Chapter 12

Headmaster Voss leaned forward. The leather of his chair creaked.“That is a serious accusation,” he repeated.

“Do you have proof?”My mouth went dry.

“I heard them. Mia Sinclair and two others. They were laughing about it behind the hedge near the pool house. One of them said the drop would make him… compliant.

I only stepped in because the glass was already in his hand.”Mrs. Langford’s laugh was soft and expensive. “Convenient. No witnesses willing to speak, I assume.

Only the word of a scholarship student who has been circling my daughter’s boyfriend for weeks.”

“I was not circling anyone.”

“Yet here we are.” She turned to the headmaster.

“I want her suspended pending a full investigation. My husband sits on the board. He will not tolerate this kind of disruption.

”Voss’s eyes flicked between us. “Charlotte, is there anyone who can corroborate your account?”The silence stretched.

I thought of Kate, who had been across the lawn. Of Isaac, who had thanked me at the gate in that quiet, careful voice.

Of the way he had ordered Lydia to let go of my hair as if the command cost him something.“Isaac McCall,” I said.

The name felt dangerous in my mouth. “He knows I stopped him from drinking it.”Mrs. Langford’s expression sharpened. “Isaac is not here to speak for you.

And even if he were, he would never jeopardize his standing for a girl like you.”The door opened without a knock.Isaac stepped inside.

Rain still clung to the shoulders of his blazer. His green eyes moved from the headmaster to Mrs. Langford and finally to me.

Something unreadable tightened in his jaw.“I was told Charlotte was called here,” he said. His voice was low, controlled. “I thought I should be present.”Mrs. Langford recovered first.

“Isaac, this does not concern you.”“It does.” He closed the door behind him. “Charlotte stopped someone from putting something in my drink last night.

I confirmed it with her afterward. If anyone is under investigation, it should be the people who tried to drug me.”The air in the room changed.

Headmaster Voss sat back slowly.Mrs. Langford’s smile never reached her eyes. “Be careful, Isaac.

Allegations like that have consequences for everyone involved.”Isaac did not look at her.

He looked at me. The bond between us hummed under my skin, a low electric current I still did not fully understand.

For a second I thought he might reach for my hand. He didn’t.“I’ll give a formal statement,” he said to Voss.

“Whenever you need it.”The headmaster nodded once. “That will be helpful. For now, Charlotte, you may return to class.

We will continue this discussion with all relevant parties this afternoon.”Mrs. Langford’s voice followed me as I stood. “This is not over.”I walked out.

Isaac followed a step behind. The corridor was empty except for the distant sound of rain and the soft click of the office door closing.

He waited until we turned the corner before he spoke.“You shouldn’t have said my name.”

“You walked in.”“I know.” He stopped walking. “My father already called. Someone sent him a message before first period. He knows about the party.

He knows about you.”My stomach dropped.

“What did he say?”

Isaac’s eyes were darker than usual.

“He said if I keep protecting the wrong girl, he will handle the problem himself.”The warning settled between us like cold water.

“And Mia?” I asked.“I dealt with her this morning.” His voice was flat. “She won’t try that again. But Lydia’s mother is different.

She doesn’t make threats she can’t keep.”We stood there in the quiet hallway, the distance between us measured in careful inches.

I could still feel the ghost of his mouth from the night he had healed me. I could still feel the way the bond had flared when Lydia’s fingers had tangled in my hair.“Go to class,” he said finally.

“I’ll find you at lunch.”

I turned toward the science wing.

My legs felt unsteady. Behind me I heard his footsteps move in the opposite direction, toward the administrative offices again.

I almost made it to the lab door.

Kate appeared at the end of the corridor, eyes wide, phone clutched in both hands.“Charlotte.” Her voice shook. “You need to see this.”She held the screen toward me.

A photo. Taken last night in the dark near the pool house.

Me, standing too close to Isaac, my hand on his wrist as I stopped the glass from reaching his mouth. The angle made it look intimate. Possessive.

The caption underneath was already circulating through three different group chats.*Scholarship wolf thinks she can steal what doesn’t belong to her.

Watch this space.*Below the caption was a second message, posted only minutes ago by an anonymous account.*Someone should remind her what happens to girls who forget their place.*

Kate’s face had gone pale. “They’re saying the account belongs to one of Lydia’s friends.

But look at the timestamp on the second post.”I looked.It had been sent from inside the school.

Three minutes after I left the headmaster’s office.My phone buzzed in my bag.

An unknown number. One line of text.*The headmaster’s office was only the beginning.

Meet me behind the old greenhouse in ten minutes if you want to know who really put the drop in that bottle. Come alone.*

I stared at the screen until the words blurred.Kate grabbed my arm. “You’re not going.”

But the bond in my chest pulled tight, sudden and sharp, as if Isaac had felt the same spike of danger from wherever he was.

I looked down the empty corridor toward the east wing, where the greenhouse sat abandoned and half-swallowed by ivy.

Ten minutes.The choice was already making itself.