Chapter 44
FORTY-FOUR
Soren and I barely got the chance to go to my dorm and shower, before my phone started ringing. Right now, I’m grateful I didn’t throw out his sweats and a spare shirt he left in my dorm before all of this started.
Grace called me, all frantic, telling me to meet her immediately in her dorm, and of course, I could hear everyone else in the background. Soren and I did our best to hurry up, because whatever it is, it seemed serious enough. However, she told me to leave my phone in my dorm, which I found odd.
I knock on the door once, and Grace immediately opens it. She lifts a brow when she spots Soren behind me, but doesn’t comment on it. She shouldn’t because she sent me to the classroom, and I think she can already predict how that went.
“What was so urgent?” I ask, and Grace steps aside so we can enter.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people inside a single dorm. Avalon and Lila are on the floor, with Kenzo, Aiden, and Elias scattered on the beds around.
“Two things,” Lila says, patting the seat next to her. Before I can sit down, Soren grabs a decorative pillow from Grace’s bed, tosses it down where I’m about to sit, but acts all nonchalant about it. I look at him with a curious, yet amused expression.
“What?” He shrugs. “It’s winter. You just had a shower. You’ll get sick.”
“You’re making me sick,” Aiden mutters, but he’s quickly shot down by a stare from Soren.
“Anyway,” Lila clears her throat. “So, since there’s nothing we can actually do to Cassia, how far are you willing to go, Soph?”
I tilt my head to the side. “That depends. What did you find out?”
“Well, the Greysons have a chain of banks, that’s where all the money comes from. The first bank was opened back in the forties,” Lila says.
“I’m aware. That matters, why, exactly?”
“Because,” she drawls out. “Although it’s one of the biggest banks in the United States, it was far below on the chart, up until a few years ago when their banks just… skyrocketed. I don’t think there’s a city that doesn’t have one of their banks.”
“Okay?”
“How did it happen overnight?” Lila asks, but I already know she has the answer. “How does someone go from the bottom of the chart to the top in a span of a year? Especially when the economy has been fucked up for a while now.”
“Uh, I don’t know?”
“Me, me, let me tell her!” Grace says, all excited. She slumps down, sitting across from me, with a wide grin on her face. “Do you remember a few years back, there was a rumor about Mrs. Greyson getting their business higher up because she hooked up with the mayor of New York?”
“Yeah?” I ask, blinking. “That tells me literally nothing.”
“Well, it was after that rumor that they managed to climb up to number one. So, Lila asked around, and thank God she has some odd connections that, quite frankly, are worrisome, but nevertheless, we have an answer.”
“Are you going to tell us what you have, or do we have to play the guessing game?” Soren asks, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Elias snorts, but he’s too engrossed with the conversation to actually say anything.
“I was getting to that,” Grace rolls her eyes.
“Mrs. Greyson hooked up a handful of times with The Mayor, then filmed them without his knowledge, and threatened to show the tape to his wife. So, wanting to preserve his reputation, and his wife, he kept quiet.”
“That explains so much, honestly,” I breathe out. “That’s why Cassia doesn’t really care if she does something that’ll threaten her family’s image, because she has a powerful figure backing the family up.”
“And guess who has the video?” Lila grins.
I gasp. “No! You have it?!”
She nods, all proud of herself. “Yup! And I have a copy of the written agreement between The Mayor and Mrs. Greyson,” Lila adds, then grabs papers from the desk next to her, handing them over to me.
Like a greedy kid with candy thrown in front of them, I grab the papers out of her hand, immediately reading over the printed words. Soren peeks over my shoulder, reading with me.
My brows skyrocket to my hairline, and I can’t help but laugh. “Oh, this is good. Do you think it’ll be enough, though?”
“Well, look, it would be risky doing anything with the tape itself,” Kenzo says, always the logical one. “But you can definitely use the agreement. Or, you know, be petty, send both to The Mayor's wife, and watch the drama unfold.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I lower the papers, biting the inside of my mouth. “But it’s not enough. The bitch had hidden cameras all over my room! I want more than this. I want her ruined, too, with no chance of a comeback.”
“Then, we should probably go and explore the room Astrid told us about,” Grace says.
“What room?” Soren asks, with a slight frown.
“The room where all the members of Sinners and Saints are meeting,” I explain. “It’s a hidden room, and apparently, this school has a bunch of them.”
“Oh, yeah,” Aiden says with a chuckle, earning a glare from Grace. He looks around, noticing the confusion on our faces. “What? I found them when I lacked places to get laid.”
