Falling for Forbidden

of learning and knowledge. Now, it was a place filled with wh

if the walls themselves rejected her, as if she was an intruder in a place that once belonged to her family. Students

pered behind her. "Still pr

job to spread her legs for

ounds. She had grown used to it, but the sting never lessened. The stares, the whispers, the s

essors who stood out-both had once known her father, both had onc

han Wallace-

He had once treated Amara like a niece, always encouraging her to read more, to dream bigger. She had spent

arely loo

she entered the library, he would pretend not to see her. If she da

," he said once, his eyes never leaving the book he was

t without another word. The library, once a plac

Caldwell-Her Fat

had sat at their dinner table countless times, laughing over shared memories. He had ev

held nothing

ce, hoping to find some remnant of

s expression unreadable. "Your father made his choices, and

, but before she could re

ory now. He had poisoned everything, turnin

refused to

to laughter, as the professors who had once been h

us and I

warm and welcoming, had transformed into something cold and oppressive. The modern glass structures,

itled-they thrived under Aldridge's control. Those beneath them either bowed in submiss

Some students simply ignored her, othe

ed the courtyard, a group o

at dress three days i

ther chimed in. "Sh

er fists, keepin

did, it was with thinly veiled disapproval. Even the seating arrangements reflected the social div

for Their

was the delib

crawled across it in bright red marker. Her books were missing, likely thrown in

m the satisfaction

t was left of her belongings, and walked away.

ubtle-snide comments in the hallways, a chair being pulle

oy "accidentally" spilled an e

k concern. "I hope you di

erupted a

main still, to swallow her humiliation. She r

Bastion o

the older staff members, those who had been there during her father's time, still offered h

d her favor risked the wrath of those in power. And so, most rema

oved her were now too af

d no all

s exactly what Vic

erything from h

trying to

uld not le