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The aftermath of the Masquerade Ball hit Saint Mercy’s like a storm. The school felt different—tense, electric. Whispers buzzed in every hallway, but Isabel didn’t flinch. She walked with a quiet confidence, her steps sure, like she owned the chaos. The room was divided, and now she was the center of it.
Rose wasn’t there to see it. She was locked away in her room, eyes burning with fury as she scrolled through the messages, each one like a knife to her gut. The psychiatric referral. The girl who vanished. Her secrets—the ones she’d buried—had all come to light, and now, she was vulnerable.
“This isn’t over,” Rose hissed, her fingers digging into the edge of her desk. Her kingdom was crumbling, and she wasn’t ready to give it up yet.
Meanwhile, Karoline stood by the piano, hands trembling. She hadn’t touched it all week. She was staring at the blank page of her sketchbook, but the lines she drew didn’t match the mess inside her head. She was lost, drowning in confusion. Isabel had come, turned everything upside down, and now Karoline didn’t know what she was supposed to feel anymore.
Pearl walked in, sensing the change in the air. “What’s going on with you?” she asked, leaning against the doorframe.
Karoline barely glanced up. “I don’t know who I am anymore,” she muttered, the words heavy with doubt.
Pearl sat beside her, crossing her arms. “Yeah, this place does that to people. It makes you wear a mask. You’ve been wearing one for so long you forgot what it’s like to take it off.”
Karoline looked at her, eyes full of conflict. “What if I don’t like who I am without it?”
Pearl smirked softly. “Then we’ll figure it out. But pretending? That never works.”
For the first time in days, Karoline felt the weight in her chest lift a little. Maybe there was still a chance to escape the roles they’d all been stuck in. Maybe she could finally find herself.
Andrew stood in front of Isabel’s door, his heart pounding harder than he expected. He didn’t know why he was there—maybe it was curiosity, or maybe something deeper. He raised his hand to knock, but then froze.
Before he could decide, Ryan’s voice cut through the silence. “What, you thinking of knocking?” His tone was almost mocking.
Andrew turned, annoyed. “What do you want, Ryan?”
Ryan shrugged, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. “Isabel’s not like the rest of us. You think you can walk in there and come out unscathed?”
Andrew frowned. “What are you trying to say?”
Ryan’s smirk faded, and his eyes darkened. “She’ll burn you. People like her, they use you, then they toss you aside when they’re done. I’ve seen it happen.”
Andrew’s chest tightened. He didn’t know why, but Ryan’s words hit him harder than he wanted to admit. “I’m not scared of her.”
Ryan took a step closer, voice low. “You should be.”
Without another word, Andrew walked away, his mind racing. He didn’t like the way Ryan’s warning stuck with him. What was he walking into? Who was Isabel, really?
Isabel sat alone in the library, the hum of the fluorescent lights filling the silence. She was focused on a file she’d found hidden in the archives. Another secret. Another lie. She smirked, flicking through the pages, her thoughts sharp and calculating.
A single envelope slid under her door. She opened it, and a photo fell out—a girl in the same uniform, her face almost unrecognizable. The accompanying note sent a chill through Isabel’s veins: “She knew too much. Don’t make her mistake.”
Isabel’s smile faded into something colder, darker. Someone else was in this game. And they were dangerous.
She tossed the envelope aside, eyes narrowed. It wasn’t over. It had only just begun.
Stay tuned For Chapter 10
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