Page 69 of Lessons in Touch

"Yes, you do. You and Liam filmed something you shouldn't have. Now you're using it to manipulate Professor Thorn."

Liam shifts in his chair, his face flushing red. "Rose, I didn’t want to do it. She made me, she…"

"Shut up, Liam." Cassandra waves him off without looking at him. Her green eyes stay fixed on me. "You know, Rose, I wanted to show you mercy like the mut you are when you first arrived. I really did. But you just couldn't stay in your lane, could you?"

"My lane?"

"Your place. You’re a fucking bastard child! Your father had you with an insane woman in an asylum! You don’t belong here." She stands. Even her height advantage is making her feel superior. "Gabriel deserves someone from his own world. Someone who understands what it means to have real power and real breeding. Not some pathetic little orphan who got lucky."

The words are designed to hurt me, but they bounce off me. Gabriel taught me my worth. He showed me who I really am.

"Is that what you told him?" I ask calmly. "That you deserve him more than I do?"

"I told him I'd keep quiet about your little affair if he chose me instead. After all, I'm much more suitable. And he's far too smart to throw away his career for someone like you."

Liam finally speaks up. "Cassandra, this has gone too far. We should just delete the video and forget about the whole thing. Professor Thorn is running for Senate, and Rose is a Devereaux.She has Timothy Devereaux backing her. This is super serious, Cassandra!"

"We should do nothing of the sort." She doesn't even glance at him. "Rose needs to learn that actions have consequences. That there are rules in this world, and breaking them comes with a price."

I take another step forward. The room is so quiet I can hear the clock ticking on the mantelpiece.

"Then here's my counteroffer, Cassandra.”

“I’m not interested, mut!” she laughs in my face.

“Oh, I think you are. You have a video of me and Gabriel, and I have a video of your orgy in the chapel.”

Every single student in the room goes white in the face. Filming is not allowed at their “events” and for good reason. I have evidence of all of them doing unspeakable things.

“What… What are you… No… No. You’re bluffing! Rose, this is serious! You don’t understand. If that video gets out… But you’re bluffing!”

I am stunned to see tears at the corners of her eyes. She is truly scared.

“Am I bluffing? Delete every copy of that video, or I'll go to the headmistress and tell her what really happens at your secret student gatherings."

"Excuse me??"

"The sex parties. The drugs. The orgies. This is going to get you all expelled. But, most importantly, it will likely get the school shut down."

The other students lean toward Cassandra and start talking at the same time.

“Cassandra, my father is going to kill me!!” one of them says.

“No, no! My parents sent me here to make friends with the Vanderbilt kid. My father has three billion dollars sunk into theirbusiness! Cassandra! He’s going to break my neck!!” yet another one adds.

“Fuck! Cassandra! We can’t get the school shut down! Our parents will literally disown us. Cassandra, what the fuck did you do?! All because you wanted to sleep with Professor Thorn and he didn’t want you back?! Fix it. Fix it now!”

She is so white in the face that I genuinely feel like she’s going to pass out.

"You're bluffing,” she tells me again.

"Am I?" I pull out my phone and start walking toward the door. "Let's go together right now to see the headmistress. You tell the headmistress about me and Gabriel, and I'll tell her about everything you've done. One of us is walking out of this school. Come on, Cassandra! If you think I’m bluffing, let’s go right now!!” I laugh.

I pause at the doorway and turn back to face her. "The question is, Cassandra, which one of us has more to lose?"

I can see her mind working. She knows I'm right. A consensual relationship between a professor and a student might cause a scandal, but what she and the other students have been doing goes far beyond that. The orgy alone would destroy her, not to mention that weird ritual.

Liam stands up abruptly. "This is insane. Cassandra, just delete the video. This whole thing was a mistake from the beginning."