PART 2
CHAPTER1
MIA
“Congrats, Mia,” President Jacobbe said to me, shaking my hand onstage at my college graduation.
I grasped his hand in mine and smiled widely, feeling so damn proud of myself. This entire summer, I had been working my ass off to finish school, and while I wished I had finished on time, I wouldn’t trade this for the world.
After walking offstage, I caught Michael sitting with Mom and my friends, and I blushed.
I had done it. I’d freaking done it. I’d made it through without Mason, without Dad, without an angry ex-wife after me.
I sat back down in my seat and watched the rest of the students receive their degrees. Since it was summer graduation, the ceremony was smaller than the spring commencement and finished much quicker. I picked out Dr. Xiao in the audience, sitting with some of the other students from her lab.
Though I wasn’t officially a grad student yet, I’d started working in her lab about a week ago to get set up and understand how things worked around there. And it was a hell of a lot better than sitting in the house all day, horny as hell and waiting for Michael to come home from work.
I stared at President Jacobbe and placed a hand over my stomach, listening to him finish one of his speeches. A sweet craving for oranges hit me, and my stomach growled. Pregnancy had been tougher these past few weeks. Besides these cravings, I had been getting hornier than I ever had been before. All I could think about was Michael bending me over the bed later on and fucking me senseless in this damn cap and gown.
Fucking weird, I know.
But, God, it made me squeeze my knees together.
“Congratulations to our graduates. Please join us for some refreshments at the University Club,” Jacobbe said.
Everyone started to disperse out of the auditorium and into the hallways, heading toward the University Club a few doors down.
Graduates stood for pictures at the entrance with their parents as I walked farther into the room. Dr. Xiao had a glass of wine in her hand, and when she saw me, she hurried over.
“Congrats, Mia!” Dr. Xiao said, throwing her arms around me and pulling me into a tight hug.
Behind her stood a few students from the grad program, who were chatting with each other.
At our university and this psych program, it was sort of a tradition to attend graduation for the undergrads. The psychology department always threw a grad party afterward. I had been to one in April when they graduated, and it was definitely worth attending for chatting and making connections with others in the field.
I held my degree close and thanked her. She ushered me toward the other students, and I excused myself to find Michael and get some water at the bar. My mouth was dry from sitting in that auditorium for the past two hours.
One of the lab assistants and grad students, Cameron, who had also been in Mason’s frat last year, smiled at me. “Congrats, Mia. Officially a grad student.” Cam nodded to the bar. “You want anything? The psych department saved up all year to get grads drunk off shitty wine.”
After laughing, I shook my head and rested a hand on my stomach. “I’m good, thanks.”
“I, uh …” He scratched the back of his head. “I heard you and Mason broke up.”
Just at the sound of his name, I scrunched up my nose. I didn’t even want to think about that man. He’d had his trial in court the other day, and I had avoided news about him at all costs, knowing deep down what his sentence would be.
“Yeah,” I said, awkwardly standing beside him.
Michael caught my eye from across the room, where he stood, chatting up Dr. Xiao about something. He raised a brow, and I shook my head and turned my gaze back to Cam.
“We broke up a while ago.”
Cam looked as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself. “I heard about what happened at the courthouse and wanted to apologize for what he did to you,” he said just as awkwardly as I felt. “Brothers fromanyfrat should act better than how he treated you. He should’ve gotten more than a slap on the wrist.”
My heart dropped in my chest, and I stared up at him with wide eyes, promising myself that I wouldn’t cry on the night of my graduation. “He didn’t get any punishment?” I whispered, letting it sink in.
From the moment I’d pressed charges, I had known that nothing would happen to him because his parents had enough money to bribe anyone to look the other way. But knowing that there had been no justice broke my heart.
It felt like my entire world came crashing down. If Mason hadn’t gotten any consequences, what if he tried to do something like that again to me or to someone else? I knew to stay as far away from him as I could, but another girl might fall for him like I had, get trapped in a relationship with him, and let him hurt her over and over.
