During our freshman year at the academy, Soren was supposedly seeing a girl. Cassia, of course, didn’t take it lightly, and she’s never been the smartest cookie around, or the sharpest tool in the shed. Her fantastic solution was to hit on the girl’s father, and to make it seem as though she’s been having an affair with the man for a while.
It was all fabricated, and it was by pure luck I found out about it. I still have all the evidence of her admitting to lying just to get the poor girl off Soren, and in the process, she ruined the family for no reason.
I admire the dedication, though.
With a wide smile, I stare at my phone. I’m in the hallway, the rest of the students rushing from one class to the other, some of them chatting nearby, groups formed as always. My phone dings when the notification of Sinners and Saints appears, and when I read through the carefully worded email, something blooms in my chest.
I sent everything to Astrid earlier this morning, and it’s now published. All the evidence of Cassia fabricating the affair, then gloating about how she ruined that girl’s life and family. It might not seem much compared to what Cassia’s done to me, but given that the girl’s family is extremely powerful and wealthy, this will have legal consequences for sure.
Especially since I leaked it to the general media, too.
The privilege of watching Cassia from across the hall glance at her phone, her face pales as her friends also look at the email, is absolutely perfect. Her eyes immediately dart up, trying to see who might’ve leaked it. But all she sees are people around, glaring at her with disgust.
It’s ironic, really. She leaks my nudes, and I’m the one getting the stares, and she breaks up a marriage, and that’s what gets people to finally look at her as the monster she is. She’s always been unhinged, and I think it’s time for me to match the insanity, because otherwise, we’ll get nowhere.
“You,” she hisses, anger radiating off her. She walks the distance, coming to a stop right in front of me. “I’ll kill you.”
I smile. “Go ahead.”
“You dumb bitch,” she snarls, her hands coming to grab me by the collar of my shirt. “I’ll ruin you.”
“You can’t,” I chuckle. “Don’t you get it, Cassia? In this game of vengeance, I’ll always be the fucking winner. Anything you can do, I can do better. So, go ahead. Do something worse if you fucking dare because I’ll be right here, waiting, and I’ll do something that you’ll never see coming.”
“You’ll regret this,” she promises, venom dripping from her words. Her friends try to pry her off me, but it’s futile. She’s not budging. And I don’t want her to.
“I really won’t, but I’ll enjoy your pathetic attempt at getting even.”
FORTY-THREE
It’s raining tonight.
The clouds have opened, and the thunderstorm, as well as the heavy rain has forced everyone to retreat to their dorms. Kenzo, Aiden, and Elias are waiting for me in one of the classrooms that are at the far end of the academy. They’re barely being used, and when they are, it’s only for freshmen. No one likes to use them because they’re small, far from the rest of the classrooms, and that part of the academy is yet to be renovated properly.
I push the door open, stepping inside, and my breath hitches in my throat.
Another round of loud, harsh thunder echoes in the room, the sky flickering bright white, illuminating the figure in front of me. When it stops, darkness falls over us, and the only light is provided by the moon. I take a small step inside, staring at the long, blonde hair.
“Close the door, and lock them,” Sophia orders, without turning to look at me.
My brows narrow in suspicion, but I do as I’m told. The doorcreaks, and the moment it’s locked, she turns to look at me. Her arms are folded in front of her chest, and she’s not saying anything. There’s nothing on her face that could even indicate to me where tonight will lead me, and it’s irritating, to say the least.
“Sophia,” I take a small, slow step toward her. “What are you doing here?”
Her eyes skim me, head to toe, a handful of times. She’s not uttering a single word, and it’s starting to piss me the fuck off. Then, before I can blink, Sophia storms toward me, her heels clicking on the floor. There’s an insane amount of fury in her eyes, and when she has to tilt her head upward to meet my eye, I can’t help but think how adorable she is. Like a little kitten, ready to claw me.
“You’re a fucking bastard, do you know that?”
My jaw clenches. “What did I tell you about that word?”
“You’re an absolute fucking moron,” she continues ranting, her voice rising with each word she says. “I can’t believe someone as smart as you can be so fucking stupid at the same time.”
I blink, taken aback. “Excuse me?”
Sophia’s hands clench into a fist before she takes a deep breath to calm herself down and unclenches them. Just when I think I’m in the clear, she backhands me so hard that I can taste blood on my tongue, my lip splitting.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I turn to look at her with anger, and her eyes are swollen with tears.
“That’s for saying all those hurtful things on the highway,” she utters, and a tear slides down her cheek. “And this,” she backhands me again, and I can’t believe I didn’t see this one coming, “is for lying to me.”
