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The Crests

Vionna’s POV

I didn't go back to the dorm where the walls felt like they were closing in on me, but instead, I hailed a taxi and gave the driver an address that I hadn't spoken out loud in over a year, because I was done trying to prove I could survive without the Thorne name. I stumbled through the massive front gates of my family’s estate with blood still drying on my forehead and frosting staining my shoes, and the moment I stepped into the foyer, the silence was broken by the sound of my brother Xandros and my sister Lysithea descending the grand staircase.

"Look at you, Vionna, look at the absolute state of our little scholar who thought she was too good for her own bloodline," Xandros said, his voice booming through the hall as he stared at my injuries with a mixture of fury and pity.

"We told you that leaving the family’s wealth to play pretend with those middle-class vultures was a mistake, and now look at what they’ve done to you because they realized you were an easy target," Lysithea added, and she walked right up to me and wiped a smudge of blood from my temple with a silk handkerchief.

"I just wanted to do something on my own for once, I wanted to know if I was worth anything without the Thorne bank account," I whispered, but my voice cracked, and I finally let the tears fall while my siblings just looked at me with hardened expressions.

"Well, you got your answer, and the answer is that they stripped you of your dignity and threw you into the mud the second it suited them," Xandros snapped, pacing the marble floor like a caged predator while he gestured toward a tablet on the side table that was already displaying the leaked photos.

"It’s all over the news, Vionna, and the Thorne name is being dragged through the dirt because you were too naive to see that boyfriend of yours for what he really was," Lysithea said, but then she sighed and pulled me into a tight hug that smelled like expensive perfume and safety.

"We’re angry because you’re a Thorne and you should have known better, but you’re still our baby sister and we aren't going to let you stay here and rot in this scandal," Xandros told me, stopping his pacing to stand in front of me with his arms crossed.

"You have one choice, and that is to pack your things and go to our estate abroad tonight, but before you step on that plane, you are going to use those skills of yours to wipe away every single trace of Vionna Adrienne Thorne from the public record," Lysithea explained, and I knew she was right because I couldn't rebuild if the world still saw me as a disgraced victim.

"I’ll do it, I’ll go, but I have one thing left to finish at the hostel before I leave this city forever," I said, and despite their protests, I left the estate and headed back to the campus one last time to grab my private laptop and the few things that actually belonged to me.

I was throwing my clothes into a duffel bag when the door to my room swung open, and I froze when I saw Julian standing there with a bouquet of lilies and that same fake look of concern he had used on me just hours ago.

"Vionna, thank God you're here. I went to your room earlier, and you weren't answering, and then I heard about what Rhea and Marissa did to you in the hallway," he said, stepping toward me with his hand outstretched as if he expected me to run to him.

"What are you doing here, Julian? I thought you were celebrating your birthday with the guys," I asked, keeping my back to him while I shoved my laptop into my bag, and I felt a cold rage boiling in my chest as I listened to his lying voice.

"I couldn't enjoy myself knowing you were hurting, so I cut the night short to come check on you, and I even brought your favorite flowers to show you that I’m still on your side," he lied, and I almost laughed at the audacity of him standing there with flowers while my head was still throbbing from the injury he had orchestrated.

"That’s real sweet of you, Julian, but I’m actually moving out tonight because the Dean was very clear about my scholarship being gone," I told him, finally turning around to face him with a blank expression that didn't betray a single thing I knew.

"Already? But where will you go? You don't have anyone else, Vionna, so let me find you a place to stay while we figure out how to clear your name," he urged, and I realized he wanted to keep me close just so he could keep hurting me for Rhea's amusement.

"I found a relative who’s willing to take me in, so you don't have to worry about me anymore, Julian, you’ve done more than enough for me already," I said, zipping up my bag and walking right past him without looking back.

I didn't go to the airport immediately, because my head was spinning, and I needed a drink to steady my hands before I started the long process of deleting my digital life, so I stopped at a high-end bar near the city center. I sat at the far end of the counter and ordered a double whiskey, staring at the amber liquid until a man in a tailored charcoal suit sat down two stools away from me.

He looked like power personified, with shoulders that filled out his jacket perfectly and a jawline that looked like it was carved from stone, and he was staring at a manila folder on the bar with a look of deep disgust.

"You look like you're celebrating a funeral, or perhaps you're just waiting for the world to end," he said, his voice deep and smooth as he signaled the bartender for a drink without even looking in my direction.

"Something like that, and you look like a man who has too much money and not enough problems," I retorted, letting the alcohol burn its way down my throat while I finally looked at his face and saw eyes the color of a winter storm.

"On the contrary, I’m here to clean up a mess made by someone who shares my blood, though I’d prefer to just leave him to the wolves," he replied, and he slid the manila folder toward me with a finger, and I saw my own name printed on the tab.

"What is this?" I asked, my heart skipping a beat because I didn't recognize him, and he just took a slow sip of his drink before answering.

"It's a settlement, a way to make sure you go away quietly and never speak to the press about what happened at the university today, because my family doesn't like loose ends," he explained, and I realized then that he was a Crest, though he looked nothing like the weak, sniveling boy I had been dating.

"I don't want your money, and I don't want anything to do with your family ever again," I hissed, leaning closer to him as the alcohol began to blur the edges of my vision and my anger took over.

"Then what do you want, Vionna? Because you have nothing left, and I’m the only one offering you a way out," he challenged, turning his head to look at me, and the intensity in his gaze made the air feel thick and heavy.

"I want to forget that today ever happened, and I want to forget that people like you even exist," I whispered, and I reached out to grab his tie, pulling him toward me because I wanted to feel something other than the hollow ache in my chest.

He didn't pull away, and instead, his hand came up to steady me by the waist, his touch sending a jolt of electricity through my skin that made my breath hitch.

"I won't tell you my name, and you won't tell me yours, but if you want to disappear for a few hours, I can make that happen," he muttered against my lips, and before I could think about the consequences or the fact that he was the brother of the man who ruined me, I followed him out into the night and toward the elevators of the hotel upstairs.