Prologue:

There were a lot of people that used to be in her life, who seemed to take interest in making her feel miserable. Going back in the past to the girl she was, she had come quite far in life. Far enough to the point where she could assure herself that the generations to come after her will swim in riches. Simone Howard, formally known as Claire Lyons was a 25 year old woman with hatred, pain, anguish and the sting of betrayal wallowing inside her heart. Her bad luck that had erupted in Westchester followed her and just like her soul, she couldn't tear it apart.

There were quite a few people she could hold a grudge on for the misfortune that be-fell her. There were always of course the first three gold, silver and bronze medal winners. The gold was effortlessly won by Kendra block, or Lyons as she was referred to when she decided to take Jay Lyons for herself. The silver was a prized possession of Derrick Harrington and the bronze went to Nikki Dalton for her great efforts. The rest also had minor contributions to the great damage of Claire's life, but they weren't things she blamed them for because she would have reacted the same way. But of course there was a certain Massie Block who Claire had expected to believe in her because she was her best friend but said brunette best friend found it hard to because of the fleet of false evidence that made Claire's innocence hardly believable. She could say the same for her ex-boyfriend, Cameron Fisher, whom she loved unconditionally. Although Westchester made her into the bitter girl she hated so much, she had to thank them greatly for the beautiful twins they gave her and the outrageous wealth she inherited.

To go into detail of how Simone ended up becoming a citizen of England, although she was born in the United States, Orlando; Florida, her being the victim of a harsh betrayal will be explained, starting with the silver prized winner; Derrick Harrington.

They were like best friends; Claire and Derrick. Or he was her boy best friend. The one she shared her relationship problems with because he was also her boyfriend's best friend. He always had the tendency to save her relationship at the nick of time but Claire should have seen through the false brotherly love to realize that Derrick was a snake in the grass but it was perfectly masked with that handsome kind face, no one could tell that he was a monster at heart. Anyone could have realized that Derrick Harrington could be a womanizer with his mesmerizing puppy dog eyes and dirty blonde hair but it was one of the things he hid perfectly. He was always the perfect boyfriend that Massie Block was lucky to have.

Claire had the privilege or was she rather unfortunate to discover the real Derrick Harrington. The one who drunk in the comfort of his home and lost his precious virginity at the age of thirteen when his sister introduced him to her sixteen year old messed up world of sex and alcohol. When Derrick took out the bottle of vodka from beneath his bed, Claire had let her mouth drop in shock.

"You drink?" she had asked, seeing Derrick in a new light. She had hoped he would tell her that his sister had probably left it there when they had had one of their weekly movie nights but, he smiled and took a swig. "Does Massie know?" she asked.

"No, and you can't tell anyone. I know I can trust you, that's the reason why I'm doing it in front of you. I wouldn't have but I was craving it. Promise me that you won't tell anyone."

"Derrick, how long have you been drinking?" she had asked him.

"A year"

"You have to stop before it becomes an addiction."

"I can't. I like the way it makes me feel. I don't think about my mom's death or my dad's insistency that I push up my grades… it just makes me forget."

"I can see it also makes you forget that your liver is at stake. Sammie introduced you to t didn't she? Derrick, she is only destroying you."

"Hey, this is my sister we are talking about here and drinking is actually fun. I like it."

"Fun, is that the only thing you are hiding? What have you lost your virginity too? Tell me because this isn't good. You are keeping something this serious away from Cam and Massie. I care about them way too much to keep this away from them and I care about you too, Derrick. You can stop it before it becomes too late."

"If you care about me as much as you say you do, you won't tell anyone. So promise me that you won't."

"Fine, I won't."

Claire sat beside him on his bed trying very hard to watch the television, as he drunk himself into a stupor. It was about one in the morning, when Claire decided to retire to the guest room in the Harrington household. She had spent so many nights over there; she referred to it as her fourth home, next to Cam's and Massie's.

"No," derrick had protested, pulling her down beside him again. "Sleep here tonight."

"No, thank you, but you stink badly. I will see you tomorrow morning. We have school tomorrow. I'm not even supposed to be here when we have school…"she stopped when she felt Derrick's hand up her thighs. "What are you doing?" she shrieked pushing his hand away.

"I do this every night. It helps me sleep just like a baby needs a lullaby and a toddler needs bedtime stories." He slurred.

