"I mean—" Lennox starts, then stops at Ivy's glare. "Sorry. But maybe he was just strategizing? Trying to figure out the best way to handle it?"
"It doesn't matter. Don't you see?" I pull the blanket tighter. "When someone threatens the person you love, you don't pause to strategize. You react. You defend them. Immediately. Without thinking."
"But he did defend you," Lennox points out gently. "Eventually."
"Eventually isn't enough." My voice breaks. "I spent two years being hurt by him. Two weeks falling for him. And in the moment that mattered most, he showed me that I was right to be cautious. That his family, his legacy, his world, it all comes first. I come second."
Ivy sits next to me and wraps an arm around my shoulders. "You don't come second to anyone. You hear me? Sebastian Thornhill is an idiot."
"I should have known better. You warned me. Both of you warned me. And I didn't listen."
"Hey." Ivy tilts my face toward hers. "You took a risk on someone. That's not stupid. That's brave. It didn't work out, and that sucks, but you're not weak for trying."
"I feel weak." I wipe the tears.
"You're the strongest person I know. You're going to survive this. We're going to make sure of it."
We drink wine and eat the emergency chocolate Lennox had stashed in her desk. They let me cry and rage and eventually just sit in numb silence.
Around one in the morning, Lennox's phone buzzes. She looks at it, frowns, and holds it out to me.
"You need to see this."
It's a video someone posted to Instagram. The timestamp shows it's from about an hour ago. The thumbnail shows Sebastian on a stage with a microphone.
"I don't want to see whatever this is."
"Trust me. You need to see it."
Lennox hits play.
Sebastian's voice fills the small room: "Hi. For those who don't know me, I'm Sebastian Thornhill..."
I watch, frozen, as he tells everyone everything. The cruelty of the past two years. His reasons for bidding on me. His father's manipulation. The lies that were told.
"I hesitated. For just a moment, I hesitated. And that was enough to lose her."
My throat closes.
"So this is me not hesitating anymore. Isla Monroe is the best person I've ever known. She's brilliant and strong and deserves better than this school, this world, and definitely better than me. But I'm going to spend however long it takes proving I can be worthy of her. Even if she never forgives me."
The video ends.
I stare at Lennox's phone, not breathing.
"He said that," I whisper. "In front of everyone. In front of his father."
"He did." Lennox takes her phone back. "It's already got ten thousand views. Everyone's talking about it."
"Let them talk," Ivy says fiercely. "Actions matter more than words. He can give a hundred speeches. Doesn't change the fact that he hesitated when it mattered."
But my traitorous heart is already softening. Already making excuses. He was scared. He was conditioned his whole life to obey his father. He eventually made the right choice.
No.
I can't do this. Can't let myself be swayed by a grand gesture when the fundamental problem remains: when push came to shove, Sebastian Thornhill had to think about whether I was worth fighting for.
I block his number. Delete Instagram so I won't be tempted to look at comments or DMs. Shut down every avenue he might use to contact me.
