hour without answering and he'd start circling, working his way from "is baby busy?" to "baby, who are you with?" And finally, comforting himself, a little heartbroken about it: "baby, you're sleeping, right?" That's it?

The Graves family heir? Somebody get this man a job. Then again, he and Kendall had only been talking for five days and he'd already sent her twenty thousand dollars.

Generous, no argument there.

I finished scrolling and rolled onto my back, trying to mine the pile of comments trashing me for anything useful. [Our heiress, a yandere is very easy to tame, he's just a little starved for love, a little possessive, don't hold it against him.] [He's just terrified of losing you.

Make the first move even a little and he'll do whatever you say.] So this was a yandere?

Chapter 2 A glasshearted puppy — pet him once and you can never pet another dog again, give him one sliver of sunlight and he lights all the way up?

I was still mulling that over when the phone on my chest buzzed.

Knox: [What's baby doing?] [Routine checkin.] Me: [Holding my phone, waiting for your message.] Knox: [Baby's so good.] And immediately after that, a transfer of five hundred dollars.

Most of my sleepiness burned off on the spot. A deposit line appeared quietly in my Venmo balance.

Before I could even thank him, Knox sent another message. [Baby, I want to ask you something.] Me: [Ask.] Knox: [Is there anyone of the opposite sex in your phone besides me?] Me: [There's my dad.

Does that bother you? I'll delete him if it does.] The chat had a fullbody reaction. [Holy crap!

Flannel Girl looks harmless and she's actually got a mean streak?!] [You delete one and see what happens! I'll get somebody to mess you up!] I made a face. I was humoring a puppy.

Why was everyone so worked up? Kendall had two phones. On the one she actually used, she was talking to an extremely agreeable guy from a college football team.

Ask for his face, he showed his face. Ask for his abs, he showed his abs. Very obedient, and he cleared every round comfortably.

The phone in my hand was one she'd bought specifically for talking to Knox. He was the only contact in it.

She'd kept Knox around for that many rounds and then found out he wouldn't even show his face. So. Eliminated on the spot.

The eliminated contestant wrote back. [Baby, don't joke around. How could I mind your dad?] [Transfer: $5,000] I sat straight up in bed.

I had apparently just discovered the correct way to use this eliminated contestant. Give him attention, give him warmth, give him a suffocating amount of security? Yeah.

Thanks, chat. The next morning. Right before work, Knox sent a photo of five ties. [Baby, pick one for me.] I studied it and answered. [The navy one with the tonal jacquard.] [Okay.

Then that's the one I'll wear to work today.] I was going to send an ok and end the conversation, then my eyes drifted and I decided to return the courtesy.

I took five flannel shirts out of the closet, laid them out in a neat row on the bed, took a picture, and sent it. [Baby, you pick one for me too.] And then, nothing.

The chat started shrieking. [Help, the heir always replies within seconds, and he's been silent for two whole minutes!] [Hahaha, Flannel Girl's cover is blown.

Our polished heiress gets her nails redone once a week.

How is she going to wear one flannel shirt from January to December like you?] [Hmph, wait until our heir finds out you're impersonating the heiress to talk to him.

See if he doesn't mess you up.] Mess me up? Okay, that did make me a little nervous. But like they say, fortune favors the bold and the timid go hungry.

Nobody makes money without carrying a little risk. The phone buzzed. The heir answered. [The navy plaid one.

Which means, rounding up, we're basically wearing matching outfits today.] [Sure thing baby~] The chat panicked again. [Flannel Girl, what are you so excited about!

The heir is only humoring you because the original owner of this account is our heiress!] [Fake!

You are not allowed to be happy!] I raised my eyebrows, put the phone down, and gave my bangs a light flick. Ooo~ False alarm.

The ghosttexting was having a pretty big effect on my life. A full day at work, and every minute of slacking off went to answering Knox.

So much so that I forgot to watch the funny video my best friend had sent me, which got her charging over to the front of my building the second she got off work. "Confess.

Are you seeing a guy?" Chapter 3 I stuck a straw into her bubble tea, handed it over, and grinned at her. "Nothing like that. I've been seriously making money all day." Not a lie.

At lunch Knox had asked what I was eating, so I took a picture of my cafeteria tray and sent it, and he transferred another five hundred dollars. It worked.

She squished my cheek. "You promised me, Pip. You and me, buying a big house together." "Mmhm.

Nobody's tighter than us." We ate dinner together, then she went back to her cheap rented apartment and I went back to the one I shared.

The chat: [Now I get why Flannel Girl handles a yandere like Knox so easily.

Turns out she's already got one right next to her.] [Our heiress, stop taking pretty pictures and go get that phone back, she's babied the heir practically down to embryo stage.] [So what?

It's chatting online. In real life, you think the heir would give her a second look?] I opened the door and found Kendall taking selfies.

She turned at the sound, beaming, and held out her new peachcolored nails for me to admire. "Cute, right?" I nodded. "Very cute." She went back to her selfies.

I kicked off my shoes, walked in, set the bag of desserts my friend had given me on the table, and asked her, "Want some?" Kendall didn't answer.

I was about to go when she called after me. "Give me the phone." I pulled it out of my bag right away and handed it over.

Kendall opened the conversation, scrolled through it a couple of times, and looked up, sizing me up with amusement. "Not bad, Piper.

Less than a day and you got him to send you six grand or so." I laughed, embarrassed. "He is generous." Kendall moved fiftyseven hundred out of the Venmo balance into another account of her own, handed the phone back, and smiled. "The rest is yours.

Keep up the good work." There was three hundred dollars left in the balance. What happened to thirty percent for me, seventy for her?

I held the phone, looked at Kendall, got as far as opening my mouth, and swallowed it.

