Chapter 10: Fire in Her Veins

Elara had never worn power well.

Not because she didn’t want it. But because, for most of her life, it had only ever existed outside her grasp. On other girls’ lips. In other people’s hands. In locked rooms where people like her were only brought in to be laughed at.

But now?

Now it wrapped around her like a second skin.

Over the next week, Elara maneuvered flawlessly inside the school’s elite social scene. Cassidy’s absence created a power vacuum, and Valerie Monroe was eager to promote a new golden girl. Elara played the part perfectly—humble, articulate, grateful. She gave interviews for school media, offered advice to students about “healing from trauma,” and attended committee lunches like she belonged.

All while secretly documenting everything: conversations, payment trails, nomination biases, even the hidden political funding behind the so-called “merit-based” scholarships.

Her mask was flawless.

But it wasn’t the mask that scared her.

It was how comfortable it had become.

One