“I’m sorry, Soren,” she says, looking directly into my eyes. “I’m really sorry for what I did. I know it was fucked up on so many levels, and my desire to hurt Sophia overpowered my love for you, and I’m so sorry for that.”
“And?” I blink. “Does that make the situation any better, Astrid? You did something terrible, something so fucking sinister that I do have to applaud you, you know. I never thought my sister could be such a bitch.”
She flinches as if I’d physically slapped her. “I am sorry. Please, I’ll do anything… just… please. Can things go back to the way they used to be?”
“No, Astrid. There’s no way things will ever be okay between us ever again. If you ever find yourself in any sort of trouble, I’ll alwayshelp you. But that’s just because of familial obligations rather than genuine love. You betrayed me in a way I’d never even think of betraying you.”
Her eyes swell with tears. “Please, Soren.”
“Your begging doesn’t change a damn thing, Astrid. You fucked up, and these are simply the consequences of your actions.”
“What if I apologized to Sophia?”
I suppress a laugh. “She’ll likely spit in your face. But by chance she doesn’t, why do you think that, after months of your little stunt, you even deserve anyone’s forgiveness? I understand you finally found some semblance of guilt and regret, but it’s too late. Sophia holds a grudge for life, and if she hasn’t forgiven her own brother, what makes you think she’ll forgive you? Besides, I highly doubt your apology will be sincere.”
Astrid trembles a little, tears running down her cheeks. My heart clenches at the sight, because I do know my sister. She’s truly remorseful, but she needs to be taught a lesson. I forgave her a long time ago, but telling her that is something I’m still not ready to do. She needs to understand that what she did was despicable, and even Sophia, who’s one of the bitchiest people I know, would never do something like that…again.
I choose to believe that Sophia leaking my sex tape was a one-time offense, especially because she did everything in her power to blur Ellie, and cut her out of the video. I’m in the main frame, anyway.
“Soren…” Astrid says, her voice soft, and I sigh.
“How about this? If Sophia forgives you, so will I.”
She blinks, taken aback. “What?”
“You hurt her more than you hurt me,” I shrug. “If you can get Sophia to forgive you, I’ll forgive you, too. If she doesn’t, never speak to me again.”
FIFTY
Ialways imagined this day. From the first moment I stepped foot into the Saint Valley academy, to today. This place holds a lot of memories, some good, some bad, overall, it’s been one hell of a ride. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
It’s our graduation day.
I graduated at the top of our year, much to Soren’s pretend dismay. He thinks I didn’t see right through him, but I knew immediately he got lower scores on the exams so that I’d get higher ones. My pride was wounded for a while, but on a deeper level, I’m thankful. He sacrificed his own pride to let me win, and that speaks volumes.
Soren is with the boys on one side of the booth. He’s drinking, chatting with them, but his eyes are on me at all times. He doesn’t look away, the intensity of his gaze makes me giddy for the moment we’re finally going to be all alone.
“We should throw a party,” Grace says, sipping on wine.
I look away from Soren, glancing at her with a raised brow. “As opposed to the one right now?”
She rolls her eyes. “I mean a proper party, only the closest friends.”
“Alright, anything in mind?”
Avalon chimes in. “How about we finally make use of that castle of yours?”
I grin. “Perfect!”
“Where’s Lila?” Avalon asks, and I glance around, trying to spot the head of pink hair, only to come up empty.
“The church.”
With a sigh, I take a sip of my drink. I never got the chance to talk to Lila about everything regarding her past. With everything happening with Cassia and Soren, there was never an opportunity when the two of us were alone.
However, I did talk about it with Grace. She’s known about it for years, and all I needed was Grace’s assurance that Lila isn’t some hardcore bully. If Grace believes her, so do I. She’s been nothing but kind to me, and when Grace showed me legitimate evidence of Lila’s innocence, I dropped the subject and decided against speaking to Lila about it overall.
“Uh, Soph?”
