The next morning, Alivia stood in front of the walk-in closet. It was filled with clothes, but none of them were hers. Rows of designer dresses, blouses, and skirts.
She found her old grey hoodie in the back, shoved in a laundry hamper. She pulled it out and put it on. It was her armor.
When she got downstairs, a sleek silver Audi A8 was waiting. Not the Escalade.
"Mr. Blackburn thought this would be more discreet for campus," the driver, a man named Silas with a neck as thick as a tree trunk, said as he opened the door.
They drove to NYU in silence. Silas stopped two blocks away, as she requested.
"Thank you," she mumbled, hopping out.
She pulled her hood up and adjusted her glasses. Just be invisible. Like always.
But the campus was buzzing.
"That's her," someone whispered. "The one who married the monster."
"I heard he keeps her in a cage."
Alivia kept her head down, walking fast.
"Well, look who let the dog out."
Alivia froze. Kacy was sitting at a patio table outside the coffee shop, holding court with her minions. Madison, a girl who had made Alivia's freshman year a living hell, was laughing.
"Did he let you out for a walk, Alivia?" Madison sneered. "Or did you escape?"
Alivia tried to walk past them.
Kacy stuck her foot out.
Alivia saw it coming, but she was too slow. She tripped, stumbling forward. Her backpack slid off her shoulder, spilling her textbooks onto the pavement.
Laughter erupted around them.
"So clumsy," Kacy said, sipping her latte. "Maybe the monster blinded her."
Madison walked over and placed her stiletto heel right on the cover of Alivia's organic chemistry notebook.
"Oops," Madison smiled. "Trash belongs on the ground."
Alivia stared at the heel. She stared at the notebook.
Something inside her snapped.
Maybe it was the black card burning a hole in her pocket. Maybe it was the memory of Gideon's voice saying, You are a Blackburn.
Alivia stood up. She didn't brush off her knees. She didn't fix her glasses.
She looked straight at Kacy.
"Move your foot," Alivia said.
Kacy blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Tell your lapdog to move her foot off my property." Alivia's voice was steady. Cold.
Madison looked at Kacy, unsure.
"Or what?" Kacy laughed. "You'll tell your daddy? Oh wait, Daddy sold you."
"No," Alivia said. She took a step toward Kacy. "I won't tell Daddy. But maybe I should tell everyone here why Daddy had to sell me."
Kacy's smile faltered. "Shut up."
"Is it because Clemons Industries is on the verge of collapse?" Alivia asked, her voice rising just enough to be heard by the surrounding tables. "Is it because you spent the employee pension fund on your trips to Monaco? I've heard Father on the phone late at night. The vultures are circling."
The laughter died instantly. Whispers broke out.
"You're lying!" Kacy hissed, standing up. Her face was pale.
"Am I?" Alivia tilted her head. "Check the stock price, Kacy. It's been in freefall for a month."
Kacy looked like she had been slapped.
Madison quickly stepped off the notebook, backing away from the toxicity radiating from Kacy.
Alivia bent down, picked up her book, and dusted it off. She looked at her sister one last time.
"Stay out of my way."
She turned and walked toward the lecture hall. Her hands were shaking, but her head was high.
Two blocks away, in the parked Audi, Silas pressed a button on his phone.
"She handled it, sir."
In his office at the top of the Blackburn Tower, Gideon watched the live feed from the campus security camera on his tablet.
A slow, dark smile spread across his face.
"Good girl."
