Chapter 2

Thalassa's POV

The next morning, I shoved the printed transfer form into my handbag.

My phone screen remained black. I hadn't answered his text last night, and Darien hadn't bothered to call again. That was exactly how much he valued our relationship.

For three years of high school, I buried my feelings for him. To everyone else, we were just best friends.

Until the night after graduation. We parked his convertible by the coastal highway. The tension between us thickened over the sound of the crashing waves.

He reached out and killed the engine first. Looking at me with those pale amber eyes, he begged me to stay and go to the same college with him.

Three years of hidden affection made me lower my guard. I leaned in and accepted the kiss. That night, he pinned me against my bedroom wall, claiming me with almost savage desperation.

I thought it was the beginning of us. But this one-sided illusion barely lasted a few months.

Once Cassira appeared, he started inventing excuses, trying to disgust me enough to leave. He even faked losing control, watching coldly as I bled myself dry for him.

A shattered heart doesn't need to be glued back together.

As the only daughter of the pureblood Rowe family, I was never the one who wasn't good enough. He was the one who desperately climbed the ladder, only to despise me out of his own deep-seated inferiority.

I zipped up my bag, ready to get my form stamped at the admin office.

Suddenly, a key turned in the front door. Heavy footsteps, followed by much lighter ones, stopped at the edge of the living room.

"You ignored me all night." Darien’s voice was laced with irritation and defensiveness. "I thought you backed out of the transfer."

I looked up, my gaze drifting over his shoulder.

Cassira was trailing half a step behind him, wearing her usual pitiful pastel dress.

My eyes finally landed on Darien’s unbuttoned collar. Right on his collarbone was a glaring, dark red love bite.

They had slept together last night.

I stared at the mark calmly, not even blinking.

The moment our eyes met, Cassira shrank back like a rat caught in a spotlight.

Darien reacted instinctively. He pulled Cassira behind him, shielding her entirely.

"Why are you looking at her like that?" he snapped. "Can't you see you're scaring her?"

Cassira peeked out from behind him, her eyes instantly brimming with tears. "Thalassa, I'm sorry, please don't be mad at him. I insisted on coming to check on you."

While forcing out a tearful apology, she reached down and pulled the pale pockets of her dress inside out. The empty fabric dangled uselessly—answering an accusation no one had made.

"I didn't bring a bag. See? I have nothing on me. I wouldn't steal from you, and even if I did, I have nowhere to hide it. I know I'm low-born and don't deserve to be your friend... but please, don't yell at Darien because of me."

She bowed her head, exposing her fragile neck.

Hearing this, Darien’s jaw clenched tight. The look he shot me was pure, condescending disgust.

"When did you become so vicious?" he yelled, his voice echoing in the living room. "Cassira is apologizing to you! Do you have zero manners? She's already suffering, and you treat her like a thief?"

I stood my ground, offering zero explanations. I didn't even bother to give him a cold smirk.

He took my silence as guilt. He wrapped his arm tighter around Cassira.

"You really need to reflect on your arrogance. Before we came, she was telling me to be understanding and tolerate you. But look at you—you aren't half the woman she is."

He glared at me like I was a stranger. "Don't forget to submit that transfer form. I don't want to waste another second in this school with you."

With that, he grabbed her hand and stormed out.

The front door slammed shut, the echo lingering against the walls. The hallway returned to a dead silence.

A person doesn't rot overnight.

All my blindness was paid off the moment that door closed.

I picked up the phone on the table and dialed my apartment manager.

"I need a locksmith."