Chapter 6

Lina's POV

Those twenty or so people stood frozen in place, phones held mid-air, mouths slightly open and eyes wide, like wax figures locked in time.

Blair's body slid down along the wall. She collapsed on the ground covering her face, blood seeping through her fingers and dripping onto her uniform, onto the floor.

She finally made a sound—not a scream, but a kind of muffled whimper somewhere between crying and retching.

I slowly turned around.

The two football players who had just dragged me over were still standing in front of me. When my gaze fell on them, they both instinctively stepped back half a pace.

Actually, I'd already been quite gentle with Blair. If these two and any other lackeys tried to swarm me, it would take me some effort to beat them down.

But since they were being such cowards, there was no need for me to make another move.

My gaze moved past them to Luca standing there.

The cigarette in his mouth had burned out, the butt fallen to the ground, crushed under the tip of his shoe.

His expression was as calm as before, but the corner of his mouth tilted up slightly.

He was smiling.

Not mockery, not sarcasm.

It was a faint smile, almost imperceptible, like someone who had waited a long time finally seeing what they wanted to see.

I withdrew my gaze.

"Anyone else?"

No one answered. No one moved.

"Then move."

The crowd parted like the sea being split, automatically dividing to both sides.

I walked through that narrow corridor of human flesh, my shoes hitting the cement ground with unhurried footsteps.

When I reached the end of the corridor, Luca reached out and lightly pressed my shoulder.

"Wait for me in the car," he said. His voice was low, only I could hear it.

I didn't stop, walking straight toward the black sedan at the school gate, pulling open the door and sitting in the passenger seat.

The moment the car door closed, the outside world was shut out.

Quiet, warm, the scent of Luca's cologne.

I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes.

My hands were shaking.

Not from fear, but because my body had just completed a violent transition from suppression to explosion, and now all the stress hormones were rampaging through my bloodstream.

I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms, forcing myself to take deep breaths.

Seven seconds in, seven seconds out.

This was what Dmitri taught me—a breathing technique that could stabilize heart rate in any situation.

Muffled sounds came from outside the car window—someone shouting, someone running, someone making phone calls.

I didn't open my eyes.

After about ten minutes, the car door opened.

Cold air rushed in, followed by the sound of Luca settling into the driver's seat.

Then the engine started, and the car smoothly pulled away from the school gate.

Silence filled the car.

I opened my eyes, watching the flowing street scene outside the window.

Street lamps retreated one by one, orange light sweeping across my face, casting alternating patterns of light and shadow.

"You saw it," I said. This wasn't a question.

"Mm."

"You wanted me to do this."

Silence. He didn't deny it.

The car stopped at a red light.

Luca turned his head to look at me. His face looked very calm in the dim glow of the dashboard, brows and eyes relaxed, without that usual unfathomable depth.

"What I wanted," he said, "was for you to decide for yourself when to stop holding back."

"Why?"

"Because a person who only knows how to endure is a person without teeth. People without teeth don't deserve to live in my world."

I raised an eyebrow. "You should know I had plenty of teeth before."

Hearing this, Luca let out a soft laugh.

The light turned green, and he pressed the gas pedal.

"Of course I know, Miss Megalodon." He paused. "But you should know what you did today will have certain consequences."

"Blair's father won't let this go."

"I know. Winston, New York real estate mogul," Luca nodded. "You broke his daughter's nose. He'll definitely want an explanation."

"So are you going to hand me over?"

"Good girl, what do you think?"

Since arriving at Raven, no one had ever called me a good girl, so every time Luca called me that, a strange feeling arose in my heart.

I didn't know how to describe this feeling. If I had to, it was perhaps like a starving dog suddenly getting a bone—that kind of joy.

Luca's fingers tapped the steering wheel twice, calling me back to attention.

"Tomorrow morning at nine, school conference room. Winston will be there, the principal will be there, and you need to be there too," he said. "But you don't need to say anything. I'll handle everything."

"How are you going to handle it?" I couldn't help but be curious.

Luca turned to look at me. Light from the street lamps outside fell through the window onto his face, making his eyes look very bright.

"How I handle it," he said, "you'll find out then."

With that, Luca got out of the car, walked around to my side, and opened the door for me.

"Go on up," he said. "Get some rest."

I walked two steps, then stopped and stood still.

"Luca."

"Mm." Luca responded briefly.

"That night at the manor when you let me go," I said, "you had already planned all this, hadn't you?"

Luca behind me suddenly fell silent. I waited a full ten seconds before hearing his reply.

"Lina," his voice came from behind, neither light nor heavy, "you're overthinking."

"I'm not."

"Good girls shouldn't ask so many questions. Go on up."

I immediately felt like I'd punched cotton. Without responding, I quickly ran into the apartment building.

The moment the door closed, I pressed my eye to the peephole to look out.

I saw him still standing by the car, one hand in his pocket, the other lighting another cigarette.

The flame flickered once in the darkness, then he flicked it away.

I leaned against the door, staring at the white light overhead, thinking: Luca really is cunning, dodging my question just like that.