HER THREE CRUEL MATE

Chapter 5

The word "expelled" hit me like a physical punch to the gut.

The room seemed to tilt. If I was expelled, the contract was void. If the contract was void, the Vances would come for the debt in blood. Lady Vance had said it herself: If she fails, she goes to the mines. I could almost feel the soot in my lungs and the heavy chains around my ankles.

"No," I breathed, the word barely a whisper. "Please. You can't. My mother... the debt... I have nowhere else to go."

The Headmistress didn't even look up from her desk. She was already reaching for a fresh sheet of parchment to finalize my ruin.

But Rowan didn't move. He remained standing, his gaze fixed on my face as the tears tracked paths through the dust and dried sauce on my skin.

"Wait."

The Headmistress paused, her pen hovering over the paper. "Rowan?"

He turned his back to me, looking out the window at the gray, rain-slicked grounds of the Academy. "Expulsion is too easy. It’s a clean break. She goes back to the gutter, and we never think of her again."

I felt a spark of hope, followed immediately by a wave of cold dread. Rowan wasn't being kind. He was being calculated.

"What are you suggesting?" Ms. Andi asked.

Rowan turned around slowly. A shadow of a smile—sharp, predatory, and utterly heartless—tugged at his lips. "The Academy has a policy for disciplinary restitution. Instead of expulsion, she can be assigned to a student proctor. To... ensure her character is 'refined' through service."

The Headmistress blinked. "You want her to be your personal ward? Rowan, you already have staff—"

"I don't want a servant," Rowan interrupted, his voice dropping an octave. He walked toward me until he was close enough that I could see the reflection of my own terrified face in his silver eyes. "I want her to learn what happens when you cross a Blackwood. I want her to be my shadow. Every class, every meal, every hour of her free time. She belongs to me until I decide the debt of my humiliation is paid in full."

My heart stopped. This wasn't a reprieve. This was a different kind of cage.

"Isla?" The Headmistress looked at me, her expression unreadable. "It is either the expulsion or Rowan’s supervision. The choice is yours."

I looked at Rowan. He was waiting, watching me like a hawk watches a mouse. He knew I had no choice.

"I... I accept," I whispered, the words feeling like ash in my mouth.

"Excellent," Rowan said. He reached out, his gloved hand tilting my chin up so I had to look at him. His touch was cold, but his eyes were burning. "Report to the Blackwood school dorms at six p.m. sharp. Don't be late, Isla. I have a very long list of lessons for you to learn.” “Make sure you come today” he added.

6pm? Is he for real? Doesn't he know I can’t go back home late or Lady Vance might kill me.

He let go of my chin and walked out without another word, leaving me standing in the center of the office.

I was no longer just a servant to Lady Vance. I was the personal property of the boy who had just slapped the most popular girl in school to prove a point.

As I walked out of the office, I saw Sera standing in the hallway, leaning against the stone wall. She looked at me, and for the first time, I didn't see disgust in her eyes. I saw something much worse anger.

“You such a pathetic little wolf, trapping Rowan in your dirty games I see what going on here” She said before walking away leaving me confused.

The loud, metallic toll of the school bell rang through the stone corridors, echoing like a warning. Students began flooding out of classrooms, their laughter and chatter filling the air, but I stood frozen in the hallway.

Lina and Derek rushed over to me, their faces etched with worry.

“Isla! Thank god,” Lina breathed, grabbing my arm. “We heard about the office. We thought you were a goner. Come on, let’s get out of here before any of those Blackwood see you.”

I looked at the floor, my stomach twisting into a tight knot. “I can’t. I have to stay back.”

“Stay back? For what?” Derek asked, adjusting his glasses. “The day is over. You don’t owe this place another minute.”

“I have to go to the Blackwood dorms,” I whispered, the words feeling heavy on my tongue. “Rowan... he’s my proctor now. It was either this or expulsion .”

Lina’s face went pale. “The Blackwood wing? Alone? Isla, that’s suicide. The Blackwoods are even worse than witches . They don't just bully people—they own them.”

“I don’t have a choice,” I said, forcing a small, fake smile. “Go on. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I watched them leave, feeling a profound sense of isolation. I followed the directions I got from a few lingering students, navigating through the maze of Gothic arches until the stone changed from gray to a deep, polished black.

The Blackwood dorm didn't feel like a school; it felt like a fortress.

I pushed open the heavy double doors, expecting a crowd or a group of guards. Instead, the common room was silent and dimly lit. The only person there was Rowan.

He was leaning against a leather armchair, a cigarette between his fingers. A plume of gray smoke drifted toward the high ceiling. He didn't move as I entered; he just turned his head slowly, his silver eyes tracking me with a lazy, predatory intensity.

He took a slow drag and then looked away, chuckling darkly.

“You actually came,” he murmured.

Was he being serious right now? My blood boiled under my skin. What was he expecting? He had backed me into a corner and held my entire future over a flame. He knew I’d be here.

He stood up, his tall frame casting a long shadow across the rug. “You know many girls would die to be in front of me right now,” he uttered, beginning to pace around me like I was an exhibit in a museum.

I felt a sudden urge for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I didn't want to be the "lucky" girl. I wanted to be back in my mother's small, grave , away from all of this.

“Tell me something, peasant,” he uttered, the word ‘peasant’ rolling off his tongue with a casual cruelty that should have stung. But I couldn't care less what he called me. I’d been called worse by the debt collectors at my door. “How did you get into a school like this?”

“Uhm, you said I should be here,” I told him, my voice flat. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry again. “Is there anything you want me to do? It is already late and I need to get back home.”

I turned, trying to make my way back toward the door. I just wanted to get to the safety of the Vance attic, as pathetic as that was.

Suddenly, a hand shot out.

Rowan grabbed my arm and pulled me back with terrifying strength. I stumbled, and before I could blink, he slammed me against the cold stone wall. He pinned both of my hands above my head with one of his, his grip like a shackle.

I let out a sharp yelp at the sudden impact, my breath hitching in my throat.

His face was so close to mine that the world became nothing but him. I could feel his hot breath against my neck, smelling of mint and tobacco. My heart was hammered against my ribs so hard it felt like it would break. He started leaning in, his gaze dropping to my mouth.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I uttered, my voice trembling with a new, sharp nervousness.

“Quiet,” he said, his voice a low, vibrating command. He pressed his body hard against mine, pinning me so firmly I couldn't even wiggle my fingers.

Before I could get another word out, his lips landed on mine.

It wasn't a gentle kiss. It was a collision. He kissed me with a desperate, hungry sort of anger, his mouth demanding everything from me. My mind went blank, the heat of his body searing through my thin uniform as the silence of the Blackwood dorm swallowed us whole.