I pull my AirPods from my bag and connect them to my phone, only then noticing the messages waiting on the screen.
My attention goes straight to the name at the top.
Jonathan Ashthorne.
And for perhaps the first time in my life, I am grateful it’s my father messaging me instead ofhim.
Thoughgratefulmight be a stretch.
Our relationship is… complicated.
But I am not about to unpack that disaster right now, so I lock my phone and shove it back into my bag without even reading the messages.
I can’t deal with whatever he has to say yet.
Especially not after the last time I saw him.
Because that day changed everything.
And even though my life has already been turned upside down because of it, part of me still refuses to fully accept what it all means.
So instead, I do what I always do.
I pretend none of it happened.
I stay tucked inside this small, fragile bubble of denial.
And for now… it’s the only thing keeping me from completely falling apart.
I leave the locker room and the fresh air immediately makes me feel lighter. I start the walk back to my dorm.
But my thoughts keep circling back to my father.
To my family, our legacy.
General Ashthorne.
At St. Monarché Academy, everyone holds some sort of power. Some come from old elite families, others from mafia dynasties, and most are tangled somewhere in between.
The founding families hold the most influence. Mine included.
My father built his reputation through the military. As Deputy Secretary of Defence, he is respected, powerful, and untouchable to most people.
Alongside that comes Ashthorne Enterprises and generations of influence tied to the Ashthorne name.
Officially, we are not mafia.
But we have alliances with them. Have had them for years.
And people like my father don’t maintain relationships with men like that unless both sides benefit from it. Doors get opened, favours get exchanged and problems disappear.
So even if we aren’t technically mafia, the clean military image presented to the public has never been the full truth either.
And honestly? It has never particularly bothered me.
How could it when some of my closest friends are literal mafia heirs?
When one day Octavia and Adelaide will step into those roles and take over.
