Isabelle's POV
The drive to the Academy was awfully silent. Nobody talked. The silence between us felt heavy as the Academy gates came into view.
We went through the tunnel under the cathedral. It smelled of damp dirt and old, cheap incense. Dmitri went first, holding the flashlight low so we wouldn't trip on the uneven floor. Adrien followed behind us, his tablet glowing faintly as he monitored the school's security feeds.
"They're in the High Council Chamber," Adrien whispered. His voice bounced off the stone. "Viktor and Seraphina showed up together ten minutes ago. Doors are locked. Rousseau is in there too, probably trying to keep them from killing each other."
My fingers were numb against the violin case. We climbed the last set of narrow stairs and pushed aside the wooden panel hidden behind an old set of tapestries in the Director's wing.
We were inside.
The hallway was quiet. Not the peaceful kind. The big clock at the end of the hall was ticking so loud it sounded like a hammer. The place felt empty. Our hack had worked. The students were probably glued to their phones in their rooms, watching their world catch fire.
Dmitri turned to look at me. He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging in just above my elbow. grabbed my arm just above the elbow, not gently, but firmly.
"They're in there trying to control the narrative," he said quietly. "They'll talk their way out of this if you let them. Don't give them the chance."
I nodded.
We walked down the hall. Our footsteps echoed across the marble floor. The double oak doors of the Council Chamber were shut tight. I could hear Seraphina Schuyler's voice through the wood. She sounded like she was screaming.
Dmitri didn't bother knocking. He slammed the doors open so hard they hit the walls with a crack. Every head in the room turned. The place looked like a boardroom where everyone already knew they were losing.
Viktor Volkov sat at the head of the long table, perfectly still, as if nothing had changed. Seraphina stood by the window, her shoulders pulled up to her ears. Emmeline was slumped in a chair in the corner like a broken doll. Director Rousseau was by the bar, shaking so hard I thought his glass was going to shatter.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Viktor looked past me and focused on his son. "Dmitri," he said. He sounded bored. "You've never been very good at leaving quietly. This is worse."
"He's here because I brought him," I said. I stepped forward. My voice sounded steady, even though I didn't feel steady at all.
Seraphina flinched. She let out this nasty, jagged laugh. "Look at that. The scholarship rat is back. Dragging her pet along." She pointed a shaking finger at Dmitri. "You think your little hacking stunts matter? We built this school. We are the rules. We decide what's true."
"You decided to build your school on my family's bodies," I said. The anger in my chest felt strangely controlled now, like ice instead of fire. I walked to the table and dropped the Valois ledger. The heavy thud echoed through the room. "Your truth is a fake. And now the whole world knows. The money's gone. The cops are coming. You aren't here to lead anything. You're here to give up."
Viktor stood up. He still wouldn't look at me. His attention stayed on Dmitri. "This drama is over, boy. You've proven your point. But the Volkov name isn't something you throw around during your tantrums."
"You told me I didn't have a name anymore," Dmitri said quietly.
"A father says things in anger," Viktor said, waving his hand like he was swatting a fly. "It's forgotten. Seraphina and I have worked it out. We have a plan to fix the school problems you caused and keep the lawyers quiet."
A cold feeling settled in my stomach. Viktor didn't look worried. He glanced at Seraphina, giving a small nod. Seraphina straightened immediately. The panic from earlier vanished.
"This whole... mess... will be explained as a mistake. An error from our side," she said. Her voice was sharp again. "A misunderstanding with the Valois trust records. And to reassure everyone that the families remain united, we're holding a press conference in an hour."
Emmeline shifted in her chair. She stood up, and the look on her face made my skin crawl. She was smiling. A real, nasty, winning smile. She looked at me like she had already won.
Rousseau cleared his throat and held up a piece of paper. "The statement is ready. To stop the gossip, we're announcing a merger. A way to bring our families together forever."
Dmitri went completely still. "What kind of merger?"
Viktor smiled. It was the coldest expression I had ever seen. "To keep the Volkov finances and the Schuyler influence aligned," he said slowly, "we will be announcing the engagement of Dmitri Volkov and Emmeline Schuyler. The wedding happens after graduation."
For a moment, everything inside me stopped. It felt like the air had been pulled out of the room.
I looked at Dmitri. I was waiting for him to yell. To tell them to go to hell. To smash the table.
But he didn't do anything.
He just stood there. He was staring at his father, with an unreadable expression. He was... thinking. I could see it happening, the calculation behind his eyes. He was weighing it, measuring what this deal would mean.
Was he actually considering it? Would he trade his life for a seat at that table?
The ledger. The hacks. Freezing their accounts. None of it mattered anymore. Viktor had just changed the rules. He wasn't fighting me for the truth. He was buying my silence by taking the one thing I actually cared about. He was offering Dmitri something else instead.
And Dmitri was still standing there, silent. Hesitating.
The victory I'd been holding onto all night suddenly felt empty. Like something had shifted without me noticing. And the trap had just closed.