of her pocket. Her eyes burned with unshed tears as she
her phone, and pulled up a photo of the massive black box sitting i
her voice vibrating with anger. "To shut m
He nodded slowly. "It is reasonable compensation from
rt turned to ice. She let out a bitter, broken
omething crossed his dark eyes before b
eks. "Today is my twentieth birthday," she whispered. "And your
his highly calibrated brain completely short-ci
e of guilt in his chest, Arthur default
lculating register. "Then consider the penthouse your gift. Do not
d survived on scraps her whole life, screamed at her to hold on to it. But the image of his smug, untouchablethe dashboard and lan
ace. Chloe wiped her tears away with the bac
hetic," she
d the door handle down,
ificial lake in the center of campus. She sat on a bench, gripping the edge of the
tification to submit her scholarship ap
own the quiet hallway of the administration building.
was left slightly ajar. The sound of the Dean's overly enthus
was saying, his tone dripping with flattery. "She is an incred
nd froze i
p, cold voi
r. He was st
r. "Her name is Chloe Tucker. She is absolutely qualified to
e. It lasted for five agonizing
chuckle. "I did not know she had
had taken her sacred art and twisted it into
rd. She turned around, desperate t
y mahogany door was violentl
he light from the office, castin
stack of scholarship papers slipped from her h
d Arthur. When he saw Chloe, his face li
gers picked up a glossy photograph from the pile. It was a picture of Chloe playin
s eyes darkened, turning into
eached to take it, Arthur intentionally let his finge
nging his mouth rig
ispered, his voice a rough vibration against her skin. "I wo
on the carpet, watching Arthur and his assistant walk
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