VioletI opened the classroom door and stepped inside.I stepped into the usual mix of chatter, clicking phones, and someone snoring quietly in the back. It felt like a typical college morning. Except, something was off.The moment I walked in, every head turned. I froze, my fingers tightening around my bag as dozens of eyes locked on me.I wasn’t used to this. Normally, I was invisible, the quiet one. The scholarship student. The girl who always sat near the window with her nose in a book.People only knew me as Penelope and Kai’s friend, and only when they were around. The moment they left, I faded into the background. And I didn’t mind. Being invisible was better than dealing with unnecessary drama. I had enough going on in my life, I didn’t need more stress.I looked around, trying to figure out what was happening, and then my eyes landed on her.Riley.She sat casually at her desk, legs crossed like a queen on a throne, that awful smirk on her lips, just like her mother’s. Her ar
Violet I pushed open my bedroom door and headed downstairs. The house was silent. I was just about to step outside, until I froze.My aunt sat on the couch, coffee mug in hand, legs crossed like she owned the whole damn world. Harper stood beside her, arms folded, glaring at me.Perfect. Just what I needed to start the morning.I considered turning around and going back to my room. It was too early for this kind of drama. But skipping school wasn’t an option, I was on scholarship. Every day mattered.I angled toward the door, hoping I could just slip out, but Harper moved fast. Her fingers clamped around my wrist, nails digging into my skin.“What do you think you’re doing?” I frowned. She just gave me that smug, condescending smile, the one that always made me want to slap it right off her face.“I should be asking you that,” my aunt said, setting her coffee down. “What do you think you’re doing, Violet?”I turned toward my aunt just as she rose from the couch. She walked up to me,
Violet The shrill buzz of my alarm clock exploded next to my ear.I groaned and flailed an arm over the edge of the bed, trying to smack it into silence. My fingers hit the lamp instead, nearly knocking it over. With a whimper of protest, I rolled onto my stomach and yanked a pillow over my head.Just five more minutes. Five more to hold on to that infuriating, addictive dream. It was warm and electric. The kind of dream that leaves you flushed and aching in places no dream should be allowed to reach.What was wrong with me?Before I could sink back into the dream, a heavy weight landed right on my back.“Oof!” I gasped, all the air knocked out of me. Then came the wet assault of a tongue across my cheek.“Tiger,” I groaned, turning my head and cracking one eye open.My 150 pound dog wagged his tail like I’d just handed him a steak. He licked my face again, tongue hanging out.“Remind me why I kept you,” I muttered, wiping the slobber off my face with a groan.He barked again. I sigh
MatthewThe moment he stepped in, no one moved, or spoke.You don’t speak when Hades Sinclair is in the room.Out of all the Sinclairs, out of every man with that cursed, wealthy bloodline running through his veins, there was one no one dared to cross. It was not my grandfather, the wealthiest man on earth. Not my adoptive siblings, Robert and Piper, who were both greedy, clawing at Father’s legacy like wolves at a carcass, or uncle Roman, who kept to himself.But Hades fucking Sinclair.He was terrifying, and worse, he smiled like the devil just before taking your soul.I kept my head low, my fingers curling tighter around the fork in my hand as his shoes echoed down the marble floor, each step slow and unbothered, like he owned the damn place.He sat at the far end of the table, facing Grandfather directly. “Good evening, old man,” My father said casually. “Still breathing, I see. Guess you haven’t kicked the bucket yet.”Grandfather paused. He stopped eating, for the first time th
HadesI never liked easy things.They bored me.The chase, the grind, the risk, that’s where the thrill was. The higher the stakes, the sharper my focus. If something was handed to me, I didn’t want it. I wanted to take it. And taking it wasn’t enough. I needed to earn it, break it, and claim it.That’s probably why I’ve always been a monumental headache to my father.He used to call me impulsive, reckless, and unstable. And he wasn’t wrong.When I was fourteen, I got bored and decided to spice up one of his quarterly board meetings. So I snuck into the kitchen and had the house staff swap the sparkling water with a little experimental digestive I was mixing for fun.The entire boardroom emptied out in ten minutes. Suits flew as old men clutched their stomachs and bolted for the bathrooms like their lives depended on itI sat on the counter, laughing so hard I could barely breathe, the camera clutched in my hands. To this day, it’s still the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.My father di
Violet I’ve never seen the Cinderella movies before.I've only read the books.The story was simple, a girl loses her mother young, her father remarries a beautiful but wicked woman with two cruel daughters, and when her father dies, well, that’s when the real nightmare begins.They strip her of everything. Her place, her voice, and her freedom.As a kid, I hated it. Not because it was sad, but because it was stupid.She owned the house, didn’t she? Why didn’t Cinderella just tell them to leave? Why didn’t she fight back? It made no sense to me. She just let herself be walked on like some kind of doormat in pearls.That was probably why I never watched the movie. And as an adult, I didn’t watch it because there was no point.Why would I want to watch it, when I was living it?My aunt was cruel. My cousins were evil. But unlike Cinderella, I wasn’t locked in a dusty attic, I had my own room.The only real difference between us? Her prince wasn’t an asshole.Maybe Cinderella got lucky.