“Dad, you can’t just do this! None of this would’ve happened if iyou /ihadn’t shipped me off abroad in the first ce!”

    Ileana stared at him in disbelief. “Everyone does it over there! I was just fitting in–what did I do wrong? And if it is wrong, it’s your fault! You’re the one who sent me away. You’re the reason I turned out like this!”

    “You-! Get out. Get out of my sight!” Scott’s face turned crimson as anger overtook him, his body swaying unsteadily before he copsed backward.

    The butler, Dawson, rushed over just in time to catch him, frantically pressing the call button by the door.

    It wasn’t until Scott had been taken to the hospital that Ileana finally copsed onto the floor, all strength draining from her. She dug her nails into her palms, mind utterly nk.

    If Scott woke up, the very first thing he’d do would be to kick her out of the Tate family.

    No. No, that can’t happen!

    Power and money were everything to Ileana–she could live without anything else, but she would never give those up.

    She bit her fingertip, forcing herself to calm down.

    Right. The Mortons. There was still the Morton family. She refused to believe they’d turn their back ion /iher. All she had to do was cry a little, y the part, and they’d take her in.

    Her only real regret now was not foreseeing the Morton family’seback. If she’d known this day woulde, she would never have cut ties so cleanly back then.

    Getting to her feet, she considered tidying herself up, but paused.

    No–better to look as pitiful as possible. Sympathy would make them easier to sway.

    A twisted smile spread across her face, herughter echoing through the empty room–cold and unsettling.

    Elsewhere, Alessia was heading straight back after ss when sorneone suddenly

    b1/3 /b

    blocked her path.

    “Hey there, beautiful Miss Morton.” Fortune shed a harmless, friendly smile.

    “Can I help you?” Alessia stopped, her voice cool.

    “Care to join me for tea? I thought you might be interested in what’s happened with Ileana.”

    “That post–was that your doing?”

    Fortune shrugged with a sly grin. “You don’t seem itoo /ifond of her. Did this make you feel a little better?”

    He raised his hands in mock innocence. “I swear, no ill intentions. It’s just…you always seem to look at me like I’m a nuisance. I wondered if this might win me a few points.”

    “Sorry to disappoint you. It didn’t.” Alessia stepped aside to leave, but Fortune quickly kept pace.

    “Is it because of Cole Whitley? He seems awfully wary of me.”

    Alessia’s lips curled in a faint smile. “You should probably be a bit more self–aware. You’re not even on Cole’s radar.”

    Her words left no doubt whose side she was on.

    Fortune forced a wounded expression, walking beside her. “Honestly, I meant no harmi. /iYou don’t have to be so prickly–it kind of stings, you know.”

    Alessia let out a shortugh and came to a stop.

    “I think you’re confused about your role here. I really don’t care about your feelings, but right now you’re clearly affecting mine. This is a public space, so you have every right to stand here. But since this is the girls‘ dorm, maybe try changing your attitude beforeing in.”

    Watching the steady stream of girls going in and out, Fortune’s expression shifted ever so slightly.

    “With Cole’s background, he’s only toying with you, Why not team up with me? You’re not some naive girl–you know none of us are really in it for love, right?”

    As Alessia moved ito /ienter the building, Fortune grabbed her shoulder in desperation.

    Alessia rolled her eyes, clearly exasperated.

    09:56

    “I’m every bit as good as Cole. Whatever he can give you, I can too-”

    Before he could finish, Alessia seized his wrist, pulled him forward, and with a swift, practiced movement, flipped him clean over her shoulder and sent him crashing to the ground.

    bChapter /b