Chapter 6

"Enough!"

Julian grabbed my wrist tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

His chest heaved and his eyes were red. There was pain in that look, and a panic he couldn't even figure out himself.

I looked at him coldly and swallowed the taste of blood in my mouth.

"Let go." My voice was deadpan.

He let go suddenly, as if he'd been electrocuted.

I didn't even wipe the blood off my face. I stared right into his dodging eyes.

"Remember to send the clarification email. Unless you want to be sued along with Columbia."

I pushed him away, ignored Scarlett's shrill cries, turned around, and walked out the door.

For three days straight, my high fever didn't break.

In that drafty apartment, I didn't even have the strength to get out of bed to pour a glass of water. I survived the edge of death all by myself.

On the fourth day, the fever finally broke. My phone lit up with an email from my professor.

"The committee received Julian's withdrawal and clarification. Your admission is restored. Come to New York ASAP."

I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.

I won. And my week of waiting was finally over.

On my last night before leaving Chicago, I pushed open the doors of an underground club controlled by a neutral syndicate. Cassian's local contacts had successfully smuggled in my extraction documents and left my fake ID in a VIP room here.

I pushed open the VIP door, and the noisy room went dead silent instantly.

Everyone was there.

Sitting right in the middle were Julian and Scarlett.

Lisa, who used to be my best friend, picked up a shot of strong vodka and shoved it hard in front of me.

"Aurora, since you're scrambling off to New York tomorrow, take this shot. Consider it a peace offering for almost beating Scarlett to death."

I looked at Lisa. She knew damn well that this shot would kill me. I was deathly allergic to alcohol.

These people had all been brainwashed by Scarlett. They were just accomplices to her bullying.

"I'm not drinking it. What I came for isn't with you guys." I turned to grab the door handle.

Bam!

A hand slammed against the door.

Julian's large frame blocked my way. He looked down at me, his voice carrying a warning.

"Sit back down. Don't upset Scarlett. This is the last bit of dignity everyone is leaving you. Once you go to New York, stop dreaming about a world that doesn't belong to you."

Dignity?

I gave a cold laugh, walked past him, and sat straight down on a single sofa in the corner.

The games started. An empty bottle spun fast on the table.

The room was quiet. The bottle stopped, pointing right at me.

Malice flashed in Lisa's eyes. "Truth. Aurora, tell everyone what really happened the night of the prom. Did you drag Julian down just so you could seduce that New York thug, Cassian?"

Some guys in the corner whistled and jeered. They were purposely tearing at my scars, wanting to humiliate me, wanting to see me break.

I leaned back on the couch and stared right into Julian's face.

"There was no Cassian." I looked straight into his eyes. "We ran into some thugs. To protect me, he took three knives and fell into the river. Those guys... were a rival faction from his own family, coming for the Falcone heir."

"He almost died for me."

The room was dead silent.

Scarlett's face went totally pale. She looked at Julian in terror, her body shaking uncontrollably, terrified that those words would flip a switch in his brain.

Julian frowned hard. His face suddenly turned awful, his hand instinctively gripping his chest tightly.

Lisa panicked and spun the bottle again. It pointed at me once more.

"Dare!" Lisa quickly jumped in, pointing at three shots of straight tequila on the table. "Drink all three!"

I looked at the three shots of liquor that could literally kill me, grabbed my bag, and prepared to walk right out.

A large hand suddenly reached over.

Smash!

He swept the first shot glass off the table. Glass shattered everywhere.

Julian's eyes were bloodshot, his breathing heavy. He grabbed the remaining half-bottle of tequila, threw his head back, and downed the whole thing in front of everyone.

The harsh liquor soaked his shirt, but he didn't care at all.

He slammed the empty bottle onto the table.

"I'll take it for her." Julian stared at me fiercely, spitting out the words through clenched teeth.

He was losing control. It was pure muscle memory.

Scarlett sat beside him, digging her nails so hard into her palms.

The way she stared at me, she looked like she wanted to eat me alive.

I watched Julian act crazy with no emotion.

Just exhaustion.

"Excuse me."

I stood up and walked to the bathroom.

I splashed cold water on my pale face in the mirror. Just as I pulled a paper towel, click—the bathroom door was locked from the inside.

Scarlett stood behind me. No tears, no fake mask. Her entire face was completely twisted with jealousy.

"You bitch!" she gritted her teeth and closed in on me. "Think you can steal him away with a couple of ghost stories? So what if he took a drink for you? I'm the one he loves now!"

I gave her a cold look.

"My flight to New York is tomorrow morning. I'm never coming back for the rest of my life." I tossed the towel in the trash. "Save the crazy for him."

"Leave?"

Scarlett suddenly let out a shrill laugh. She lunged at me, grabbed my hair tight, her eyes pure poison.

"You think you can just walk away? Nobody defies the Don's woman in Chicago!" She whispered into my ear. "That river couldn't drown you years ago. Today, I'm going to make sure you die right on the street!"