Chapter 3

My pencil case hit the floor. Pens, erasers, and rulers scattered in every direction, while my admission ticket slid several feet away.

“Sorry. Didn’t see you.”

The person who had struck me was a boy. I did not recognize his face, though his voice sounded vaguely familiar.

I ignored him and followed the pale blur of the paper. Just as my fingers reached for it, a shoe came down on top of it.

The boy bent close, his voice openly mocking. “So you really can’t see?”

“Move your foot.” I caught one corner of the ticket and pulled. It did not move.

“Must be convenient,” he murmured. “The academy rearranges everything for you, and Lorenzo clears whatever is left in your way.”

I raised my head. At this distance, I finally recognized him as the son of a minor family allied with the Valentis. He had also been outside my estate with Bianca and the others that night.

“Get off my ticket.”

He laughed. “Or what? You’ll call Lorenzo and have him deal with me?”

He shifted his weight.

The thin paper tore beneath his shoe.

An instant later, someone shoved him away. Caught off guard, the boy stumbled into a row of lockers.

Lorenzo stood in front of me, his expression glacial.

“Apologize.”

The boy stared at him. “I already said I didn’t mean to bump into her.”

“I told you to apologize for what you just said.”

Lorenzo never raised his voice, yet everyone who had gathered to watch fell silent.

The boy’s family depended on the Valentis. He would never dare truly offend Lorenzo. His face darkened, but he muttered, “I’m sorry.”

Lorenzo did not look at him again. He crouched, collected my scattered pens, and picked up the damaged admission ticket.

“They’ll still accept it.” He placed everything back into my pencil case and put it in my hands. “I’ll take you to the room.”

I followed him with my head lowered.

Lorenzo walked me all the way to the exam room. He confirmed the number and explained the damaged admission ticket to the proctor.

Before leaving, he said quietly, “Wait here when the exam ends.”

When the exam ended, I did not wait for him. The family driver was already outside, just as I had arranged.

That evening, I put away my notes and checked my phone.

Bianca had just posted an update.

The photograph showed a vinyl record resting beside the Romano family’s elaborate turntable. The birthday message I had engraved by hand was clearly visible on the sleeve.

Her caption contained only one line:

A perfect surprise. Thank you, Lorenzo.

It was the record I had placed on top of the box.

Lorenzo had not even opened it while I was there. Yet he had already taken it to Bianca’s house.

I stared at the photograph until my eyes began to ache.

Then I pressed the like button.

When I refreshed the page a few minutes later, the post had disappeared.

Almost immediately, Lorenzo called me.

“I only lent Bianca the record,” he said as soon as I answered. “She misunderstood and thought it was a gift.”

“I see.”

“Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not.”

Before he could respond, Bianca’s voice came through the phone.

“Serena, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it came from you. I’ll return it right away, so please don’t fight with Lorenzo.”

“There’s no need. I gave it to him. It belongs to him now.”

Bianca fell silent.

“Serena, don’t pretend you don’t care,” Lorenzo said. “You spent weeks looking for that record.”

“I’m not pretending.”

“If this had happened before, you would have called me immediately and demanded an explanation.”

“That was before.”

He paused. When he spoke again, his unease had hardened into defensiveness.

“You gave it to me, so I have the right to decide what I do with it.”

“I know. That’s why I’m not asking you to return it.”

A dull ache spread through my chest.

When I cared too visibly, Lorenzo treated my feelings as another demand placed upon him. Now that I had stopped asking anything of him, he accused me of pretending.

Perhaps he did not want my love.

He only wanted the certainty that it would always be there.

“I have to go.”

“Serena—”

I ended the call.

In the days that followed, Lorenzo contacted me more often than usual.

He reminded me to use my eye drops. He asked about my examination results and sent the driver whenever the weather was too bright for me to walk comfortably.

I thanked him each time.

I no longer asked where he was, who he was with, or whether he planned to see me.

The more polite my replies became, the more often he found another reason to message me.

But neither of us mentioned the record again.

By the time the academy held its graduation party at a private club owned by the Valenti family, we had become careful around each other.

I had not wanted to attend, but it was one of our last gatherings before everyone left the academy, and my parents urged me to go. Aunt Victoria specifically reminded Lorenzo to keep an eye on me that evening.

It was the first time Lorenzo and I had been alone together since the phone call.

The club was dim and crowded. The younger members of our circle gathered around the tables, discussing universities, family foundations, and the responsibilities they would soon assume.

Bianca sat across from Lorenzo.

She spoke naturally with him about the Romano casino proposal they had been working on together.

I had never been part of that project. I could follow the conversation, but there was no reason for me to interrupt it.

In the low light, I could barely see what was on the table. I could not look at the screens they passed around for long, and I had never joined most of their late-night activities.

The party had hardly begun, yet I already wanted to go home.

Then someone suggested truth or dare.

The bottle spun around the table several times before stopping in front of Lorenzo.

He chose truth.

Someone immediately grinned.

“Lorenzo, after all these years of looking after Serena, are you actually in love with her?”