Chapter Four: The Forbidden Wing

“I’m s…..” Before I could utter anymore words, he steps closer and I can see a vein pulsing in his temple.

“Do you have any idea how much this shirt cost? Of course, you don’t.”

“It was an accident. I…I honestly didn’t mean to…”

“Right. Let me guess, this is your way of getting my attention?”

“What?” Something inside me snaps and I suddenly have no reason to feel bad anymore.

“Get your attention? Trust me, that’s the last thing I want and maybe if you weren’t standing in the middle of the cafeteria like you own it, this wouldn’t have happened.”

His eyes flash. “I actually own it and you? You’re here, because of my family’s charity. Don’t forget that.”

The cafeteria erupts in whispers and stares. And now, my hands are shaking so badly that I can barely hold my empty tray.

“Oh my God!” Annabel breathes. “June, what just happened?”

“Someone pushed me,” I say again in a hollow voice. I scan the crowd behind me, trying to find who did it, but everyone’s looking away, pretending they didn’t see anything.

Then I spot her, one of the girls from this morning, Melissa’s friend, smirking from across the cafeteria. She catches my eye and gives me a little wave before turning back to her table.

“You need to apologize,” Sophie says urgently, appearing on my other side. “Like, right now. Before this gets worse.”

“Apologize? For something that wasn’t my fault?”

“This is bad,” Annabel says quietly, scrolling through her own phone. “June, this is really, really bad.Someone’s already posted a video of the incident. The caption reads: “New scholarship girl vs. Adam Kingsley….RIP her social life.” ”

I push through the cafeteria doors and find myself in an empty hallway, finally able to breathe. My hands are still shaking. This was supposed to be about staying invisible and surviving.

“Well, that was entertaining.”

“Lucas?”

I spin to find Lucas leaning against the wall and that infuriating smirk on his face.

“Are you following me?”

“The hallway’s public property. I’m just appreciating the show.”

“I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“Doesn’t matter. Adam doesn’t forgive, and he definitely doesn’t forget.” Lucas studies me with those charming eyes.“You just made yourself his enemy.”

After school, Robert drives me back to the mansion and the ache comes out of nowhere that I wonder if mom’s also thinking about me, wherever she is or if she ever regrets leaving. 

Robert notices my silence. “You okay back there, Miss June?”

“Fine.” I lie, staring out the window at the manicured lawns and perfect hedges that line the estate.

He  gives me a  look in the rearview mirror before pulling up to the service entrance.

As I take the stairs down to the main floor, intending to slip out to the gardens as I discovered a quiet corner behind the rose bushes where no one could bother me but voices stop me in my tracks.

“…..irresponsible, Vivian. He’s spiraling and you know it.”

I freeze. The voices  are coming from around the corner; Mrs. Vivian and a masculine voice I don’t recognize. 

“Don’t lecture me about my son.” Her voice could equal the final trumpet.

“Adam is handling his grief in his own way.”

“By drinking himself unconscious? By getting into fights? That’s handling it?”

“He’s just a boy who lost his brother. What do you expect?”

“I expect you to act like his mother instead of…..”

Adam wasn’t the only child? I can’t hear the rest because I’m already moving, desperate to get away before they catch me eavesdropping. My heart  pounds as I turn down the nearest hallway, not paying attention to where I’m going.

I round a corner and walk straight into someone. 

“Sorry, I…..”

I freeze. It’s Adam.

He’s in jeans and a t-shirt, hair damp like he just showered, and he’s looking at me with an expression I can’t read.

“What are you doing here?” His voice is flat.

“I live here, remember?

Something flickers in his eyes. “Right.”

We stand there in the dim hallway, and I’m then aware of how quiet and uncomfortable the silence stretches between us.

I need to break this tension, if not comfortable, at least bearable.

“Look…” I take a breath. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

His eyebrows rise. “Earlier?”

“The incident in school.”

“Oh! Really?” He tilted his chin with his two hands in his pocket and smirk. “How … cute. You know I can’t let it slide right?”

My jaw clenches. Of course he can’t. 

“Right,” I say coldly.

His smirk falters for just a second. “Glad we understand each other, Ja….” 

“It’s June.” I interrupted.

“I don’t care.” He brushes past me, and I’m left standing in the hallway with my nails digging into my palms.

I wander the mansion for a while and after that,I feel too restless to go back to my room. 

Eventually, I find myself in a part of the house I haven’t explored. A hallway lined with family photos. Richard and Vivian on their wedding day. Two boys as children and more photos as they grow. 

“The other boy is probably the brother, right?” The Julian? Curiosity suddenly creeps in and I wish Mrs Margaret was here to answer that. As I’m about to turn back,  I notice a door slightly ajar. Light spills from the crack, and curiosity gets the better of me.

I push it open and I see photos of the other boy cover every wall. Trophies and awards line the shelves. His letterman jacket is preserved in a glass case like a museum piece. And in the center of the room, illuminated by carefully positioned lights, is a portrait of him.

I step inside and unable to look away. 

“He was everything I’ll never be.”

I spin around. Adam stands in the doorway, and for once, he doesn’t look cruel.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…..”

“He was everything.”

“Sorry?”

“Perfect son.” He moves into the room staring at the portrait. “Model student. Perfect son. Everyone loved him and I spent my entire life  worshipping him.”

“Adam…..”

“Do you know what it’s like to lose someone you love more than your life?” His voice is hollow. 

“Julian…. He was my best friend…. He was just everything.”

“And now he’s gone! He laughs, bitter and broken. “My mother looks at me every day and wishes I was the one who died instead.”

“That’s not….”

“And the worst part? She’s right. Julian was better…. At everything. The company, this family, life, they all would have been better off if he’d lived and I’d died.”

“I know what it’s like to lose someone and feel like….”

“You know NOTHING!” The words explode out of him. Suddenly he’s in my space, towering over me, eyes blazing with fury and pain. He cuts himself off, breathing hard. We’re inches apart, and I can see he’s trembling.

“My brother left me,” he says quietly. “He knew something was wrong but they said it was an accident.” The certainty in his voice is absolute. “I know my brother. He was too good a driver and DUI? He would never do such.”

My blood runs cold. “Did you tell anyone?”

“Who would I have told? The police closed the case. My parents can’t handle the truth. And if I say anything, Julian’s memory gets tainted and I honestly hope it’s an accident.”

“So you just… carry it alone?”

“What else am I supposed to do?” His control finally cracks completely, and the tears spill over. “He was my brother. My best friend. The only person in this  house who actually saw me. And he left me without even saying goodbye.”

 “I killed him. I was supposed to meet him that night. We had plans. But I got held up with some stupid party, some meaningless social obligation. And by the time I got there, he was already gone.”

“That’s not your fault.”

“I was his brother. I should have known. Should have seen the signs…..Should have saved him.”

“You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.”

I don’t know when I reached out but suddenly, my hand is on his face, wiping away tears, and he’s leaning into the touch like a man dying of thirst.

And then we’re both crying for Julian, for my mother, for all the people who left us behind and I find myself pulling him into a hug.

His arms wrap around me tight, his face buried in my shoulder, and his whole body shakes with silent sobs. I hold him while he falls apart and we stand there in Julian’s world, holding each other.