With Howard gone, the three wasted no time whisking Amelia off to my coming-of-age bash.

She was a vision in her lavish dress: dripping with jewels, her lashes curled to perfection. It was her show, no doubt about it.

I watched from the shadows, smirking.

They used to throw money around like it was nothing, all thanks to our family's fortunes backing them up.

However, from the day I turned my life around, I had made it crystal clear to the finance folks: no more handouts.

At this point, they were burning through their own cash stash.

I was itching to see what they would have left once the wedding hoopla was over.

Sure enough, over the next few days, they pampered Amelia like she was royalty.

Her birthday bash was nothing short of a spectacle fit for a queen, with the three suitors outdoing themselves with gifts. Yoel outshone them all, getting down on one knee with a bouquet that sparkled with diamonds.

"Amelia, we can offer you the world. You'll always be our principessa!"

I remembered Yoel saying something like that to me once, under the old tree where we played as kids.

My heart skipped a beat, and I took a deep breath to steady myself.

However, the truth was, I never dreamed of being anyone's principessa.

I was meant to be my own queen.

What I did not see coming was, on the day I was trying on my wedding dress, a rough hand ripping it apart.

I spun around, shocked, and there they were: Yoel, Ethan and Nelson. And yet the driver who had accompanied me was nowhere to be found.

Ethan stepped forward. "Shirley, we've made up our minds. The promise we made when we were little, it's got to stand. We're meant to stick together."

"And when we tie the knot with Amelia, you can be our nanny!" chimed Nelson, nodding like it was all settled.

Their audacious words made my stomach turn. I shot back, icy, "And what's any of this got to do with me?"

Their faces crumpled into frowns. "Shirley, cut the attitude! We're practically family. How can you say it's got nothing to do with you?"

"And let's not forget, you're the one sneaking around, never trying to improve. Without us, you'd be lost."

"Everyone knows we tried to get Amelia into that special program, but you had to go and frame her for cheating! She nearly killed herself over it, thanks to you!"

I stared them down, those three stooges in front of me.

Amelia had been as sharp as a sack of potatoes, and only those three blind mice had thought she had any brains. She could not even get the simplest things right, so why would I have needed to report her?

They were still dreaming of heading off to St. Hartwell University with her, thinking they would be big shots.

I just smirked; no point in arguing with idiots.

Then, out of nowhere, there she was, Amelia, looking at me with those scared doe eyes.

"Shirley, you'd actually consider being my nanny?"

I could not help but roll my eyes. "You think I'd ditch being the principessa to play babysitter for you?"

Amelia stumbled backward, her eyes brimming with tears. "I get it, Shirley, you don't respect me, but I've got dreams too.

"Yoel, better stick with the principessa's advice. I'm just a nobody with empty pockets, no help to your big plans..."

She did not even finish before I felt a shove from behind.

I hit the ground hard, my leg scraping against the rough surface. My so-called fiances shoved me aside to scoop up Amelia, tripping over themselves to play her knights in shining armor. "It's not on you, Amelia," they said.

"She's just a principessa from a declining mafia family, yet she always looks down on you and criticizes you!"

"Don't think your money gives you the right to toy with us, Shirley. Amelia is a thousand times better than you. Your family's attempt to go legitimate depends entirely on Amelia's future connections!"

"Don't even dream of forcing us to marry you and continue slaving for your crumbling family. We will never yield. You can't possibly make us your lapdogs!"

Hidden from their view, Amelia shot me a smug grin.

In my previous life, she had always played the 'poor me' card to drive a wedge between us. I used to wonder if I was the one at fault.

No more, though. I saw who had truly been played. I was just too trusting.

I tried to pick myself up, but Ethan's boot pinned me down.

Yoel's voice dripped with contempt. "Still acting all high and mighty. If you hadn't been caught up in wedding fantasies, I might've bought your act!

"The thought of marrying you makes my skin crawl," he added.

"Save your breath. You could be draped in the finest silk, but next to Amelia, you're nothing." Nelson's foot came crashing down on the wedding dress, his disdain clear as day.

Nelson was holding me with an iron grip, and no matter how hard I fought, I could not shake him off. I glared at Yoel, my voice thick with anger, "My wedding is none of your business!"

However, the three of them just laughed at me.

"Mr. Chapman himself has invited us to your wedding, and here you are, still playing tough," they jeered.

"We're looking out for you. Becoming a nanny will make both your and Amelia's dreams come true, and you can't even appreciate that."

