Lahat ng Kabanata ng Owned By The King Of Blackwood (De Luca Series): Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

The rain at Blackwood University didn’t wash things clean; it just made the rot smell like wet stone.I pulled the collar of my thrifted coat tighter around my neck, ducking my head as I hurried across the cobblestone quad. Thunder rattled the stained-glass windows of the library.Keep your head down. Don’t make eye contact. You are invisible.That was the mantra, It was the only reason I was still breathing.To the registrar and the student body, I was Elena Vance, a boring transfer student from Ohio on a hardship scholarship. I was a nobody, a ghost.But to the people my father had betrayed, I was Elena Rossi, the daughter of the "The Rat." The man who had embezzled five million dollars from the De Luca crime family and vanished, leaving his nineteen-year-old daughter to fend for herself.I adjusted the strap of my bag, my knuckles turning white. I had 1 year left. One year to get my law degree, pass the bar, and disappear to a country without an extradition treaty.Blackwood was th

I stared at the closet door for a full minute before I gathered the courage to touch the handle. My hand hovered, trembling, the brass knob cool against my clammy skin.Don’t make me come get you.I recalled.I pulled the door open.I expected it to be empty, or perhaps filled with my own pathetic, thrift-store wardrobe that the movers had packed. But my boxes were still taped shut on the floor behind me.The closet was full.Rows of hangers stretched across the cedar-lined space. Coats, blouses, skirts. All of them high-end. All of them in a palette of blacks, grays, and deep blood reds.And hanging in the center, displayed like a museum piece, was a dress.It was black silk, suspended on straps no thicker than fishing line. It was the kind of dress that looked like it would pool on the floor like ink if you dropped it. No zippers, no buttons. Just a slip of fabric designed to cling to every insecurity I had.I reached out and touched the hem. It was soft, and looks obscenely expensi

I washed my face three times, the cold water didn't stop me from shaking. I looked at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. I looked the same—same dark eyes, same mouth, same hair, but I wasn't the same anymore, I felt like a traitor. I checked the time. 9:05 AM. Class had started. I had to go in, If I didn't, Matteo’s man in the back row might get restless. I pushed open the bathroom door and walked down the hallway, the air felt thick, like I was walking underwater. I reached the double doors of the lecture hall, I could hear my uncle’s voice through the wood.I slipped inside. The hall was large and stadium-style, It was warm, about fifty students sat in rows, typing on laptops or scribbling notes. Down in the "pit," at the front of the room, was Uncle Arthur. He looked small next to the massive blackboard, he was covered in chalk dust. He waved his arms, excited about history, he loved teaching more than anything. I tried to sneak to the back row, hoping he wouldn't see

The penthouse was buzzing with activity.Bianca shoved me through the double doors and into the hands of three women I had never seen before. They didn’t introduce themselves or smile, they looked at me like I was a car that needed detailing."She's wet," one woman said, wrinkling her nose at my damp hair."We have two hours," another said, checking a gold watch. "Strip."I didn’t argue. I had learned that fighting over small things wasted energy I needed for bigger issues. I let them take my wet clothes, I letI let them sit me in a chair in front of a lighted mirror that was brighter than the sun.For ninety minutes, I was a mannequin.They pulled my hair, painted my face, and sprayed mist that smelled like flowers.I stared at my reflection but didn’t recognize the girl looking back. Her skin was flawless, her lips were a deep, blood-red stain. Her eyes were smoky with charcoal and silver, making them look huge and haunted."The dress," the lead stylist snapped.She brought it out f

The morning after the Initiation, the campus felt different.I walked toward the Science Center, my eyes glued to the pavement. I was wearing my own clothes again—a black turtleneck and the gray skirt Nico had given me—because my real clothes were still missing.I felt like I was dressed in a costume of myself. Everywhere I went, conversations stopped.Heads turned.“That’s her.”“The girl from the toast.”“I heard she left with De Luca before midnight.”My face burned, they had no idea what really happened. They didn’t know about the dark room, the leather wall, or how my body had betrayed me for a man who despised my existence.I could still feel the weight of Nico’s hand on my skin.I adjusted the strap of my backpack, trying to shrink inside my coat. I just needed to get to Biology. Just one hour of looking at cells under a microscope, at least cells didn’t gossip."Elena!"The voice came from behind me.I turned around.Julian was jogging across the wet grass of the quad. He look