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Orphan? That doesn’t make any sense.
She has a father. I doubt she was lying to me about that—her pain was too raw, too real. It’s something to talk about when this is over, at least.
Beside me, Alize’s lips tremble. She wrings her hands together on her lap, her eyes low. She’s working her lower lip with her teeth. I’m overwhelmed by the urge to hug her again.
I need to fix this.
“Like I said, she isn’t unconnected.”
“Mr. Duke, you’re going to have to provide some evidence of this. I have had my best men investigate her. She has no connections, and she’s shown up at a school filled with criminals. You and I both know what that smells like—a rat.” Dr. Martin runs his hands through his hair with an exasperated sigh. “How do I explain this to the Executive Body? To the students who now know that she was lying about who she is? My hands are tied. She has to die.”
“I know of a connection, and I can provide evidence of it.”
Both he and Alize look at me, wearing similar expressions of surprise.
“Oh? Please, enlighten me.”
I reach over, moving my hand from her knee to grasp her hands. They’re small and clammy, easily encompassed by my bigger one. Her soft hands in my grip remind me of why I’m doing this, of why I can’t lose her.
She’s mine.
She always will be.
“She’s my fiancée.”
SIX
ALIZE
My mouth falls open.
There’s no fucking way he’s being serious.
My eyes bounce between him and the Chancellor. Neither of them are speaking, only staring at each other with the occasional glance at me. Alexander’s got a vice grip on my wrists—I can’t get him to let me go without struggling.
Fiancée?
Alexander’s face looks like it’s been chiseled from marble. His handsome features are grim, serious, like he means every word of the lie he’s just told. The Chancellor’s cycling through shock and amusement, his thin lips set in a lopsided half-smile, his eyes wide.
There’s a scream lodged in my throat.
I want to tell him the truth. I want to admit that this is a lie and I hate Alexander and I would rather die than beengagedto him.
But if I do that, then I actuallywilldie.
For all the Chancellor’s castigation of me, evenI’m shocked that I’m an orphan on paper.
Though it never came up in conversation with my father, I always assumed that the reason why he kept me locked away was because he wanted to protect me from something. That’s what Uncle Laurent says too, it’s why I’m here, why he had me lie.
But to know that I technically don’t exist?
If only he would answer the phone. Maybe if I could get an explanation from him, I would have something to tell the Chancellor, something that would keep me alive.
Instead, here Alexander is, lying that I’m engaged to him.
My stomach roils.
For a brief moment, I consider choosing death over staying with him, but it disappears quickly. I’ve decided I don’t want to die like this.
