Winter and I sit at the gazebo. I glance at the inky sky as gray clouds hover over the half-crescent moon. I inhale the wet air and lean on the wooden bench. The campus is empty, quiet, and bare—like my spirit.
Winter frowns, squares her shoulders, and intertwines her fingers with mine. “How are you holding up?”
I shrug. “I want to kill Irvin every five seconds. He doesn’t take no for an answer. And he really thinks this is okay—trapping me in this marriage.”
She buttons up her Burberry jacket, yanking the hem over her knees. “I didn’t realize how brutal the American Billionaire Club men could be. They are all controlling. Keanu is controlling too. They were raised to be.” She pauses. “But what he did was wrong, and if you need help beating him up, I can help.” She smiles. “I love the mansion he moved you into. It’s nice.”
She stopped by earlier to pick me up for school. I’d rather be around her than my controlling-ass husband.
I look down and notice a wedding band on her ring finger and cock an eyebrow. “Did you get married already?”
She grins from ear to ear, hiding her face. “Yes. We got married yesterday morning, but we kept it a secret.”
I smile tightly. A few weeks ago, I was jealous of her because I thought I couldn’t be with Irvin, but now that we’re actually married, I instantly regret it. “Congratulations. You’re not pregnant, are you?”
She giggles. “Of course not. Why would you say that?”
I shrug and bite my thumbnail. “Why else would you get married so fast?”
Her laugh is easy, unguarded. “It was Keanu’s idea. He said it so casually. ‘Get dressed, Ice Petal, we’re going to the courthouse to get married.’ I asked him why, and he said I’m the only woman he cares about.”
“Would you have married him if you had a choice?”
She stares into my eyes. “Yes. If I had a choice, I would.”
“Does he make you happy?” I ask.
“Honestly? Yes, he does.”
A chill presses into my skin. Tears gloss my eyes. I wish I were married to someone who made me happy, and I wish I had a choice in who I wanted to marry. I shouldn’t be envious of my friend—but I am.
She wipes the tears from my cheeks. “What’s wrong, Lilac?”
“It’s… I will never feel the love that you have with Keanu. I’m trapped in a marriage with a man who won’t leave me alone. I can’t get away.”
I avoid eye contact. I don’t dare tell her about my secret identity, what I’m hiding, or what’s at stake for me. If she knew the real me, I could lose her.
She squeezes me tight. “I wish I had the right words to make things better, but I don’t.”
“It’s okay.”
We sit in silence as Winter strokes my back and lets me cry on her shoulder. I pull away and bring my knees to my chest.
“He says there is a serial killer on the loose on campus, but honestly, I think he’s lying. He’s saying that to trap me in the mansion with him.”
She strokes my back. “Lilac, there have been a few students that have gone missing. Keanu told me there’s a suspect, but there isn’t anything confirmed. They are supposed to keep quiet about the Gods—it’s stupid.”
“I agree. They have these rules about women not knowing what goes on. And the only reason they marry is to keep their bloodline going. What kind of shit is that? I’m never going to have Irvin’s baby. Hell no.”
“I would love to have children, but not for that reason.”
I take out my phone to check the time. Irvin sent me a few messages.
Lunatic: Come home. It’s getting too dark on campus.
That’s the thing that bothers me about Irvin—how the hell does he know where I am?
Me: I’m going out with Winter tonight. I’ll be home when I’m fucking ready. You don’t control me.
