LOGINâSeraâs POVThe breakfast tasted like cardboard though it was the same breakfast i have had everyday but now it tasteless. I chewed and swallowed mechanically, painful aware of the four powerful boys surrounding me. To any outsider, it might have looked like a normal morning for the Academyâs elite circle, but to us, the air was electric, charged with the debris of the life Iâd just blown up.â"I can't do this," Luca muttered suddenly. He pushed his plate away; the chair let out a loud screech against the floor. He didn't look at meâand he walked out without another word.River watched him go, then looked at me with a sad, complicated smile before following him. "Give them space," River murmured as he passed Kael.Then there we were, two. Well, three, if you counted Alexander, who remained at the end of the table like a wall clock.â"Alexander," Kael said, his voice dropping to that dangerous frequency whenever he was furious. "Leave."Alexander didn't move at first. He looked at me,
Sera POVI woke to the dull ache of exhaustion, the kind that sinks into your bones and doesnât let go, even after hours of sleep. My pillow was damp from tears I hadnât noticed falling, and my chest felt tight, like Iâd been carrying some invisible weight all night.The dorm room was quiet. I stayed still under the blanket for a long moment, listening. There were no footsteps, no voices drifting in from the hall. I swallowed hard.Everything was out. The lie, the binder, the fake identity, the secret I had protected for months. Gone. Exposed to everyone in the dorm and worse, to Kael.I couldnât stop thinking about the way he had looked at me last night before he slammed the door. The way his face had changed from confusion to something elseâanger, disbelief, something raw that I didnât understand. I shivered at the memory and pulled the blanket closer around me.My phone buzzed on the nightstand. My stomach dropped before I even looked at it.Three messages from the SC. My hands s
Luca POVI didnât remember how I got back to Riverâs room. One second I was standing in that bathroom, staring at a truth I wasnât supposed to see, and the next I was sitting on Riverâs bed with my elbows on my knees, my hands hanging uselessly between them like they didnât belong to me anymore.River stood near the window, staring out at the dark courtyard like it might give him answers if he looked long enough. He hadnât said a word since Alexander kicked us out of the bathroom. Not one joke not one sarcastic comment. That alone told me how bad this really was.âSheâs a girl,â I finally said, just to hear it out loud.River flinched.âYeah,â he said slowly. âI noticed.âI laughed, but the sound came out wrong. âFunny. I feel like my brainâs still trying to pretend it didnât.âHe turned away from the window and looked at me then, like he was trying to read my face the way he read people so easily. His own expression was pale, unsettled, out of its usual confidence.âI swear to you,â
Kael's POVI didnât stop running until my lungs burned and my chest felt like it was about to split open.The night air slapped against my face as I burst out of the dorm building. I bent over with my hands on my knees, breathing hard, trying to get my head straight.It didnât work.Nothing worked.The image wouldnât leave me, I kept replaying what I saw in the shower.I squeezed my eyes shut and swore under my breath.âNo,â I muttered. âNo, no, no.âThis couldnât be real. It had to be some sick joke or some misunderstanding. Some twisted joke the academy was playing on me like it always did. Because Seth wasnâtâcouldnât beâ a girl.My hands curled into fists so tight my nails dig into my palms.She lied to me.She lied to me every single day.She slept in my room, laughed with me. She let me look at herâtouch her arm, corner her in hallways, want her like I was losing my damn mindâand she never told me.Never told me the truth I was questioning myself, about my sexuality not knowi
Sera PovI waited until the dorm was a silent, no footsteps in the hall or muffled laughter from the common room. I counted to three hundred after the last door clicked shut. Then I slipped out of the room with the towel slung over my shoulder as the chest binder already itching under my hoodie. The straps had been digging into my ribs all day and every breath was a reminder that I was living half a life.When I entered in the bathroom I locked the main door behind me with a click. I peeled off my clothes fingers trembling as they worked the binderâs hooks. When it finally gave, I exhaled freely for the first time in hours.Cool air kissed my skin. My breasts were small but still visible. They ached from the compression. I rolled my shoulders, let my head fall back, and stepped under the spray.For one minute, I wasnât Seth. I was just me. Sera, tired, terrified, and finally free of the lie for sixty seconds.I shouldâve known the peace wouldnât last long when I heard the lock I
Sera POVI pressed my forehead harder against the door, the cheap wood cool against my skin, like it could soak up the panic that was invading my mind. Inside, Kaelâs pacing had stopped it was silence now. Heavy, waiting silence that felt worse than the stomping or screaming.My hand hovered over the knob. One twist and I would be face to face with the guy I spent weeks pretending wasnât existing. One twist and I will have to look at him after the hallway incidentâafter the way his eyes had stripped me bare without even touching me.I couldnât do this.The phone in my pocket was a enough reason to make me talk with Kael to prevent things from going too far. Julietteâs photo. Her threat.Back off, Seth. Or this goes everywhere.If I walked in there and told him, he will surely lose it and If I don't, she is gonna send it anyway. Either way, the fuse was lit.I sucked in a breath surpressing my fear, then pushed the door open. Kael was sitting on the edge of his bed with elbows on hi
Sera pov đThe morning sun was already warm as we sat outside the exam hall, textbooks and notes scattered around, the Sovereign Circle gathered together like they always did before a big test.I tried to focus on my notes, but my stomach kept twisting in a way that had nothing to do with nerves.
Chapter 30 Kael Pov đI didnât mean to storm off last night. I never meant to leave the silence that was suffocating between us, but every time I tried to speak, every time I even thought about touching Seth, my anger mixed with something else...something I couldnât even name, something I hated
Sera povThe silence between us stretched, Kaelâs face was only inches from mine. His hand was still pressed to the wall beside my head, his eyes were dark, stormy, searching me like he could force an answer out of my soul.And then he leaned in.My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it hurt. I
Sera povIt was a new day but my mind kept replaying yesterdayâs events especially the kiss, Kaelâs possessive glare, Lucaâs smug grin and somehow, amidst it all, Alexanderâs silent observation.I hadnât seen him much today, but I knew he was around. Always watching. And then I felt eyes on me.







