Either way, I was still on campus for dinner and it was a deep,deeplesson on why not to procrastinate.
The air was off when I walked into the cafeteria.
“Yeah, this is definitely about you,” my guard grumbled.
“Oh good, I’m not paranoid,” I sighed.
“Hey, hi, let’s go grab food,” Kelton suggested as he moved in front of me, blocking my view from the cafeteria. “I’m craving—”
“Anything but the drama going on here?” I asked, moving to glance around him. “I’m going to find out so just tell me.”
“Fucking assholes,” my guard growled. “Seriously, these top-tier assholes are just—”
“We’re what, pleb?” that British asshole from a top-tier family, Adam, demanded as he walked up to us. “Why are you bothering—”
“Because he matters more than you, dickhead,” I muttered as I snagged my guard’s phone from his hand. I scrolled a bit and snickered. “This is it? This is the big drama that everyone’s watching me over? Do people really have no life besides me?”
I handed the phone back to my guard, patted Kelton’s chest, and walked past them all.
“That’s not the end of this, Millen,” Adam snapped.
I glanced at him over my shoulder. “No, probably not. I’m sure those profiles are confidential and my attorney is going to eat whoever leaked them.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at me. “That wasn’t what I meant unless you’re too dense to understand that.”
“Watch it,” Winter warned as he came walking briskly towards me.
I didn’t glance at him and kept Adam’s gaze. “What do you think could happen? It’s not me being dense, but you being so far out there that—”
“People are saying you can’t be head of a top-tier family,” Gloria interjected as she joined us.
I blinked at her. “And be hot? Like what is the complaint?” I gave a half shrug when she snickered along with Carmen. “Those are photos from the mating profile my parents sent out.Underagephotos sexualizing me that the council was disturbed over. So what is the actual like… Complaint?”
“That it’s unbefitting for the head of a family,” Winter told me.
I snorted. “Yeah, good luck with that.” I smirked at Adam. “Go tell that to Jean and she’ll fuckingeat you.” I nodded when he frowned. “Jean isbreathtakingand her body is killer. I’ve seen her in a bikini and so have others. There are pictures probably up on her social media too. Sogood luckwhen you go use that argument onher.”
“That’s not—” he started to argue.
“It wasn’t nice knowing you,” I chuckled and walked off, completely unbothered and done with the whole thing.
But apparently, no one around me believed me that I was really okay with it? Winter kept asking. Kelton—even Gloria and Carmen. My guards.
Too many people.
The only one was Tracey. She just asked me how did we want to handle it.
Which was really the only thing to discuss about it.
Right?
Or was I really that fragile and messed up to everyone that they thought something like pictures—not even naked ones—would destroy me? Pictures I knew were out there and traded all around by disgusting men from top-tier families. All the women in those circles knew they kept those pictures and sent them to their friends.
Most just didn’t go to the extent my disgusting parents had. I didn’t think they normally would have except they wanted to basically punish me for being a magical null and get the best price for me.
And it was all over campus. It was beyond ridiculous.
I hit my limit on ridiculous. When I woke Friday morning with more notifications of it blowing up bigger and people asking me if I was okay… I hit my limit.
