Aria's POV:

  For two whole days, I didn't see him.

  Not in the halls. Not in the office. Not even on campus.

  It was like Wolfe had vanished.

  And maybe that had been the point.

  After the contract. After the sex. After Sloan Maddox and the closet and the cold truth hanging between us like a loaded gun-maybe we both needed a break.

  So I did the one thing I had been avoiding since Bellmere began.

  I went home.

  *******

  The Lancaster townhouse sat like a fortress on the Upper East Side, white stone and steel gates and the kind of polished silence that screamed money.

  My sister Ivy met me at the door. Perfect as ever. Hair curled. Lip gloss on. Her phone glued to her hand.

  "You're alive," she said, barely looking up.

  "Surprised?" I asked, stepping inside.

  "Considering Dad almost pulled you out of Bellmere last week? Yeah."

  I blinked. "What?"

  Ivy finally looked at me. "You really didn't check your email, did you?"

  Apparently, while I had been learning how to kneel and beg, my father had been firing off warnings to the Dean's office about "inappropriate distractions."

  Warnings that had mysteriously disappeared.

  I didn't need to ask who had deleted them.

  Wolfe.

  Dinner had been awkward.

  Vincent Lancaster, king of real estate and silence, sat at the head of the table like a statue carved from arrogance.

  "So," he said finally. "You're keeping your grades up."

  I nodded. "Yes."

  "And no more incidents?"

  My fork froze mid-air.

  "No," I said. "No incidents."

  He looked at me, sharp and appraising. "You reminded me too much of your mother."

  I didn't respond. That had been his favorite insult. One I wore like armor.

  "Don't ruin this, Aria," he said. "Bellmere is a gift. Don't make me regret it."

  I didn't tell him I had already broken every rule.

  I didn't tell him I had signed a contract with the man he trusted most.

  Instead, I smiled.

  "Of course, Daddy."

  *********

  Back at school, things didn't go back to normal. But they did get quiet.

  Too quiet.

  Jules noticed.

  "You had been weird," she said as we walked past the art quad.

  "Define weird."

  "Like... no moaning in your sleep. No blushing at your phone. No tension in your shoulders like you were hiding bruises in poetic places."

  I laughed.

  "I just needed a break."

  "Mmm," Jules said. "Or maybe Daddy Dom ghosted you."

  I rolled my eyes.

  She wasn't wrong.

  And yet, something told me Wolfe wasn't done.

  Not even close.

  ********

  The envelope appeared under my door three nights later.

  Cream paper. Red wax seal.

  My name written in that same sharp script.

  No instructions inside this time.

  Just a note:

  You needed air. I gave it to you. Now come back to me.

  There was no signature.

  But I didn't need one.

  I held the paper to my chest, closed my eyes, and smiled.

  Not everything had to burn all at once.

  Sometimes, it was the waiting that made the fire sweeter.

  The calm never lasted.

  That was something I should have known by now.

  I had barely gotten through my Monday lecture when the storm hit.

  It started with whispers.

  Two girls in the hallway, giggling behind their hands.

  A professor paused mid-sentence when I walked in.

  Even Jules gave me a look. Not her usual nosy smirk-something sharper. Cautious.

  "What?" I finally snapped.

  She pulled out her phone, tapped a few times, then turned the screen toward me.

  An anonymous post on the Bellmere Student Forum:

  "Guess who's screwing the Dean? Hint: Her GPA's not the only thing getting disciplined."

  Below it, a blurry photo.

  Me.

  Walking out of Room 207.

  Face partially turned. Wolfe's coat over my shoulders.

  My stomach dropped.

  "Who took that?" I whispered.

  Jules was already scanning. "Can't tell. It's blowing up though. People are reposting it everywhere. Someone's pushing it hard."

  I didn't have to guess.

  Sloan.

  *****

  The office door slammed behind me.

  Wolfe looked up from his desk, jaw already clenched.

  "You saw it?" I asked.

  He nodded.

  "I'm handling it."

  "How?"

  He stood, walking toward me with that lethal calm. "The Board had already called an emergency session. I'll get ahead of it."

  Panic twisted in my gut. "They're going to fire you."

  "Not unless they can prove anything."

  "There's a picture, Sebastian."

  He stopped short. The sound of his name-his real name-from my lips made him falter.

  Then, softer: "I won't let them touch you."

  I swallowed. "I don't care about me."

  He stepped forward, cupping my face. "You should."

  And that's when I realized... he meant it.

  This wasn't just a game to him anymore.

  That terrified me more than anything.

  ******

  Later that night, Jules met me in the library.

  "We had a problem," she said, sliding into the chair beside me.

  "Just one?" I muttered.

  She pushed her phone toward me again. "This one's bigger."

  It was a video.

  Grainy, but clear.

  A shot of me, tied and blindfolded. Moaning. Collared.

  In Wolfe's Red Room.

  My knees buckled before I even hit play.

  "Where did this come from?" I asked.

  "No one knows. But it's spreading. Fast."

  My pulse spiked. My skin turned ice cold.

  "It was recorded without permission. That's illegal, right?"

  "Aria..." Jules hesitated. "Someone wanted this out there. Bad."

  Then it clicked-

  Only one name came to mind.

  Not Sloan.

  Not even Ivy.

  Dr. Elliot Graves.

  ******

  I marched to Wolfe's office the next morning.

  How could he have just left me alone after all that had happened? Did he just forget about me?

