Chapter 42
FORTY-TWO
Lila, Grace, Avalon, and I are standing in the corner of the university, all alone.
Lila’s sitting on the floor, playing with a Rubik’s cube, trying to beat her personal score in solving it.
Grace, as per usual, is sipping on her juice box, a bored look on her face as she glances around, and then there’s Avalon, texting with Colton, I’m assuming, with a small smile on her face.
I’m trying my best to hide my face from the world.
How the hell did anyone get a hold of my nudes?
It was a boudoir photoshoot, and the pictures were taken ages ago.
They were meant for my eyes only, done at a time when my self-esteem was as low as possible.
I thought I kept them tucked away for good.
“Guys,” Grace says, her voice lower than usual. “Look,” she motions with her head subtly to the left.
All three of us turn around, and frown tugs on the corners of my lips. It’s Astrid, just leaving her class. Though there’s still 15 minutes left before it ends, so it’s rather suspicious that she’s leaving it so soon.
“Let’s go,” Lila says as she rises to her feet, and Grace follows behind her. Avalon and I exchange a curious glance, but don’t say anything. Instead, we walk behind the two, the sound of our shoes against the floors echoing the old walls around us.
Astrid takes a sharp left turn, and she either didn’t notice us just yet, or she’s pretending not to. I’m not sure which one is dumber — being that oblivious to her surroundings, or having four people follow her, and still acting like she could overpower us.
She enters an empty, old, and small classroom while pulling her phone out and putting it to her ear.
That’s when Grace strikes. She shoves Astrid into the classroom, and snatches the phone out of her hands while it’s unlocked.
She tosses the phone back to Lila, and Lila takes a couple of steps back so Astrid wouldn’t be able to get to the device.
“Great, you’re all alone,” Grace grins. Avalon’s the last one to enter the classroom, closing the door behind her and pulling the blinds down.
She takes a chair, pushes it against the door, and sits down, acting as a watch-guard.
She’s not the one to confront people easily, and this is always the stance she takes.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Astrid hisses, trying to reach for Lila, to take the phone out of her hands. “Give it back!”
Grace steps between the two of them, a menacing smile on her face. “No. You see, we have questions, and you, my dear, have answers. And we’re not leaving until you tell us everything we want to know.”
“What the hell do you people want from me?”
Astrid’s jaw is clenched tightly, and she steps back. Panic washes over her as Lila moves to the back of the classroom, her finger swiping and scrolling through her phone, and it tells me everything I need to know.
“I want to know who’s behind Sinners and Saints,” I say, stepping forward. Her eyes fall on me, and then, she straightens up. I take another step toward her, using the slight height difference to my advantage.
“I don’t know,” she says.
“Lying is useless,” Grace scoffs. “We went through your dorm, and we saw the little notes.”
Astrid’s eyes widen, half in shock, half in anger. “You broke into my dorm?!”
“We didn’t break in, we used a key,” I drawl out. “But don’t avoid it. We know you’ve been meeting with the people from Sinners and Saints. I want names, and I want to know where.”
“There’s nothing I can tell you!” Astrid defends, crossing her arms in front of her chest. There’s a certain look in her eyes, almost like pettiness, and I want to rub the smugness off her face.
“That’s a lie,” Lila says, then looks up from Astrid’s phone. “Because there’s a lot of evidence here, too. Do you want me to do all the talking for you?”
“Give it back,” Astrid grits out, her pupils blowing out in anger. Her body starts shaking, and if the bitch continues like this, I really might hit her again, and knock another tooth out.
“She won’t give it back until you tell us what we need to know.”
“Fine,” Astrid spits. “I don’t know who’s behind Sinners and Saints, because during all the meetings we have masks on.”
I lift a brow. “Doll masks?”
Astrid nods. “Yeah. I’ve never seen anyone without the mask.”
“How many people?”
“Six people, including the person who started it all.”
I take a deep breath, then sit on one of the desks, crossing my legs and crossing my arms in front of my chest. “There’s something you’re not telling me. You’re either going to say it of your own volition, or I’ll get it right out of you, one way or another.”
Astrid’s entire body goes rigid, and I know I hit the nail in the coffin. She takes a small breath, eyes never leaving mine, as if she’s trying to gouge out the sincerity of my threat.
“The only person I can say with full confidence that is a part of Sinners and Saints would be Cassia Greyson.”
“Of course,” I laugh, but the sound lacks genuine humor or any positive emotion. It’s filled with bitterness, and my jaw clenches so hard that I almost chip my tooth. “How do you know?”
“I can recognize that annoying voice anywhere,” Astrid scoffs.
“Fine, then,” Grace says. “Cassia’s one, you’re the second person, that means there’s another three people, and the big boss, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And I do have a question,” I say. “Did she leak that nude of mine?”
“Yes,” Astrid nods, and rage builds inside of me.
“Where are all the meetings happening?”
Astrid bites the inside of her cheek. “The basement. There’s a hidden room in the old lab classroom, behind the cabinet next to the teacher’s desk.”
“A hidden room?” Avalon asks, and it’s the first time she speaks. She’s baffled, looking at Astrid as if she’s grown a second head.
“The academy’s full of them. It was built on the principle of a castle, and there are at least twenty hidden rooms all around.”
“How the hell did we not know about this?”