Kendall gave me a look of pretend hurt. "Come on, I'm going out to the coast for a few days to find some inspiration.

Be understanding." I glanced back at the easel in the corner, the one collecting dust. Fine. Understood.

Kendall bent over her phone, photoshopping, and went on. "Also, while I'm gone, if he asks you to play the game, fudge your way out of it. "It's honestly hard to believe somebody who works at a game company is this bad at games.

I'm not giving you my account, it's too easy to blow it." I was quiet for a second, then asked, "What if he wants to meet up?" Kendall lifted her eyes and looked at me like I was funny. "Then go.

Just wear something decent." The chat came back. [What is Flannel Girl even unhappy about? Meet him?

In her dreams?] [Without our heiress you wouldn't have that three hundred either. Be grateful!] Fair point. I really had gotten a little full of myself.

I should have done Kendall this favor generously, graciously, free of charge.

So I went back to my room, showered, flopped onto the bed, and messaged Knox. [Baby, don't send me money anymore.] [? why] [I don't like men who throw money around.] The other end sat there showing typing… A moment later, Knox replied. [All right.] [Okay babe~ I'm going to sleep, you should turn in early too, night xoxo] The second that sent, my face went flat, and I deleted those messages one by one.

Chapter 4 I wasn't planning on taking that three hundred either. The heir was paying out plenty in emotional value anyway. I wasn't in the red on this one.

I talked to Knox for another three days. I figured out he was the extremely highmaintenance, purebred clingy type. Ignore him for a stretch and he starts whining.

Slacking off at work all day wasn't great either, though. I thought about it and decided to get him a comfort toy.

So I pulled three allnighters plus both weekend days and handbuilt a little game.

Monday at work, I'd barely opened my laptop when Knox messaged. [Baby, I miss you.] I fired a link at him.

The test build I'd packaged myself. [Download it.] [Done.] [Do you see the little character in there?] [I see her. She's very cute. Did you… make this yourself?] [Mmhm.

There's a new project and I'm in meetings a lot lately, so when I don't answer, you can go play with her.] [Did you make this game just for me?] [Of course.

You can treat her as me, dress her up in cute little dresses, and from now on she's your very own doll.] Knox went silent on the other end again.

The chat opened fire. [Childish.] [Calculating.] [Cheap.] [This is what no taste looks like. Even the game you designed is tacky! Do you know what game our heiress met him in?

He wouldn't look twice at your brainrot game.] I shrugged. Whatever. The whole selling point is company. Why would it need to be fancy? If he looks down on it, he looks down on it.

Kendall's inspiration trip was going on a month. On Knox's end, he seemed to have figured out exactly when I slacked off at work.

A couple of rambling messages here and there, and he'd somehow turned into one of the ways I decompressed.

The little game, after his nonstop notes, went from the barebones version to the deluxe version. And credit where it's due, Knox has excellent taste.

He dressed the mini version of me up beautifully. That night, before I went to sleep, Knox messaged. [Baby, can I call you something else?] [Call me what?] [Wife.] My face went hot.

I dithered, then wrote back. [That's weird. Don't call me that.] [What's weird about it.

You're going to be my wife sooner or later.] I went from lying down to sitting up to lying on my stomach. [We haven't even met.

Don't just say things like that.] A second later, Knox sent a photo. A selfie, shot from a careless angle. My eyes went round.

The Knox in the picture had thick black hair pushed back off his forehead. Strong bone structure, deepset eyes, high nose, thin lips. One (1) highimpact, boldfeatured hot guy.

I finally got that line from the chat — our heiress, you fool. Knox sent another message. [Baby, I had an accident a while back and it left a scar at the end of my eyebrow.

It hasn't faded all the way yet. I hope you don't mind.] I zoomed in on the photo, studied it, and answered with total sincerity. [Doesn't take away from a thing.

You're seriously handsome!] [Do you want to meet? I really want to see you.] The smile dropped off my face.

I held the phone, typed and deleted and typed and deleted for ages, and finally sent one line. [What do you picture me looking like?] Knox came back fast. [Cute.

Round face, round eyes too. Kind of like… an adorable roundfaced, roundeyed little orange cat?] A laugh got out of me.

My best friend had said I looked like a roundfaced kitten too. Knox sent another message. [Let's meet tomorrow, okay baby? Tomorrow's the weekend.

We'll go to the aquarium.] Chapter 5 That put me in a bind. Kendall had told me to go, but I couldn't actually go. I wasn't the one who met him in the first place.

I was about to turn him down when my bedroom door swung open. Kendall came in. "I'm back.

Here, I brought you a present." She tossed a straw hat onto my bed and turned to leave, then caught the phone in my hand out of the corner of her eye and stopped short. "Right.

How much did he send you this month?" "He didn't." The smile left Kendall's face.

She pulled the phone out of my hand. "He really didn't, or you pocketed it?" She frowned, scrolling the messages, and then went still. Obviously she'd reached Knox's selfie.

Kendall's face lit up. "When he first told me his name, I thought, where did this broke nobody come from with the same name as the Graves Group heir.

Turns out it really is him." She looked up at me, lips curving. "Thanks for all your hard work this past month.

I won't trouble you with tomorrow's meeting." I pressed my lips together, started to say something, stopped. "Aren't you still seeing that… guy from the football team?" "So I'll break it off." Kendall let out a cold little laugh. "What are you worried about?

Don't tell me you actually wanted to go meet him in my place." I didn't say anything.

Kendall leaned down, lifted my chin with one long rosecolored nail, and smiled. "Wake up, Piper.

Ugly duckling turning into a swan only happens in dreams." Then she opened the conversation and sent a sweet voice message. "Sounds good baby, see you at the aquarium tomorrow!" The next day was the weekend, no work, and my best friend had asked me to go hiking