Chapter 5: Isolated and Uncontrollable

"Open the door, or I'll tear down every wall in this apartment."

Freya's voice shook with barely contained fury.

I heard Xavier's ragged breathing as he tried to block her path.

"Freya, let me explain—"

Thud.

She gave him no chance. Freya yanked Xavier hard enough to slam him against the wall, then seized the bathroom doorknob. Locked.

"I knew it," she whispered.

The lock snapped with a loud crack as she forced her way in, and the door slammed right into the wall.

I just stood there by the marble sink, wearing nothing but Xavier's huge black sweater.

I was holding the crumpled-up pieces of my blouse and underwear in my hands. My lips were swollen, and my hair was a disaster. There was no way this looked innocent.

Freya's eyes raked over me—his sweater slipping off one shoulder, my bare legs, the faint reddish mark beneath my jaw. Disgust twisted her perfect face.

"I already knew you were pathetic, Ravenna," she hissed. "But it turns out you're far lower than I ever imagined."

Xavier stepped into the doorway behind her, expression hardening. He tried to place himself between us. "Freya, drop it. Go downstairs."

"Drop it?" She scoffed, acting as if he didn't exist. "Look at you." Her sneer cut deep. "Pathetic. No surprise Scott turned you down. You've always been my leftovers, scavenging for scraps behind me. Second best."

The words dragged me straight back to the ballroom. Scott's calm rejection. The stares. The laughter. Years of being treated like I didn't matter.

Rage surged so fast my fingers trembled.

"Say that again," I growled, closing the distance.

Freya tilted her head, that familiar smug smile playing on her lips. "What? That you're nothing but secondhand trash?" She laughed. "Face it, Ravenna. You'll never measure up to me."

My hand moved before I could stop it.

The slap cracked through the bathroom. Freya's head snapped to the side, golden hair flying across her face. I stared at my own palm in shock.

She turned back slowly. An angry red mark was already blooming on her cheek. Her eyes glittered with pure venom.

"You actually slapped me," she whispered. "Little Ravenna thinks she can slap me and live?"

Before I could answer, she lunged.

Her hand clamped around my wrist like a vise. The force yanked me forward so hard my shoulder screamed. I stumbled out of the bathroom as she dragged me across the living-room floor.

"Freya—stop!"

I dug my heels into the polished wood, trying to resist. She only tightened her grip and hauled harder, treating me like a criminal caught in the act of treason. My bare feet slid. The sweater rode up my thighs. I clawed at her fingers, twisting, fighting.

"Get off me!"

Xavier moved fast. He grabbed her arm, trying to pry her off me. "Let her go. You're hurting her."

She shoved him with her free hand, never slowing. "Stay out of this."

I fought harder, nails scraping her skin, body twisting. "I said let go!"

Freya didn't even try to lower her voice; she wanted everyone in the building to hear her. "After everything we did for you—the tutors, the clothes, all the charity we threw your way—you sleep with my boyfriend and then have the nerve to touch me?"

She dragged me past the couch and over the broken pieces of the bathroom lock on the floor. Every step just made me feel more pathetic. I tripped and almost fell, but she just yanked me back up.

Xavier caught her wrist a second time, sharply. "Freya. Enough."

She ignored him completely, eyes locked on mine with vicious delight. "You think he would choose you over me? In your fucking dreams, Ravenna."

I twisted as hard as I could and finally broke loose for a second, but she just smacked me across the face.

My cheekbone absolutely flared with pain, and the hit sent me stumbling right into the couch. I caught myself on the cushions, breathing heavily, tasting blood in my mouth.

The rage still refused to die.

"I hate you," I spat.

"Good." She smiled that same sweet, childhood smile she used when she stole my toys. "Father will be thrilled to hear about this."

The blood drained from my face. "Freya, don't. I'll leave Luminara. I'll disappear—"

"Oh, I'll enjoy destroying you, sister." She stepped closer, towering over me. "You think tonight is the worst thing that could happen to you? No. Tonight is just the beginning."

She turned and walked out. The door slammed behind her with a force that rattled the windows.

My legs gave out. I sank onto the edge of the couch, trembling so hard my teeth nearly chattered. Everyone would know. My father—the man I had spent my entire life trying to make proud—now held a weapon powerful enough to bury me forever.

Xavier stood a few feet away, arms crossed, expression unreadable. After a long moment, he let out a low, almost amused chuckle.

I looked up at him, desperate. "Xavier… what are we going to do?"

He raised an eyebrow, as if the question itself were ridiculous. "We?" He laughed again, colder this time. "There is no 'we', Ravenna."

My stomach turned.

He looked at me for a few seconds—just long enough to make it awkward—and then shrugged. "It is what it is. But don't overthink it. It wasn't whatever you think it was."

"You used me," I said.

He gave a little smirk. "I never promised you anything."

He leaned in and brushed some hair off my face, but it felt fake. "Go home. Go cry to your dad or whatever you usually do. Just don't expect anything else from me."

My eyes were watering, but I didn't want to let him see me cry. "You're a fucking monster."

"And you're still into this monster. Weird, right?"

I stood up, feeling shaky, and wrapped his big sweater around myself. As I got to the door, he spoke up again.

"Ravenna."

I shouldn't have, but I looked back.

Xavier didn't even look up from his phone. "Try not to die tonight."

For a second, I actually thought he cared. "Wouldn't want the headache," he added.