Chapter 4

Celeste's POV

My bare feet scraped against the stone, every step echoing like a funeral drum.

Only when the iron door clanged shut behind me-locking away two years of darkness-only when the sunlight burned against my skin like fire, did I realize I was outside.

I was free.

I had bled, starved, and nearly died a hundred times over trying to claw my way out of the Angel Reform Academy. And now… now I was standing under the sky again.

"Celeste?"

The voice snapped me back, sharp as a whip.

I turned and froze.

A man leaned against a flashy crimson sports car, brown leather jacket catching the light, combat boots dusty from the road. His sunglasses dangled carelessly from his fingers as his sharp eyes raked over me in shock.

Elias Frost.

The boy who had once called me sister for eighteen years. My younger brother. My jailer now.

I didn't want to believe it was him-not with that half-familiar face twisted in surprise, not with the disbelief dripping from his tone.

"You're really Celeste Frost?"

His words sliced deeper than I expected. He remembered me as the girl who never lowered her chin, the one who walked through Moonviel City like she owned the moonlight. The Frost Family's perfect daughter. The heir who was always draped in silk and diamonds, untouchable, untamed.

But the girl in front of him-me-wore a yellowed white dress two sizes too small, an old gray hoodie clinging to my frame. My nails were jagged, broken. My face, once bright with fire, was hollow, empty.

If not for my features, even he would not have recognized me.

Elias's brows furrowed, his lips curling with something I couldn't name. Pity? No. Something crueler.

The Celeste he knew should never have looked like this.

I met his eyes-and immediately looked down. My body stiffened, retreating a step without thinking.

In Angel Reform Academy, eye contact was defiance. A death sentence. They taught me that lesson with fists and boots, with blood and broken bones, until fear was no longer a choice but a reflex burned into my marrow.

Elias chuckled. "Well, it seems the Academy worked after all. They finally taught you to be obedient. Should've sent you there years ago. Then maybe Serena wouldn't have suffered so much because of you."

His voice dripped venom when he said Serena Frost-the precious jewel of the family, the sister I was accused of poison.

I said nothing. No defense, no protest, no fire. My silence tasted like ash, but I swallowed it down.

He slipped on his sunglasses, impatient. "Get in. Don't waste my time-I've got a race to win. If Serena hadn't begged me, I wouldn't have bothered to pick you up."

I obeyed, opening the passenger door with a trembling hand.

I didn't want to go back to the Frost Pack. Every bone in my body screamed against it. But I have more important things to do – find Callen. I need to know why he's being so cold-hearted. I'm already in a reformatory; why does he still want to destroy me completely! He killed my only friend Kane.

The thought alone made me shudder.

And I knew the truth: the Frost Pack didn't take me back out of love. They needed me for their reputation. Years ago, when they revealed to the world that I wasn't the true heir, they had sworn to the council that they'd "shelter" me regardless, because I had no family left. If I refused to return now, their honor would crack-and they would never allow that.

Still, there was one reason I could endure it.

My grandfather. Carden Frost, the only soul in that cold, merciless family who had ever looked at me with kindness. If I had to swallow this humiliation just to see him again, I would.

The engine roared to life beneath Elias's hand. He slammed the accelerator, the car leaping forward like a wolf breaking chains.

I gripped the handle above me, knuckles white, stomach twisting as the mountain road blurred past. I didn't scream. Didn't plead. Didn't even breathe too loud.

Two years in hell had taught me that showing fear only made the predators bite harder.

But my silence seemed to enrage him. Elias's jaw tightened, and his foot pressed harder, harder, until the world outside was nothing but streaks of gray and green. He wanted me to beg. He wanted proof that I was still the same arrogant Celeste Frost who once dared to defy him.

I gave him nothing.

The phone rang.

Elias slammed the brakes, the screech splitting the air. My head smashed against the dashboard, pain and dizziness flooding me.

He didn't flinch. Didn't even glance. He just answered the call.

"Elias, the race is starting early. You coming?" a voice crackled through the line.

His eyes flicked to me, cold. "I'm on my way."

The call ended. He didn't start the car right away. Instead, his gaze lingered on me, sharp as broken glass.

"When you get back, you'll go to Serena," he said, voice clipped. "You'll apologize. You'll promise her you'll never pull another stunt like before. Do that, and I'll forget this ever happened."

My throat burned. "I didn't do anything wrong. She-"

"Enough." His lip curled, the faintest sneer. "Always the same excuses. You can't even admit when you're at fault."

The car door wrenched open. His hand shoved, and I hit the gravel hard enough to tear skin from my palms. Jagged stones bit into the soles of my bare feet, each shard slicing fresh pain into flesh already raw from walking out of the Academy.

"Find your own way back, call a car." Elias said, slipping on his shades again, lips curled in disdain.

"You made me regret picking you up."

The engine roared and faded, leaving me standing barefoot on the empty mountain road, skin torn, blood mixing with dust. The silence pressed in, cruel and endless-freedom that felt no different from exile.

But there's a voice inside me telling me-my life was bought with Kane's.

I have to live, and live well, to seek justice for Kane, who will forever remain trapped in Angel Reform Academy.