“You’re talking to me about chess?” I snatched my phone from his desk. “This is against the law!”
“Keep your voice down,” he scolded me. “This is not illegal, it is simple governance of an academic institution.”
“Governance?” I knew my mouth was hanging open. “By silencing students? By burying this blog? By paying for projects with money meant for education?”
His eyes sharpened. “You’re talking about things you don’t fully comprehend. And if you’re smart, which I know you are, Savannah, you’ll know when tostop.”
I swallowed hard, but anger kept me upright. “You told me to keep an eye on Dante. To report if anything was unusual. Well, guess what,Dad? I found out something really freaking unusual, and it’snotabout the Lions quarterback.”
For the first time, I saw it — an actual crack in his composure. A muscle ticked in his jaw.
“Savannah,” he said, voice lower now, quieter, deadlier. “I asked you to observe,notto interfere. If you push this, you’ll ruin more than just your reputation. You’ll ruin this program. You’ll ruinhim.”
The weight of those last words hit like a blow.
Him.Dante.
I stared at my father, my throat dry, my phone feeling like a grenade in my shaky grip. “What does that mean?”
His silence was my answer.
I don’t know how I got out of his office.
One minute I was staring at my father, his stern look louder than any confession, and the next my boots were clicking too fast down the marble hallway. My phone clutched in my hand, sharp edges biting into my palm.
By the time I pushed through the heavy doors into the cold afternoon air, my chest felt like it was splitting.
He’d said it.You’ll ruin him.
Dante wasn’t just a name in the file. He wasn’t just QB10 on the stat sheet. Hebelongedto them — valuable so long as he kept winning, disposable the second he slipped. And me? I was just supposed to sit back and let it happen. Pretend like I didn’t see the strings pulling at him, see that his defiance was already putting him in danger.
The wind cut through my coat, but I barely felt it. All I could hear was my boots on the cold stone, the roar of blood in my ears, and my own thoughts circling like vultures.
How deep did this go?
How long had Dad known?
And how much should I tell Dante?
I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes, furious when the sting of tears threatened.
But as I stumbled across the quad, the truth hit hard and mercilessly: I wasn’t just reeling from what I’d uncovered. I was terrified of what it meant for the one person who was unknowingly tangled in all of this — and who I cared about far too much to let them destroy him.
I needed to warn him. Dustin and Noah, too. They needed to know. They thought it was grade altering. How did I tell them it was so much more?
I stopped outside the coffee shop. I had no idea what to do. Tell him everything, or sit with it until I know exactly what I have.
My phone burned like a hot coal in my hand, Dante’s number right there, one swipe away.
If I told him now, I risked setting off a fuse neither of us could put out. If I stayed silent, I was no better than his coach or my father.
The door to the coffee shop opened, and laughter spilled out, normal and easy, like the world wasn’t cracking under my feet.
I shoved my phone back into my bag, dragging in a shaky breath. One thing was clear: I couldn’t keep this to myself. Whether they liked it or not, I was about to become the kind ofdistractionneither of us could walk away from.
Because if the program didn’t bury him, the truth would, if and when it came out, and I would set it all alight before I let them blindside Dante Spence and everything he had worked for.
Chapter 36
