[Rosella – First Person POV]
My hands shook. Just a little. Barely noticeable.
But I felt it.
The envelope had asked for "dirt" — not gossip.
Not rumors.
Real truth.
And to get that?
I had to get close. Closer than anyone ever dares get to Veronica Black without signing a social suicide pact.
So I started where no one would expect — her past.
People at Saint Augustine's think Veronica was born elite. But that's not true.
Veronica made herself.
Which means… there are cracks. And I was going to find them.
---
[Damien – First Person POV]
She was being watched.
Of course she was. The Thorns always monitor first tasks.
Julian had probably already placed a tracker on her dorm key.
But Rosella didn't act like someone playing defense.
She moved with purpose.
Asked the right people.
Smiled at the right time.
This wasn't her first game of survival.
He liked that. Too much.
---
[Lara – Third Person POV]
"Are you seriously asking me to help you dig into Veronica Black's skeleton closet?"
Rosella didn't flinch. "Yes."
Lara blinked. "Girl, I like you and all, but that's suicide."
"Maybe. But it's also my only ticket."
Lara hesitated. She looked around the empty music hall, locked the door behind her, and sighed.
"Fine. I'll tell you what I heard. But if we both go missing next week? I'm haunting you."
---
[Rosella – First Person POV]
Veronica didn't always go by Veronica Black.
Her birth name? Veronica Darlington.
Daughter of a broke socialite and a tax-fraud dad.
They changed their last name when she was twelve. Reinvented themselves. Moved cities. Bought a new identity.
It was all very clean.
Almost too clean.
But Lara had a cousin who once lived in the same gated community as the Darlingtons.
Said Veronica was expelled from her prep school after a scandal — something about another girl's hair getting cut off during detention. A scissors fight gone wrong.
No charges filed. No records.
But the story stuck.
And in this school?
Reputation is currency.
---
[Julian – Third Person POV]
Julian was impressed.
He hadn't expected her to dig that deep.
The name change? The old scandal?
Brilliant.
If she could get proof — real proof — Rosella might actually survive her initiation.
Hell, she might even shake the foundation.
And it had been too long since someone did that.
---
[Veronica – First Person POV]
She knew someone was sniffing around her past.
She felt it like a shift in the air. Like perfume you didn't spray but still smelled anyway.
It had to be Rosella.
Of course.
That little charity case with fire in her eyes.
She had no idea what she was digging into. No idea what Veronica had buried to stay on top.
But if she wanted a war?
She'd get one.
---
[Rosella – First Person POV]
The yearbook archive was in the oldest wing of the library. No cameras. No sensors. Only dust and forgotten editions.
I found it at 1 a.m., flashlight in hand.
And there it was — Darlington, Veronica.
Class photo from eight years ago.
Underneath it? A post-it someone forgot to remove.
> "Expelled – code V. Keep sealed."
I took a photo. Slipped the note in my sleeve.
Heart thudding. Breath shallow.
This was it. The secret.
The weapon.
But as I stepped out of the archives, I felt it —
Someone was watching me.
And then I heard it:
A whisper behind me.
> "You're not supposed to be here."