Amelia's eyes were wet with tears as she looked at me, her lip quivering. "Shirley, I was wrong. Let me be your nanny. Just go ahead with the wedding and become a Donna, okay?"

Her pathetic act was like a magnet to them. They called over their goons to pin me down.

"Get her out of those clothes and off to the re-education camp to learn some manners!" they ordered.

I could not believe what I was hearing. "I am a principessa! How dare you treat me like this!"

No one responded to me.

Those three, relying on their status as my fiancés, had gathered many of their own followers. Now, taking advantage of my father's absence, they finally revealed their true malicious intentions.

I gritted my teeth and glared at the three of them. "Yoel, they'll kill me there! My dad will never forgive you for this!"

The re-education camp was notorious for breaking people down, a place where anyone would have been lucky to come out with their spirit intact, if at all. I had been sent there once by mistake, and it haunted me ever since. They all knew that.

"Shirley, just wait two weeks. Once we're married to Amelia, we'll get you out, and everything will be back to normal," they promised.

I lasted five days in that hellhole.

They used tools on me that I had never even seen before, and I fought like a wildcat. I slept with one eye open, scared I would not wake up.

None of them showed their faces the whole time, except for Amelia, who came just to gloat over my misery.

"You're one lucky girl, not dying in there," she sneered.

"However, it's better this way. How else would you take care of me later? You're going to be my personal nanny, after all."

Amelia leaned in close, her breath tickling my ear. "You know, you've been pining for Yoel all this time, right? Too bad you've never been the one in their hearts. Yoel, the other two, and I crossed that line a year ago." She pressed a pregnancy test report into my hand. "Take a wild guess, who's the daddy?"

Before I could even process the bombshell, Amelia grabbed a vase and cracked it over her own head.

Blood gushed out as Amelia crumpled to the floor, clutching her stomach.

"I knew you wouldn't be on board with me keeping the baby, Shirley…but you can't just snuff out a life!"

No sooner had the words left her lips than Yoel and his buddies appeared out of thin air, scooping her up and showering her with kisses.

Ethan glared at me, his finger jabbing the air. "Can't a stint in re-education camp knock that principessa attitude out of you?

"Yoel and Amelia have already arranged their wedding, and we are the groomsmen. We originally wanted to invite you to their wedding, but forget it. You're not welcome!"

Nelson shoved me aside. "Stay here and think about what you've done. When you're ready to fix yourself, then you can get help."

With that, they locked me in a room, no visitors allowed.

Three days of lockup left me parched and starving. However, I managed to pick the lock with a hairpin and make a break for it.

I stumbled home, my body a map of bruises, only to find Amelia in the eye of a male storm. She was decked out in a stunning gown, her wrist flashing with a diamond-studded bracelet, the belle of the ball.

There I was, a mess, an unwelcome guest at the grand feast.

However, it was her wrist that caught my eye. "How dare you wear that bracelet!" I felt like I had been struck by lightning as I lunged forward, gripping her wrist with all my might.

Before I could reclaim it, Nelson shoved me hard to the ground, and Ethan held me down, bowing to Amelia without a shred of pride.

"It's a privilege for Amelia to have this old bracelet!"

"Exactly. You've got tons of jewelry. What's the big deal about giving one to Amelia?"

Yoel did nothing as they overpowered me.

"Shirley, how on earth did you get out of that place? You can't possibly still think we're going to get married!"

"Let me make it clear–it's not happening!"

I inhaled deeply, fixing my gaze on the three men.

"This bracelet belonged to my Mamma. She wore it when she first brought you guys home!"

Yoel and the others froze, memories of Madre's gentle care flooding back.

Just then, Amelia burst into tears. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I'll give the bracelet back..."

She did not finish her sentence. With a feigned slip, the bracelet crashed to the ground.

I stared, stunned, as it lay in pieces.

In the next instant, Amelia stomped on it, crushing it completely.

"I don't deserve it. I know you look down on me for my background, but you didn't have to humiliate me with a family heirloom. A Donna wouldn't wear something so simple!

"I have no family, Shirley. What's so wrong about you giving me a bracelet?

"Do you think your rich parents are people, and ours are nothing?"

Amelia clutched her ears and bolted, with my three so-called fiances in tow, dragging me along to follow her.

Before I could catch my breath, a massive truck barreled down the road toward us.

Yoel shouted, "Amelia!"

They all dove to save her.

However, I was left behind, struck by the truck, and flung through the air.

"Shirley!"

As darkness closed in, I caught a glimpse of someone lunging at me and heard the chaos of three frantic voices.

"Amelia's got a scratch. We need to rush her to the ICU, now!"