Isabelle's POV
Julien's face broke.
I had to look down at the floor. It's hard to watch a nice guy realize he's just been replaced by a ghost and a predator. Dmitri stood there with that quiet "I told you so" look in his eyes. He understood what had happened.
The girl who wanted a normal life was gone. She's never coming back.
"Isabelle… please," Julien whispered. He sounded like a kid lost in the rain.
"I can't run, Julien," I said. "If I leave now, I'll spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. I have to end this."
I stepped past him. Dmitri moved aside to let me pass. I gave Julien one last look, knowing things would never go back to the way they were before.
Dmitri's POV
We didn't make it ten feet down the hall before my father's men showed up. Three of them. They blocked the hallway. One of them looked straight at me.
"Your father wants you at the Schuyler estate. Now."
I stepped in front of Isabelle. My shoulder throbbed like someone was pressing a hot iron into it.
"I'm not leaving her."
"The order is for you alone, sir."
Isabelle touched my arm. Just a light squeeze. She was already thinking ahead. If they were dragging me in like this, things were worse than we thought.
"Go," she murmured. "Find out what they're doing. I'll get the records."
"It's not safe."
"None of this is safe, Dmitri."
"I'll call Adrien," she added. "Just… don't sign anything stupid."
The man cleared his throat like he was bored.
I leaned close so only she could hear me.
"Stay where people can see you. Keep your phone on. If anything feels wrong, run."
Then I turned and followed them.
I had always hated coming into the Schuyler estate. As long as I can remember, nothing good ever happened here. At the end of the day, something always seems to take a wrong turn.
And tonight, I had a bad feeling that things would get worse than before. I stood in the gallery shadows, watching the mess unfold. My father and Augustin Schuyler were whispering in a corner like nervous rats.
But Seraphina was the one running the room. She stood by the fireplace in that green dress, calm as a snake waiting to strike. Emmeline was the one who finally broke.
"It's over, Mother!" she shouted. Her voice bounced off the high ceiling, cutting through the polite whispers. She paced across the room, pulling at her hair.
"Everyone saw the locket! They saw the scar! They saw her face! You can't just call it an accident and make it disappear. The donors are already demanding audits!"
"Enough, Emmeline," Seraphina said.
"No. I'm done being quiet!"
Emmeline turned on my father and Rousseau.
"And you're just as bad!" She pointed at Rousseau.
"You said you had the records handled. You said you kept it safe. Your son took them and handed them over to her. Threatening to go to the police to expose everything."
"And you!" She faced my father.
"Well look at your son! He's the cause of all this mess. He spilled our secrets to her. Parading her on the school grounds like she's some trophy. He saved her! He's the reason everything fell apart!"
My father stepped forward, his face dark with anger.
"Dmitri will be dealt with," he said. "Right now we need to stabilize the family name. People need a distraction. Something that proves the alliance is still strong."
Seraphina looked at me. The anger was gone from her face. Instead, she looked thoughtful like she'd just solved a puzzle.
"You're right, Viktor," she said quietly. "We do need something big."
My stomach tightened.
"Something happy."
She turned toward the room, her voice carrying easily.
"The news is already reporting the tragedy at the gala. Let's give them a new headline. By tomorrow morning."
She smiled.
"Volkov–Schuyler engagement confirmed."
No one moved. Emmeline froze. She looked at me, and for a second she almost looked hopeful. Like a ring could fix everything that had just happened.
My father smiled like a man who'd just hit the jackpot.
"Brilliant move, Seraphina."
I didn't say a word. I looked at all three of them, the people who had just tried to murder someone, and felt something cold settle in my chest.
They thought a wedding announcement would bury the truth. They thought they could chain me to their lie. They had no idea what was coming.
Isabelle's POV
I didn't wait around after they took Dmitri. I needed to play my part before he got back. I went to my room to get the documents Julien had given me.
