LOGINElias rests his forehead against the steering wheel, his knuckles still aching from pounding Jason’s jaw. His thoughts are caught in a vicious loop of everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours.He shouldn’t have come here today.If he had stayed home like he planned, they wouldn’t have had that dumb fight and Chloe wouldn’t have found out the way she did. Now Lucia’s best friends hate her, the entire school knows who her father is, and it’s all his fault.Eli runs a frustrated hand over his face and checks his phone for the fourth time in the last five minutes his irritation continuing to mount as the time shows 4:53pm.It’s been over fifteen minutes since he sent Tyler out to fetch Lucas and Lucia. He knows Lucia is mad at him, and he fully expected her to drag her feet just to make him suffer, but this level of delay is pushing past the boundaries of her usual stubbornness.Elias shifts the vehicle into park, his fingers gripping the door handle as he prepares to
The wind outside the school building is freezing, but it does absolutely nothing to cool the panic buzzing through my veins.My uniform skirt whips against my bare knees as I march down the gravel pathway toward the side lawns, my vision slightly blurred by a volatile mix of tears and adrenaline. I can still hear the murmurs of the remaining students behind me, their eyes burning holes into my back, but my focus is locked entirely on the three figures standing near the stone benches by the auxiliary gym.Priya and Emma are huddled closely around Chloe, who is sitting on the edge of the stone structure with her shoulders shaking violently as she cries hard into her hands. The sight of her completely broken state hits me with a wave of immense guilt and grief.As I take a few halting steps closer, my boots crunch softly on the loose gravel and Priya looks up over her shoulder. Her expression instantly hardens the moment she registers my presence. She nudges Emma with her elbow, whisp
The silence that blankets the courtyard is thick, absolute, and completely terrifying.I stare at Chloe, my heart freezing solid in my chest as the cold afternoon air suddenly feels like ice in my lungs. Her history notebook slips from her fingers, clattering against the concrete steps, the pages fluttering open as she takes a slow, unstable step toward us.“Chloe,” I say, my voice barely cracking past the giant lump of panic rising in my throat. I drop my hand from Eli’s jacket, stepping away from him as if the physical distance could somehow rewrite the words she just heard. “Let me explain. It’s not what it sounds like.”“Not what it sounds like?” Chloe asks as her face twists into an expression of pure, unadulterated betrayal. Tears instantly spring to her eyes, spilling over her lower lashes. “I stepped out of class and came out here to check on my best friend because she has been acting completely off all day and I wanted to make sure she was okay. And instead, I walk out int
The clock on the classroom wall is ticking with agonizing slowness, each movement of the black minute hand feeling like a personal attack to my sanity. The entire day has been an exercise in absolute misery, a masterclass in pretending that my entire world didn’t implode less than twenty-four hours ago in my own bedroom.I sit at my desk, propping my chin up with one hand while flipping through a textbook I haven’t actually read a single line of, trying to maintain the classic, untouchable Lucia Reid façade.Beside me, Priya, Emma and Chloe are whispering about some upcoming weekend plans. I can feel their eyes on me every few minutes, tracking the way I’m barely touching my pens or how I haven’t made a single sarcastic comment about our history teacher’s terrible toupee. They clearly suspect that something is deeply wrong, especially after the locker room disaster yesterday, but thankfully they respect my boundaries enough not to push for details while we are surrounded by thirty o
Fuck. Did she really just say she loves me?The words ring through Elias’s head as he closes the door of Lucia’s bedroom behind him.He stands there for a moment with his hand still resting on the polished handle, listening to the absolute silence on the other side of the wood. He knows he should probably go back inside, that he should explain himself better, but the raw look of betrayal in her pretty blue eyes right before he left is enough to keep his shoes frozen to the floor.He doesn’t head down the corridor toward his assigned room in the main house. Instead, he turns on his heel and makes his way down the service stairs, exiting through the side doors into the cool, damp night air. He crosses the manicured lawn toward the detached security complex near the outer gates, checking into the smaller guard rooms instead. The space is tiny, smelling of industrial cleaner and cheap laundry detergent, but it is infinitely better than staying under the same roof as the girl whose entir
I watch the soft, relaxed expression on Eli’s face vanish, replaced by a sudden rigidity that makes his shoulders lock. His large hands drop from my waist and an immediate panic washes over my chest as the vulnerability of what I just confessed hits me.“You don’t have to say it back,” I say quickly, taking a step back and wrapping my arms tightly over my uniform skirt. “I… um… I just wanted you to know.”Eli rubs the back of his neck, his knuckles catching on the edge of his collar as he looks down at the floor, refusing to meet my eyes.“Why,” he says, his brows pulling together in a tight frown. “Why would you even say that?”The tone of his voice is entirely devoid of the tenderness from a moment ago. It sounds flat, bordering on annoyed, and the rejection hits me hard. My panic instantly morphs into a hot, defensive anger as my defenses flare up to protect whatever dignity I have left.“What the hell kind of response is that?” I demand, my thoughts screaming that I’ve just m
The bedroom door is barely closed before David's hands are on me, sliding up under the thin silk of my robe as he backs me against the wall.I tilt my head back against the cool plaster, letting him kiss down the column of my throat while my fingers work the buttons of his shirt open. His skin is s
The recorder sits on the kitchen island like a small black bomb waiting to detonate. I haven’t touched it since I got home at three in the morning, showered twice to wash off the warehouse smell, and crawled into bed beside Lucy without waking her. Now it’s almost ten and I still can’t touch it. M
Maya closes the door behind her with a soft click that feels louder than it should in the small, airless room. The hallway light catches the side of her face for a second before the door seals us in darkness again, leaving only the faint glow from that single recessed bulb overhead. She doesn’t mov
The sound of gunfire still rings in my ears long after the echo dies. Rhys moves fast. Faster than my brain can catch up with. One second the gun is pressed to my forehead and I am staring down the end of every bad decision I have ever made, and the next second Maya is flying backward, her body sl







