Isabelle's POV
"Julien," I breathed out. My voice sounded wrecked. I was standing between them, caught between relief at seeing Julien and the cold dread of the confrontation.
The hallway already felt like a fridge, but now it was worse. Dmitri was still huffing from practice, radiating heat and Julien was just standing there like a statue. Pale. Hard.
Dmitri didn't even look at me. He was staring at Julien like he wanted to kill him. It wasn't about me anymore. This was a war for dirt and I was just the ground they were fighting on.
"I was just telling Isabelle," Dmitri said, and God, his voice made my skin crawl, "that she needs to pick her friends better. Some people are just... distractions."
Julien didn't even blink. He stepped up right next to me. He didn't touch me. He's always too polite for that, but it felt like he was a shield.
"I think Isabelle can figure out who's a distraction on her own, Dmitri," Julien said. His voice was steady, but it had this sharp edge I'd never heard. "And right now? You're the only one wasting her time."
Dmitri let out this low, dark laugh. It wasn't funny. He stepped closer, right into our faces and I had to move back.
"Is that right, Rousseau?" Dmitri's voice went really low. "You think being a 'friend' means you get a seat at the table? You're a footnote, man. I'm the whole damn plot."
"You're a bully with a trust fund," Julien snapped. His hands were shaking in fists at his sides. "The more you push, the more she's gonna see how pathetic this is. You can't force someone to look at you, Dmitri. No matter how much you try to break them."
I saw it then. This flash in Dmitri's eyes. Pure, ugly jealousy. It was so thick I could almost feel it vibrating. He didn't see a classmate. He saw something he wanted to rip apart.
"If you're so sure of yourself, Julien, why don't we go settle this where people can actually see?" Dmitri pointed toward the quad. You could hear music and people laughing out there. "Or are you only a tough guy when the halls are empty?"
Julien's jaw looked like stone. "I have nothing to prove to you."
Dmitri leaned in, his face an inch from Julien's. He whispered something I couldn't quite hear, but it sounded jagged. "But you have everything to lose to me."
The walk to the quad felt endless.
I felt like I was being marched to a cliff. Dmitri was in front, walking like he owned the air. Julien was next to me, but he wasn't the "Golden Boy" anymore. He was stiff. Defensive. He wouldn't look at me and that freaked me out more than Dmitri did. It was like he was waiting for a punch he knew was coming.
When we hit the sunlight by the fountain, the whole world changed. St. Aurelia is a gossip mill. In five seconds, everyone went quiet.
"Look," some girl whispered from a balcony. "The Prince and the Saint. Why are they together?"
Dmitri stopped right in the center. The biggest stage in the school. He turned to Julien with this cruel light in his eyes. He looked like a king about to kill a traitor.
"You're always talking about 'merit,' aren't you, Julien?" Dmitri's voice carried across the whole square. Everyone was listening. "But let's be real. Your whole 'perfect student' thing is just your dad's money talking. You're a fake."
Julien went white. "Stop, Dmitri. Don't drag my family into this."
"Is it?" Dmitri stepped forward, shouting now. "Tell them about Geneva, Julien. Tell them how much your family 'donated' to buy you that seat in the masterclass. The one you told everyone you 'earned' by practicing."
The whole crowd gasped. I looked at Julien, my stomach doing a slow roll. "Julien? What is he talking about?"
Julien's eyes hit mine and for the first time, I saw shame. "Isabelle, it's... It's complicated. That's just how it works here."
"Oh, it gets better," Dmitri sneered, looking right at me. He looked like he'd already won. "Tell her how you 'helped' with her registration for the recital. Tell her how you used your dad's pull to bypass the board because you didn't trust her talent to win on its own. You played the same game I do, Julien. You're just a better liar."
The world felt like it was tilting. I looked at Julien, the only person I thought I could trust. "You did that? You bought my way in?"
"I just wanted to make sure they couldn't screw you over again!" Julien sounded desperate. "I was trying to protect you!"
"By lying to me?" I whispered. "By making me a charity case for your family instead of his?"
Dmitri wouldn't stop. He was a shark that smelled blood. He turned to the seniors watching. "And his 'perfect' record? Ask him about the lower school incident. The one that vanished after a big 'contribution' to the library."
It was a total slaughter. Julien stood there, stripped of everything, looking smaller than I'd ever seen him. The whispers weren't about me anymore. They were tearing him apart. The "Saint" was just another rich kid with shadow deals.
Dmitri stepped toward me. He was everywhere. He leaned down and whispered so only I could hear.
"See, Isabelle? Even the angels here have filthy hands. At least with a devil, you know what you're getting. I don't pretend to save you. I just want you."
I looked at Julien's broken face, then at Dmitri's smug, lethal grin. I felt sick. I wasn't a person to them. I was a trophy. A tool to hurt each other with.
The crowd started laughing, low, mocking sounds at Julien. I couldn't take it. I couldn't watch him get destroyed and I couldn't watch Dmitri enjoy it.
I didn't say a word. I just turned and ran. I pushed through the crowd, ignoring people calling my name. I ran until I couldn't hear the fountain or the laughter. I ran until the secrets felt like they were gonna crush my lungs.
I got to the music rooms, locked the door and sank to the floor. I didn't cry. I just sat in the dark realizing there are no heroes here.
Just different kinds of monsters.
And Dmitri had just made sure I was left alone in the dark with him.
Dmitri's POV
I watched her run.
The way her red hair trailed behind her against the grey stone... It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. The "devil" in my chest was practically purring.
Julien was still standing there with his head down. The crowd was moving on now that the blood was out. He looked pathetic. Just a weakling in a fancy blazer, exactly like I thought.
Adrien stepped up next to me. He looked disappointed. "You went too far, Dmitri."
"I did what I had to," I said. I didn't take my eyes off where she'd gone.
"You didn't just hit Julien," Adrien whispered. "You trashed the only thing she had left to trust. You think she's gonna come to you now? You think you won her?"
I turned to him, cold as ice. "She doesn't have anyone else now. Julien's a liar. The school's a cage. I'm the only one left who's honest about being a piece of work."
"You're out of your mind," Adrien said.
"Maybe," I said. I let a small, nasty smile hit my lips as I started walking toward the music rooms. "But I'm the monster she's stuck with."
The obsession wasn't just starting. It had its first kill. And as I walked through those quiet halls, I knew the "Saint" would never get in my way again.
Isabelle Duval was all alone. And that was exactly where I wanted her.