Chapter 31
THIRTY-ONE
With a yawn, I slump into my bed. The softness of the mattress, the familiar scent of my sheets, and the thick duvet make me relax almost immediately. I’m tired beyond belief, and I’m finally done with all of the exams.
Colton supervised all of them, alongside a couple of professors, and they were able to see that not only did I not cheat during the first exams, but I also had no time to cheat this time around, either.
I was too absorbed in solving all the problems, pulling the answers out of my head, to even notice the clock ticking on the wall.
The first couple of exams were two days ago, and the rest were split into yesterday and today.
I’m officially done, and the results will be on the board by tomorrow morning, just in time before everyone returns for the second semester.
My phone rings on the bedside table, and with a groan, I roll over, grabbing it, peeling one eye open to see who it is. It’s the group chat, and I pick up the FaceTime call, propping the phone against the lamp so I wouldn’t have to hold it.
However, I’m fucking worried about Damien. When he took the exams, his hand was entirely bandaged, as if his fingers were broken. His nose looked terrible, he was bruised all over, and his lip was split. He was avoiding me, too.
I know it’s Soren’s doing, and I can’t help but feel anger.
Jealousy is one thing, but beating the shit out of Damien for no reason?
It’s crossing the damned line, and I’m trying to figure out how to prevent him from doing something similar again, without poking the bear too much.
Who knows what Soren’s prepared to do when it comes to me?
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Avalon teases, munching on an apple. “How did your exams go?”
“They were fine,” I sigh, yawning, and sitting up to stretch. “I did well.”
“Of course, you did,” Grace snorts, fixing up her headphones.
The background is black, and I recognize it as her bedroom.
I don’t know why she decided to paint all of the walls pitch black, because I sure as hell would never be able to rest properly in such a room. “But that’s not why we’re calling.”
“What is it, then?”
“We’re coming back tomorrow morning,” Lila piques, a wide grin on her face. I make a mental note to talk to her about everything Avalon told me during the Christmas party, since it’s not something that I should discuss over the phone. “And we’re going to be throwing a little party.”
“Oh, fun,” I beam. “When, and where?”
“I was thinking in the woods behind the church,” Grace offers. “We can play loud music without getting caught immediately.”
I blink, a little surprised. “It’s January.”
“So? Just dress warmly.”
“Let me repeat,” I deadpan, “it’s January, Grace. It’s snowing like crazy, and you know that it's bound to be terrible in the woods. I’m not going to be freezing my ass to death just to drink.”
“What about a bonfire?”
“And risk getting expelled?”
“Oh, relax,” she rolls her eyes. “We’re in our last semester. I highly doubt anyone would expel us.”
“I’d rather not stress myself out unnecessarily. Besides, why not create a small get-together in your dorm, or mine?”
“Our dorms are too small,” Lila sighs. “Although, do you know what’s big enough to fit at least fifty people, and will not have anyone inside during the night?”
“Oh, don’t say it,” Avalon groans.
Lila grins. “The church.”
My shoulders slump, and I rub my temples. I’m too tired to be dealing with this nonsense. “Fine, the church is better than outside.”
“What? No!” Avalon protests with a loud groan, slamming her head against the table. “Please, I need one of you to be rational here.”
“Says the girl banging the Dean,” Grace scoffs. “You’re not that rational, either.”
Avalon takes a deep breath. “Don’t you dare bring that into this. It’s not relevant.”
“It is,” Grace whines. “I’ve been begging for information. I’m so fucking curious how it started, Avalon. Please?”
“No,” Avalon chuckles. “Some things are better kept a secret.”
“Meaning, she just doesn’t want your babble mouth knowing,” I point out, smirking.
Grace flips me off, and I laugh. It’s at that precise moment that my phone rings, and the email notification pops up. Dread fills me, and the moment I spot the name Sinners and Saints, color drains from my face.
There’s been no emails since Astrid shared that photo of Soren and me.
From what Lila has told me, people have seen it, and they’ve been talking about it.
It’s just that it’s still the break, and I haven’t caught anyone.
But as soon as the semester starts, I’m dreading the gossip and all the whispers.
Mainly because I used my connection to Aria to have it deleted. Unless Astrid has some copy hidden away, ready to be used again, I doubt it will resurface. But I can never be too certain.
