chapter 32

Writer's POV

Elara sits on the bed with Tasha, staring at a phone screen. The video played over and over again, showing Drasa and Cassian kissing by the bathroom. Each time it replayed, the anger in the room grew thicker.

Elara watched with cold eyes, but Tasha was shaking with rage. Her hands were clenched into fists so tight her knuckles had turned white.

"I can't believe this," Tasha hissed through gritted teeth. "That little nobody thinks she can just take what's yours?"

Elara paused the video right at the moment where Cassian's hands were on Drasa's ass. "She’s very stupid.”

Tasha was lost in her own fury, remembering the night before. "I had everything planned perfectly," she said, her voice getting louder. "I was going to make her pay for even looking at Cassian. But then that stupid girl Amelia came out of nowhere!"

Tasha stood up and started pacing around the small room. "She locked me in the changing room for the whole night! The whole night, Elara! If the security guard hadn't come to unlock doors this morning, I'd still be trapped in there!"

Elara rolled her eyes. "You should have planned better. You got careless."

"Careless?" Tasha spun around to face her. "How was I supposed to know that crazy girl would lock me up?"

"You should have been more careful," Elara said coldly. "Now look at what happened while you were stuck in a closet. Drasa got exactly what she wanted."

Tasha's face turned red with anger, but Elara wasn't finished.

"You want to know what's really annoying?" Elara continued, her voice getting harder. "Yesterday, I tried to get Cassian's attention. I lured him into the changing room when no one was around."

Tasha stopped pacing and stared at her. "What did you do?"

Elara's jaw tightened. "I got close to him. Really close. I pulled off my clothes and put his hand on my breast, trying to make him see what he was missing."

"And?" Tasha asked, holding her breath.

"He pushed me away," Elara spat. "Just pushed me away like I was nothing. Like I was disgusting to him."

The memory made Elara's hands curl into fists. She had felt so confident, so sure that Cassian would finally notice her. Instead, he had looked at her with something close to disgust and walked away.

"That bastard," Tasha cursed. "How dare he reject you for that plain little…”

"Don't," Elara cut her off sharply. "Don't waste your anger on Cassian."

Tasha looked confused. "But he…”

"Cassian isn't the problem," Elara said, her voice deadly quiet. "Drasa is. She's the one who thinks she can waltz in and take what doesn't belong to her. She's the one who needs to learn her place."

Tasha nodded slowly, understanding starting to dawn in her eyes. "You're right. It's all her fault."

"Exactly," Elara said, standing up and walking to her window. "If she hadn't been there, throwing herself at him like a desperate little slut, maybe Cassian would have been more open to my advances."

"So what do we do about it?" Tasha asked, the anger in her voice now focused and controlled.

Elara turned back to face her, and Tasha could see the cold calculation in her eyes. This was the Elara that everyone feared, the one who could destroy someone's life with a smile on her face.

"We make her regret ever coming to this school," Elara said simply. "We make her life so miserable that she'll beg to transfer somewhere else."

Tasha's eyes lit up with malicious excitement. "I like the sound of that. What did you have in mind?"

Elara sat back down on the bed and picked up her phone. "First, we make sure this video spreads to everyone. Every student, every lecturer."

"Already done," Tasha said with a cruel smile. "I've been sharing it all morning. By now, half the school has seen it."

"Good," Elara nodded approvingly. "But that's just the beginning. We need to hit her where it really hurts."

She opened her laptop and started typing. "Her grades, her reputation, her friendships. We destroy everything that matters to her, piece by piece."

Tasha leaned over to see what Elara was doing. "How?"

"I have connections," Elara said mysteriously. "Professor knows who my dad is, students who will do anything I ask, parents on the school board who trust my family."

She pulled up several social media accounts and started crafting posts. "By the time we're done with her, no one will want to be seen with Drasa. She'll be completely alone."

"What about that friend of hers? Maya and Amelia?" Tasha asked.

Elara's smile turned even colder. "Amelia can be swayed with money and Maya will abandon her soon enough. Once the pressure gets too much, once being friends with Drasa starts affecting her own reputation, she'll run like everyone else."

Tasha clapped her hands together excitedly. "This is perfect. That little nobody won't know what hit her."

"The best part," Elara continued, "is that she'll never be able to prove it was us. Everything will look like natural consequences of her own actions."

She showed Tasha the posts she had written, full of concerned language about "inappropriate behavior" and "setting a bad example for younger students, kissing at a student welcome pool party. A fresher!”

"You're brilliant," Tasha breathed, reading over the carefully crafted messages that would destroy Drasa's reputation while making Elara look like a concerned student.

"I know," Elara replied simply. "By Monday morning, Drasa will wish she had never heard the name Cassian, let alone kissed him."