Avalon grimaces. “We really don’t need to know the details. So, when, how, and who’s going?”
“Kenzo’s the most tech-savvy person amongst us,” Elias says, brows narrowed.
“He should go. If the room’s anything like I’m imagining it to be, he could be of help.
But also, not everyone should go. It’ll create a noise, and the security cameras will pick up on it.
So, four should go, four should stay put. ”
“Sounds good. When?”
“During classes,” Kenzo says. “It’s the only time when even the person behind that damned website should be occupied.”
I nod. “Good thinking. So, Monday?”
“Right, around nine in the morning.”
“Perfect,” I breathe out, then pause, turning to Lila. “Wait, you mentioned two things. If the affair with The Mayor was the first one, what’s the second thing?”
“Do you know why Cassia’s been quiet this school year?”
I frown. “Quiet? You call this quiet?”
Lila rolls her eyes. “Well, quieter than usual. She’s always gotten in trouble with at least someone, into fights, whether it’s on social media or physically. But this year? Crickets.”
“What do you know?” I ask, feeling excitement rush through me.
Lila smiles. “Last summer, there was a charity event of sorts.”
“And she stole all the money?” Grace asks, her voice strangely hopeful.
“No, you dumbass,” Lila whacks the back of her head, and Grace hisses in pain. “Let me talk, will you?”
“Fine,” Grace mumbles, rubbing the back of her head.
“The event ended around nine in the evening.”
Soren lifts a brow. “I remember it, I was there. It was rather strange that it ended quickly, since those things are known to run into the late hours of the night.”
“Okay,” I drawl out. “What happened?”
“Apparently, one of the daughters of the man who organized the event fell off the balcony. She broke quite a few bones, and although she will be able to regain her mobility, she’s currently bound to a wheelchair.”
My eyes immediately widen in pure horror, and my hand flies to my mouth. Silence falls inside of Lila and Grace’s dorm, and everyone’s in shock as much as I am, because we’re all thinking the same thing.
“It’s Evelyn Morgan,” Soren’s eyes narrow. “She asked me to dance, and since my parents did end up donating a lot, I danced with her for a while and — oh my fucking God, tell me you’re fucking with us right now, Lila.”
She shakes her head. “No. There’s a clip that I managed to find, don’t ask me how, please, and well… it shows Cassia confronting Evelyn, and two seconds later, she’s pushing her off the balcony.”
My mouth goes dry, and I’m frozen in my spot.
The bitch is batshit crazy, and it’s only now that I realize that I got the better end of her insanity.
I feel nausea build in the pit of my stomach, and Soren puts his hand on my shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze, just silently letting me know he’s here.
“What the hell?” I whisper. “Does the clip have audio?”
Lila shakes her head. “No. But from the body language and the fifteen seconds that the thing lasts for, I can tell Cassia was pissed. As soon as she pushed Evelyn down, it was like something switched inside of her, and she realized what she had done.”
“I’m going to throw up,” Avalon gags, looking away, and covering her eyes with her hand, her entire body trembling.
She’s always been the empath of the group, and although there’s no way anyone would feel anything but empathy and sympathy for Evelyn in this situation, I can’t help but feel sheer terror that runs through my body at the thought of Cassia attempting to do something similar to me.
“I have an idea,” Kenzo says, and all heads snap in his direction. “Firstly, we go and check out the lair of Sinners and Saints. Then, we don’t wait. The same day, we’ll take Cassia out completely, too.”
“How?” I ask.
Grace’s the one to speak. “How else? That video is evidence of attempted murder. She’ll face jail time for that. And if we strike all at once, and send the mayor’s wife evidence of the affair, and send the arrangement document to the media, the entire Greyson family goes down in one go.”
“That… that sounds good.”
For the rest of the night, we’re plotting inside the little dorm, neither of us wanting to leave. Hell, I don’t think I’d have the guts to leave Soren’s side now at all. This just means that Cassia’s really prepared to do anything to have Soren, and I’m fucking terrified of being her next target.
“Hey, Soren,” Grace calls out, looking at him. “Can I talk to you privately for a second?”
He glances at me, almost to seek approval. I only shrug, and he stands up, walking out of the dorm. Grace’s not looking at me while leaving, and when the door closes behind the two of them, Lila turns to look at me with a puzzled expression.
“What the hell was that all about?”
“No idea,” I breathe out. “No fucking idea.”