The moment I entered my room, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My room had been thrown upside down. Everything was out of place. My table, my chair, and my clothes were lying on the floor. My wardrobe door was open, and the drawers' contents were emptied.
"The Records!" I said immediately. I had hidden it under my bed. As I lifted my mattress, the room tilted. It was empty. They took it. They took everything but left my mother's brooch. The same brooch Viktor had crushed.
But there was something similar about the brooch. It sure wasn't the one from the video. There was only one person I knew who still had this. And that person was Sister Marriane.
If this was the one from the orphanage, how did Viktor manage to get his hands on it? How did it get to my room? Is Sister Marriane a part of this too? Several questions flooded my mind.
Every second mattered. Those records could be ash by morning. Instead of waiting for answers to fall from the sky. I went to the one place connected to everything. The one person who could have at least told me the truth.
I left the academy and caught a bus to the edge of town. St. Brigitte's Orphanage looked worse than I remembered. Gray stone. Cracked windows. The place smelled like old wax and incense.
Sister Marianne was kneeling in the chapel. When she saw me, her rosary slipped from her hands and hit the floor with a sharp clack.
"Isabelle," she breathed. "The news said there was an accident…"
"The accident was a hit," I said.
I held out the brooch in my bandaged hand.
"Just like my name is. I found this in my room. Please tell me this isn't the brooch with you. The one you swore to keep safe."
Her face went pale. She sat down heavily on the bench.
"He said if I don't cooperate, he is going to hurt you. I thought I was doing the right thing," she said.
"You took me in," I said quietly. "You saw who brought me here."
"I promised to keep you hidden," she whispered. "I promised you'd be safe."
"Who did you promise?"
"Your mother's nurse." The words came out like a confession.
"She brought you here wrapped in a burned blanket. She said the Valois family was being hunted. She said if anyone found you, the fire would follow."
The room spun.
"So you knew," I said.
"You knew I was Althea."
"I knew you were a child who deserved a life," she said, crying now. "Not a target."
"I kept the brooch so you wouldn't go looking for the people who wanted you dead. But you went to St. Aurelia… you walked straight into their world."
"The lions pay for this place, don't they?" I said quietly.
"The Schuylers. The Volkovs."
She didn't answer. She didn't need to. That was enough. I pulled my hand away.
"I have to go," I said, hitting the door.
"Isabelle, wait! Please, it's dangerous—"
I didn't listen. I was already running. Cold air burned in my lungs. I needed Adrien. I needed those records before they disappeared completely.
I hit the wooded path behind the orphanage. The trees cast long, thin shadows across the path. I slowed down, my heart hammering. The silence felt off.
A black car rolled to a stop nearby. No headlights. I turned to run but two men stepped out from behind the trees.
"Miss Duval," one of them said calmly.
"Lady Schuyler would like to speak with you."
"Stay back!" I yelled, reaching into my bag for my violin bow, the only weapon I had.
But before I could even swing it at them, a damp cloth slammed over my mouth. The smell was sweet and sickening. I kicked and scratched, my mind scrambling for a name.
Dmitri. Julien. Anyone.
My vision blurred. The gold locket slipped from my fingers and hit the dirt, sparkling one last time before the lights went out.
Then everything went black.
Dmitri's POV
The engagement announcement was a joke. A total complete sick joke.
I stood on the balcony of the Schuyler salon, staring out at the city while tracking the signal from the chip I'd slipped into Isabelle's bag.
It stopped. The red dot stopped moving. A cold knot formed in my stomach. It sat on a dirt road near the orphanage. It hadn't moved in ten minutes.
"Dmitri?"
Emmeline stood behind me.
"The toast is starting. We have to go inside."
I didn't even look at her. I was already moving. I hit the stairs.
"Dmitri! Where the hell are you going?" my father shouted.
"To get what's mine," I growled.
The guards blocked my way.
"You are not going anywhere, Dmitri. Not today. You'll remain here until all of this is over, " my father said.
"And if I refused?"
"I guess we'll never find out."