Astrid rolls her eyes. “Please, Sophia is always too busy trying to kill my brother, or studying. Lila’s always in the damned church, Grace’s busy making people’s lives a living hell, and you’re just…
well… boring as hell. You don’t seem like someone who’d be able to figure out there are hidden rooms, anyway. ”
“Why, you little—” Avalon mutters, standing abruptly from the chair and moving toward Astrid, ready to strike. Before I can get off the desk and stop her, Grace pulls her back by the wrist.
“I’d watch my mouth if I were you,” Grace says, the threat obvious. “We’re on the third floor. It’d be a shame if you just so happened to fall out the window, right?”
“You’re all bark, no bite,” Astrid says, but her voice cracks a little. “You wouldn’t kill me, would you?”
“Oh, trust me, if I ever decide to go down the road of a criminal, you’re number one on my hit list,” I sigh. “And just because you married Sawyer doesn’t give you any leverage here. I hate you even more.”
Astrid scoffs. “As if I care if you hate me.”
“Oh?” I lift a brow. “Then why is your dorm a replica of mine? Why are you constantly trying to be like me? Is it your insecurity? Or are you simply my biggest fan?”
“That’s not—”
“I don’t care,” I interrupt, lifting my hand and silencing her. “You’re irrelevant to me. I promised I’d ruin you, and I haven’t even started yet.”
“There’s nothing you can use against me, Sophia. I made sure of that.”
“Perhaps,” I shrug. “But you and I both know I excel at playing the victim. All it takes is a couple of tears, a sob story, and some lies, and boom — everyone’s on my side. Everyone is always on my side, Astrid. That’s what you’re so jealous of, isn’t it?”
She doesn’t respond, and I chuckle, hopping off the desk and approaching her. I stop only when I’m close enough that she has no other option but to look up at me, caging her between a desk and my body, my hands gripping either side of the desk.
“You hate me because you can’t be me, isn’t that right?” I murmur, looking at her with disdain and disgust. “You want to have all the power, all the influence I have, right? Because if anything, I’m the one setting the rules around this place, and what I say goes.”
Astrid’s body visibly tenses. “Not everyone wants the power and influence of Sophia Sloane.”
“That’s because no one but Sophia Sloane can have it.”
The moment’s interrupted when Lila finally comes to our side, returning the phone to Astrid. She takes it, tucking it in the pocket of her blazer, and I step back, still looking at her with disgust.
“The next meeting’s tomorrow night. And Astrid over here won’t tell anyone about this little chat, will she?” Lila says, narrowing her eyes.
“I won’t tell anyone,” Astrid concedes with a sigh. “Just move.”
“Just one thing,” I say, and Astrid looks at me.
“Yes?”
Without another word, I lift my hand and slap her. The sound of my hand connecting with her cheek echoes in the room, and Avalon’s gasp follows. Even Grace straightens up from beside me, ready to knock the bitch out if necessary.
Slowly, Astrid touches her cheek, tears swelling in her eyes. She looks at me through the tears, swallowing thickly.
“This is your first and only warning — you will not do anything stupid. If I so much as get a sniff of you spreading the word of what happened here to anyone, I will make your life a living hell. Do you understand me?”
Astrid nods, tears rolling down her face. “Yes.”
“Good. Now get the fuck out of my face,” I grit out.
She brushes past me, pushing the chair out of the way, her hand reaching for the doorknob.
“Oh, and Astrid?” I call out, and she turns around. “Welcome to the family.”
She turns away, walking off with hurried steps. The door closes behind her, and I let out a deep sigh of relief, slumping onto the nearby chair. The girls are silent for a few moments, and I don’t break the silence first.
“She won’t say anything,” Lila mutters. “You’ve successfully scared her into silence. What’s the next plan for her?”
“Nothing,” I mumble, closing my eyes and rubbing my temples. I can feel a headache coming on, and I’m getting irritated. “Let her be. She shouldn’t be a problem anymore. If she is, I’ll figure it out.”
Grace and Lila look at each other, and that’s the first thing I see when I open my eyes. They’re communicating silently, and I don’t like it. There’s something about the intensity of their gaze that’s making me uneasy.
“What are you two up to?”
Grace is the one who turns to look at me, sucking in a sharp breath. She steps forward, biting her bottom lip. “Lila and I have to tell you something. It’s big, and it’s bad. And I need you to promise me you won’t hate us for not telling you sooner.”
Immediately, anxiety spikes inside of me. My eyes drift between Grace and Lila a couple of times, and even Avalon’s invested in whatever they have to say. My heart sinks to my feet, their serious expressions making me shudder.
The air around us is charged with tension I can’t handle, and my palms grow sweaty. My heart beat is loud, thumping against my ribcage, and I’m scared I’ll get a heart attack. These two were never this serious before, and it’s terrifying how quickly this is happening.
I clench my fists on my lap, looking at them with a demanding stare. My body trembles, and the question that slips past my lips is asked in a hushed, breathless whisper. Almost like I’m too afraid of asking, and getting the answer I won’t be able to handle.
“What is it?”
Lila speaks, her voice soft. Her eyes hold an apologetic gleam, and that just makes my anxiety worsen.
“It’s about Soren.”
◆◆◆
The cunt’s way in over her head at this point.
Cassia Greyson might be very skillful when it comes to fist fighting, but she’s nowhere near my level of cunning and wickedness.
She dared to use something I did at a low point of my life against me, turned me into a mockery, and the hot topic of the academy, so it’s only natural for me to fucking retaliate.
I found Astrid again, and quite literally threatened physical violence again. She caved pretty quickly, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve decided to go easy on her for now. Who would’ve thought I’d end up finding her useful?
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.”