“Oh, here we go again,” Lila sighs. The screens go hazy as each of them opens the email, and I follow suit, my hand trembling.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” I read the headline out loud, scrolling down a little. “Looks like the family rivalry has come to an end. But what does this mean for the business? And more importantly, how will S&S react?”
I take a deep breath, pausing for a moment. I’m perplexed as to what this means, but I’m not an idiot. S&S is referring to Soren and me, and the family rivalry further gave it away.
“No fucking way,” Grace’s gasping voice rings in my ears, and when I scroll down further, I’m momentarily shocked.
All of the girls start talking over one another, expressing their shock, disgust, and confusion. Yet, none of that quite reaches my ears, their voices fading into the background. The image is staring back at me, almost as if to mock me.
It’s an image of Astrid and Sawyer kissing. It’s blurry, with the main focus being their hands that are in the main view, with two matching, white gold wedding bands.
My heart sinks to my feet, and I feel my eyes start to get watery. He went ahead and married the bitch. The pain of the betrayal consumes me, and I let the tears fall down my face freely.
It’s not the fact that he married Astrid.
Well, I would’ve been pissed regardless.
It’s mainly that his girlfriend — well, now wife — shared the most intimate images of me, which she obtained illegally, only to hurt me for no reason, and he still chose her. He took her side without a second thought, not once asking me if I was okay.
“Are you okay, Soph?”
Avalon’s soft voice snaps me out of my trance, and I return to the call, making sure to screenshot the image first. I blink the tears away, wiping them with the back of my palm. The girls fall silent, and I don’t know what to say.
“I’m hurt,” I admit, looking down. “It just means I never really knew him.”
“Do you think your dad will go through with his threat and hand you the business?”
“Yes,” I nod. “No doubt. He won’t want a Ford as his in-law, ever.”
“Do you think they got married just because he knocked her up?”
Grace asks, and Avalon is visibly tensing up. If Grace were next to her, she’d get smacked. I take a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling.
“God, I hope not.”
“Because if she is, do you think he’ll still cut him off?”
I sigh, shaking my head. “He won’t cut him off entirely, either way.
He’s not so petty as to disown him, and no matter who Sawyer married, he’d still get the inheritance.
But no matter how many millions he may get as his inheritance, it’s nothing compared to the several hundred billion that the oil company is worth. ”
Avalon’s eyes almost drop out of her sockets. “Your father’s company is worth how much?!”
“We’re the leading oil company across the entirety of the United States, Ava.”
“Still! That’s an insane amount of money!”
“Is Soren’s worth that much, too?” Lila asks.
“Eh, a bit less, but still in the billions. They’re right behind us.”
“Fucking hell,” Grace mutters. “I should’ve gone into oil as my career.”
I shrug. “There’s still time.”
“Ask your father to take me in as his apprentice,” Grace mutters. “I want to learn.”
“Ask him yourself,” I roll my eyes.
“Speaking of your father,” Avalon says, taking the last bite of her apple. “He’s probably losing his shit right about now.”
“That just means I’ll go home the first weekend,” I wince. “I’m dreading it already.”
“What about Astrid, though?”
My brows narrow. “What about her?”
“If she isn’t pregnant, she’ll come back to finish her education. So, what are you going to do?”
“I’ll ruin her,” I say, completely serious. “I’ll make sure the bitch regrets the day she was born, and then I’ll do it all over again.”
◆◆◆
I slam my fists against the door, knocking loudly enough to wake the dead. It took me a solid hour to successfully sneak into the boys' dormitory, and it’s otherwise deadly silent. Soren, for whatever reason, isn’t picking up my calls.
The door swings open, and it’s Kenzo standing in the doorway. His brows lift to his hairline a little, but he doesn’t say anything, stepping aside and letting me pass through.
“Soren,” I approach the man. He’s sitting on the floor, with headphones on, and a controller in his hand. It’s like déjà vu from the beginning of the school year when I barged in when he messed with my grades. All that’s missing is for me to break the TV again.
He doesn’t respond, and with a sigh, I whack the back of his head.
He slumps forward, then takes off the headphones, setting them aside with his controller.
He turns to face me, anger visible on his face.
Then, as soon as he spots me, all annoyed, he relaxes a little, the tension leaving his shoulders.
“Was that necessary, Sloane?”
“Very,” I grit out. “Where the hell is your phone? You haven’t been answering me.”
“I’ll just…” Kenzo pauses, grabbing his coat, “…step outside for a moment, yeah? Try not to break this one as well, Sophia. We just got it.”