She Can't Be Here

*Kane's POV*

“Oh by the way, Kane, your mother and I-”

“Heather is not my mother, and she never will be,” I say coldy.

“Watch your tongue boy,” He snaps and the look in his eyes has me freezing in place. His punishments are...brutal. And they’ve been getting progressively worse since my mother’s death when I was 12. And I can’t do a damn thing about it because he literally has my entire life in his hands.

“Like I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, we will be moving to New York next month and I’ve arranged your transfer to Harvard to finish up the school year.”

“Fine,” I bite out. It’s not like it matters where I finish school. And it’s not like I’ll be leaving anybody behind. I’m not in the business of making personal connections. My father made damn sure of that.

“Was that attitude I just heard?”

“No,” I reply.

“No, what?” I see the muscle in his jaw tic. The one that tells me when I’m verging on the point of no return. I just need to play nice until I can figure out a way to untangle the giant disaster that is my life.

“No, sir.”

“Alright so, I’ve got a very promising investor lined up, and his son happens to be the president of a fraternity at Harvard so I’ve arranged for you to join.”

“Yes, sir,” I say, biting back the urge to tell him to shove his fraternity up his ass. This has got to be one of his mind games. When I see the look on his face I’m sure it is. He knew that would piss me off. A smug smirk forms across his face and he says, “Good, now get the fuck out of my face and go pack.”

I say nothing and head up to my room.

A few weeks later, Heather is throwing a party at our house to bid our London clients farewell as we’re headed to America tomorrow. She is so fucking shallow, it’s unbelievable. She likes to put on this facade that we’re some happy perfect little family when it’s so obvious she’s only here for my father’s money. He’s just got more money than her previous rich husband. I hide up in my room for most of it, and fall asleep in my bed for the last time.

When we arrive in New York City, we get a taxi to our new mansion in the upper east side of Manhattan. I’m sure Heather will fit right in here. Everyone seems to be just as fake as she is. We spend some time getting settled in and my father buys us all new cars to replace the ones we had to leave in London. I know he doesn’t actually care and that they’re more of a bribe than anything but I’m not gonna say no to a Porsche.

It’s a week before school is supposed to start, but the frat apparently wants to convene early so I make the 3.5 hour drive to Harvard and locate the frat house.

When I walk in, a bunch of guys wearing muscle shirts all turn to look at me.

“Hello, I’m looking for Cole.”

“Oh shit! You’re the british dude! Your Dad is Harper Owen, right?”

“Yes,” I reply curtly.

One of the guys comes forward and says, “Hey man, I’m Cole. My dad and your dad are super tight apparently. Welcome to Alpha Psi.” I shake his hand and just nod.

Over the next week, I realize that I have absolutely nothing in common with any of these spoiled, preppy, rich kids. Fuck this year is going to suck. On Sunday night apparently all the freshmen will be arriving on campus and so we will be throwing a party so that we can scope out potential pledges and all the new girls. Good, I could use a good fuck.

By around 9pm, people have already begun to show up and I’ve decided to pour myself a drink and go stand on the balcony and watch the girls as they come in. This whole thing is really not my scene and I’m not very impressed by the options thus far if I’m honest.

Everytime I go down to get a drink I get swarmed by bubbly girls wearing a ton of makeup and way too little clothing and get asked to join some kind of game or another. I just glare at them and push them out of my way.

About an hour later, I’m a couple of drinks in, when I see two girls walk through the door. A tall blonde and a shorter brunette. The blonde is hot but it’s the brunette I find myself interested in. She looks kind of familiar but I can’t quite place her.

As I watch her, images pop into my head. No. That can’t be her. It’s been almost a year but there’s no way she’s changed this much in that time. She would never wear something like that in a million years.

I can’t help my curiosity though and I go down the stairs and follow her into the kitchen to get a closer look. Her back is to me as her friend pours drinks and she watches.

“Violet?” I ask tentatively.

Her head snaps up and she turns around and looks at me with confusion in her eyes.

“Kane?”

It is her. NO. She can’t be here. He must have known she would be here. This is one of his sick fucking games. It’s one of his favourites. One he hasn’t been able to play in a very long time.