  No, we had more than just sex; I felt more than that toward him.

  We needed to sort this out soon.

  The door was locked.

  "Locked," I wondered. He never lock this door. Why had he locked it now? Or was it just closed? I checked again.

  Not just closed-locked.

  He was already in damage control mode.

  I pressed my palm to the wood.

  "You don't get to shut me out," I whispered.

  I didn't know if he could hear me.

  But part of me hoped he didn't.

  Because if he opened that door, I wasn't sure I could stop myself from breaking.

  I leaned my ear to the door to see if I could hear any sounds coming from inside.

  "Yes Sebastian.. I'm almost there." I gasped as I was pushed back slightly by an unknown force. Did I just hear wrong?

  Or was my ear playing tricks on me?

  I leaned back again.

  "Ohh yes, harder ...baby harder"

  It was a woman's voice. 

  What?!

  Then it clicked-

  I remembered he had given me a spare key to his office so I could always have access to our secret letters regardless of if he was around or not . 

  I ran my hands through my purse; I couldn't find the key.

  Found it. 

  The key fell from my hand due to my trembling hands. The fear and betrayal sunk down through my body.

  Lump. Dump.

  Lump. Dump.

  I could hear my own heartbeat loudly, like it was racing against Usain Bolt.

  I opened the door, and to my surprise, I couldn't believe the scene in front of me.

  Oh no.

  "JULES!" I yelled.

Aria's POV:

  The world tilted.

  My lungs forgot how to breathe.

  I stood in the doorway, fingers clawing into the wood like it could drag me back to a reality where this wasn't happening. Jules-my best friend, my sister in all but blood-was tangled in the sheets with him.

  With Wolfe.

  The man who'd ruined me. The man she'd spent months warning me about.  

  Their gasps hung in the air, thick with betrayal. The scent of sweat and something sickly sweet-her perfume, still on his skin-clung to the room. Jules jerked upright, her eyes wild, guilty, lips swollen from his mouth. Wolfe turned toward me, his expression slipping from pleasure to ice in a heartbeat.  

  "Jules." My voice wasn't mine-it was shattered glass, raw and bleeding.  

  She flinched. "Aria, please-"

  " Don't."The word cut her off mid-lie. My pulse was a riot. "You don't get to explain this."

  Wolfe stood, the blanket pooling at his waist, but I wouldn't look. Wouldn't let myself remember the way his body had moved over mine, the way he'd whispered "You're mine"like it meant something.  

  "Aria, listen-"

  "Save it."My laugh was a weapon. "You ghosted after destroying my life, and now you're fucking my best friend? Real fucking poetic."

  His jaw locked, but his eyes-dark, furious, almost wounded-didn't waver. "It's not what you think."

  "Then what is it?"I screamed , the sound ripping through the room.

  "Enough."His voice cracked like a gunshot, that familiar command slamming into me-the same one he'd used when I was beneath him, gasping, begging.

  It broke me.

  I staggered back. Two traitors. One bed. And me-the idiot who'd loved them both.

  "Aria-""Jules reached for me.  

  I was already gone

  The door slammed behind me, but their voices followed, twisting like knives between my ribs. My vision blurred. The taste of salt, sharp and bitter, flooded my tongue.  

  Tears.

  Pathetic.I scraped them away. Why cry? Over a man who'd played me? Over a friend who'd plunged the knife in deep ?

  Best friends.The words were ash in my mouth. 

  A laugh bubbled up-hollow, jagged. Maybe I deserved this. Maybe the universe was laughing at me. My face was everywhere , my body a joke, my future bleeding out with every rumor. And Wolfe? He'd won.

  "Hey, Dean's little slut."

  The voice licked up my spine. 

  RAND.

  The student president lounged against the lockers, all sun-kissed smirk and venom**. His yellow Nike shirt clung like a second skin, his hair artfully disheveled-calculated chaos.

  "Not now," I muttered.  

  "Now's exactly the time." He pushed off the lockers, his breath hot against my ear."You're coming to my party tonight. Masked. Anonymous." An envelope slid into my palm, his fingers lingering too long." Be there, or I'll make sure your expulsion isn't just approved-it's a fucking spectacle."

  I recoiled. "You wouldn't"

  "Try me." His lips grazed my knuckles, a mockery of chivalry. "Eight PM. Don't be late."

  The envelope burned in my grip.

    Around me, whispers slithered like snakes:  

    "-heard Dean Wolfe *choked* her-"  

    "-total whore. Did you see the photos?-"  

    I clenched my fists. *Keep walking. Don't let them see you break.*  

    By some miracle, I made it home. Dad wasn't there. Small mercies.  

    Ivy cornered me in the foyer. "Where've you been?" Her gaze dropped to the envelope. "What's that?"  

    Before I could react, she snatched it. Her eyes lit up. "*Rand's party?* You're going!"  

    "No."  

    "*I am.* And you're coming with me." She grabbed my shoulders. "Masks mean no one recognizes you. Free drinks. A distraction." Her voice softened. "You look like hell, Aria."  

    I swallowed. Maybe she was right. Maybe I needed to forget-even for one night.  

    "Fine."  

    Ivy squealed. "I'll pick your outfit! You'll be unstoppable-

    My phone buzzed. An unknown number:  

    **Meet me tonight. Vines Restaurant. Let me explain.**  

    My stomach twisted. *Wolfe.*  

    I deleted it.  

    ---