Claire was so shocked, she hadn't realized when his hand zipped down her dress and released her hair from its bun. "Derrick, don't." she whispered prying herself away from his hands but he held her tightly, shoving his head into her neck. She struggled to pull him away but, he was stronger. She screamed for help but no one heard. Sammie was at her boyfriend's house, Mr. Harrington was out of the country, and the maids had retired to their homes. The security couldn't possibly hear her with the long distance that separated the mansion from the gates. The sad thing was that Claire had started her period when she was 11 and was likely to be a thirteen year old mother. Of course he didn't remember anything and she had to tell him the day after when he asked her why he was naked the next morning. He only remembered that she was at his house that night and she wasn't the next morning. With that, their friendship ended.

The golden winner's act of betrayal was interesting. Kendra's husband, William Block had died mysteriously a year before and rumor had it that she had already found a prince charming two months after her husband died but, Claire suspected that it was before her husband died. She just didn't have a clue who Kendra was committing adultery with. Well, not until one afternoon when she got back home from school to see her best friend's mother sitting on her father's lap. To top it off, they were in an intense lip lock.

"Oh my goodness!" she couldn't help but utter.

Kendra jumped of his lap and pulled her skirt down. She buttoned the top button of her shirt and smoothed out her black hair. Jay Lyons, Claire's dad tried to explain himself but, Claire help up her hand shutting him up. Under normal circumstances, Claire would have cried but, she didn't because she had made a promise to herself the night that Derrick took advantage of her that she was never ever going to shed tears. During dinner that night, Claire had the sudden urge to stab her dad with her fork as he pretended to love her mom so much. If she hadn't shot out of her seat and run to her room, she probably would have.

Her father had the nerve to visit her in her room that night and ask her to promise not to tell her mom about it.

"I seem to be doing a lot of that these days." She said. "Dad I can't let you do this. You can't destroy the family."
"I love Kendra."

"Then tell mom. You are cheating on her with her best friend. My best friend's mom… Dad, how could you stoop so low?"

"You don't choose who to love, bear"

"I know that too well, but when it involves other people you just have to give up until you find another way to make it work, a way that doesn't involve hurting other people in the process."

"Please just promise me"

Claire stood still staring at her dad for a long time before she nodded. "I promise"

The bronze winner got her prized medal of hatred when she helped Derrick frame her. Before the framing though, Nikki had tried to steal her boyfriend away from her. The only problem was that Cam loved Claire so much that he was always faithful to her. She always believed that she and Cam were going to get married and have the most beautiful children, until she got pregnant when Derrick took advantage of her. Even then, she still had hope for the future. But, just like everything else, it faded away when she was told over dinner with the Fisher's and the Dalton's, (Nikki's family) that Nikki and Cam were practically engaged to be married. It was supposed to be a business deal marriage but the pain was still too much to bear.

In her time of pregnancy, when her mom was supposed to be her rock, she left to stay with her new fiancé leaving Claire with Jay, who settled with Kendra later. Judy Lyons didn't even fight for the custody of Claire during the divorce. Of course when she died a few weeks after from an accident, Claire was devastated and went to the hospital to see her. Judy said she had something important to tell Claire about her father but, before she could say anything, she passed on.

It was one day when she went to school, that she learnt that news about her pregnancy had gotten out but, she had only told two people; Layne and Derrick.

Layne couldn't have possibly exposed her, which left her with Derrick Harrington, who stood with Massie Block, the rest of the Pretty Committee and Nikki Dalton with a triumphant smirk gracing his features. Of course he had done it. He had threatened her that he would, if she didn't abort the baby. She had to leave school immediately and go home.

That night it was all over the news; 'Dial L for Loser star, Claire Lyons knocked up and Pregnant?'(She had acted that movie once when she was suspended from school for breaking school rules). There were nude pictures of her and other guys as evidence and she knew for a fact that they were photo shopped. The shock on her dad's face was making her nervous and the scowl on Massie's face made her want to piss. Kendra had an expressionless façade and the maid was sobbing lightly.

"You tried to frame my boyfriend when he found out. You told him that you would accuse him of being the father if he spoke about it. The truth was that you've always been a porn star. It's a good thing I kicked you out of the pretty committee. I should have suspected when you started wearing so many loose and long blouses and tights."

"If Derrick told you that, then he is a liar" Claire said, pulling her hair.

"Jay, there is only one way we can fix this; you need to throw her out" Kendra said in her commanding pompous voice.

"What! No, you can't do that. This is my house…"

"Correction, this is my house and I agree. You should be out of here in an hour. You've already brought enough disgrace to the family."

"But, it's raining" Claire protested.

"And I'm growing out of patience"

Without another word, Claire stomped to her room and with intense anger, packed her things and run to Layne's house to say good bye, only to see her with her own bags, sneaking out the window. "I've suffered enough abuse from my step mom" she had explained.

Together, they left town to a whole new life, but not before the made a few stops.

Layne had always been her loyal best friend.

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