CHARLOTTEI laid on my back and stared at the ceiling.My thoughts and emotions were a mess, a jumbled-up mix of feelings I didn’t want to get into. I let one of my hands fall to my neck until my fingers brushed over my mark, over the smooth plane of healed skin, only disturbed slightly by its prese
CHARLOTTE“What if we crash?” I whispered to Madeline, my fingers clutching the wheel of the very expensive car almost fearfully.Madeline laughed and whipped out her phone to take a picture of my nervous but excited face. I frowned at her, but at least she wasn’t grumbling about how inane it was to
Disgusting.I hid any reaction I might have at that, but even when he left I couldn’t stop the creeping feeling that slid down my spine at his stare.Men were weird.I busied myself with sorting through tomorrow’s reservation until I was interrupted by a woman’s voice calling out to me. My manager g
CHARLOTTE I stepped closer and eyed the books. They were all textbooks, textbooks and materials that fit into the course I was taking. What the…? My hands trailed over the spines. A few of them were books I couldn’t even find in the library. But here they were, sitting pretty on the shelf, brand
I returned to my room and continued my assessment of the shelf and the books on it. From the larger textbooks to the smaller ones, everything was carefully ordered and stacked. The intentionality behind this struck me hard. I looked away. My gaze shifted around my room, landing on the table where C
CHARLOTTEThe scent of coffee lured me into the kitchen.I smiled when I saw the pot of coffee being brewed as it always was. It was a little thing, but it was something that I’d started looking forward to every morning since the first time I had it. I walked off to the fridge first to get myself s
“What’s in the cup?” He asked, his tone wasn’t particularly friendly. Reigh bit down on his lower lip to keep from bursting out into a laugh and giving her away. “Water,” Sarah said in an extremely high-pitched note. I couldn’t tell if Taide believed her or not, but he looked away from her and mut
King Auric smiled, but it was was cold and filled with absolutely no warmth.When Sarah and I stepped away from behind Reigh, his attention immediately locked on me, scrutinizing, judging and scanning me from head to toe. It wasn’t in a lecherous way, more like he was picking apart every bit of me a
Emma folded her hands across her chest, her mouth pulling up into a wicked smile, “Charlotte the Harlot.” Bitch. “Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, shouldering past her, she wasn’t worth the energy engaging with her would require. “I thought you dropped out,” She said to my retreating back, “Thought maybe
At first, she texted me every day. Then, as weeks passed, the messages became less frequent, less ecstatic. I knew she and Sean had been working through their issues, but based on some of her recent updates—the ones I still hadn’t replied to—they had hit a wall. They had broken up. Madeline thought
FOUR MONTHS LATER CHARLOTTE Running laps had never come easy to me, and today was no different. My lungs burned as I pushed through the last lap, my sneakers slapping against the pavement in a rhythm that didn’t feel natural no matter how many times I did this. My breath came in short bursts,
He hadn’t even raised his voice, yet despite the distance, his words carried like he had just whispered them in my ear. Seductive and bitter. My damnation. “But you made it too easy, Harlot. You almost ruined the fun.” Harlot. It was the first time I had heard him call me that in months. All
But then again, what made me think I knew what strange was for Reigh? Yesterday had taught me that I really didn’t know anything about the brothers I had given my heart to. Caeson pulled away from the small crowd, ever the individualist. Always the grand tormentor. He refused to let me walk
No. It fucking burned. “I’d say I’ll miss you, Charlotte,” he continued, only loud enough for me to hear, “but I never lie.” No, he didn’t. Except when he did. “Go home, Charlotte,” he said with finality, pulling away from me. His words were soft, but his eyes were not. I could see the w
They were there to see me off. To remind me never to show my face on their turf again. But I refused to let myself be bossed around by the same people who had taken it upon themselves to ruin my life. Fuck the Deviltree. Fuck their elite group of preppy rich kids who had only made it this f
PRESENT DAY CHARLOTTE Whoever said a person’s world couldn’t go up in flames in the blink of an eye deserved an award. It was the best lie ever told. I stood alone, even though I was surrounded—by the same people who had set out to destroy me ever since I showed up at this school two years a
I started pacing the room, my mind racing through the words I’d planned to say. I knew I had to be strong, I had to tell her the truth, even if it was going to hurt her. “Madeline,” I said, my voice rough. “Sit down.” Her brows furrowed in confusion, but she did as I asked. She perched on the edge