right up until the moment I’d stepped on the plane, I’d been tempted to change my mind. To tell Erin and the judge to fuck off, that there was no way in hell I’d ever go back to Oak Park.
The petite powerhouse of a lawyer had handled my admissions too, speaking to Dean Levy on my behalf and arranging for my readmission to the school. Part of me had hoped after having seen the video the Princes had played in front of half the school, the dean would refuse to allow me to come back. But if he had tried to go down that road, Erin must’ve talked him out of it.
I was pretty sure none of that was included in her usual job description, and it made me wonder all over again who was paying her, and how much.
The anxiety churning in my stomach ramped up a notch as I considered the possibilities, so I forced that unanswerable question out of my mind and tugged the worn stack of papers from my backpack. I’d bought a little, black leather-bound journal too, and a small flash drive to store digital files on. Releasing the tray from the seatback in front of me, I started the process of transcribing my notes.
The truth was, even as my stomach had dropped into a bottomless pit when the judge had pronounced the terms of my trust fund release, a little thrill of something like victory had gone through me too.
I didn’t want to go back.
I never wanted to see the Princes’ beautiful, cruel, too-perfect faces again.
But I would never be able to hurt them from a distance the way they deserved to be hurt. I needed to get close to slip the knife blade between their ribs.
I’d learned that lesson from them too.
So as the plane barreled through the air, eating up miles like a rumbling monster, I carefully went through every sheet I’d printed out, making notes on Mason, Finn, Elijah, and Cole. They each got their own section, and even though I couldn’t fill up the pages with what I had so far, I knew more was waiting for me in Roseland.
And I’d be there soon to find it.
As I wrote, my hand slowly stopped shaking and my breathing evened out. I gathered every ounce of courage I could, letting my anger fuel it like a propane tank.
The Princes would do everything in their power to make me regret coming back—I knew that. I was prepared for it. But I wouldn’t let them win this time. I’d keep my heart on fucking lockdown, and I would fight back tooth for tooth, eye for eye.
As the plane changed directions to land at LAX, the ocean came into view in the distance, and I pressed my nose to the small window. I hadn’t missed much about California, but I’d missed that.
After grabbing my bags from the carousel, I made my way to the pickup area. I walked right by the place Jacqueline had picked me up a year ago without slowing my steps. I didn’t want to think about her or Philip. If they never even learned I was back in town, it would be fine with me. My grandmother had promised I’d never get another cent of her money, and I didn’t want it. Thanks to Erin, I’d never need it.
I called an Uber and waited at the designated pickup spot, then waved the guy off when he scrambled out of the car to put my bags in the trunk.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it.”
Everything I had wanted to bring from Sand Valley had fit into two large suitcases and my backpack. I’d ordered new uniforms and had them sent to my room at the school, and I needed to get a laptop too. I heaved both suitcases into the trunk, and the driver shut the lid before slipping back behind the wheel. He made an attempt at conversation, but after a few of my half-assed, muttered responses, he gave up and turned the music up a little louder.
I couldn’t stop staring out the window, watching the southern California landscape roll by as if it was all a dream, a mirage. I’d forgotten how bright it was here, how blue the sky was.
School had started already—the emancipation process had taken long enough that Oak Park was starting their second week of classes—but I’d been assured by Erin that it would be fine. The teachers knew to expect me in class tomorrow, which