The Blackwood University Library was a labyrinth of six floors, but the "Restricted Archives" in the basement were where the air turned cold and the cameras didn't reach.
Elena had been lured there by a fake text from the Economics department, claiming her scholarship paperwork had a "discrepancy." But as the heavy iron gate clicked shut behind her, she realized there was no professor waiting.
Only Cissy Montgomery, sitting on a mahogany table, swinging her designer heels.
"You have a very loud way of saying 'I want to be destroyed,' Elena," Cissy said, her voice echoing off the rows of dusty ledgers.
"I'm not afraid of you, Cissy," Elena said, though her heart was hammering.
"You should be. You see, Julian thinks he's playing a clever game. He thinks if he treats you like trash in public, I won't notice the way his pulse jumps when you walk into a room." Cissy stood up, stepping into the dim light. "But I've known him since we were children. He's never hated anyone that much. Which means... he loves you."
Cissy smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She pulled out a small, sleek recording device.
"My father is a powerful man, Elena. And Julian's father is even worse. If this recording of Julian admitting he's been funneling money to a 'scholarship student' reaches the Board of Trustees tonight... you're expelled. And your mother's debt? It gets called in tomorrow."
"You wouldn't," Elena breathed.
"I'm a Montgomery. We don't lose. Now, give me your phone. I want to see every message, every photo, every secret you two think you're keeping."
The Break-In
The door at the top of the stairs didn't just open; it was nearly kicked off its hinges.
Julian burst into the archives, his eyes wild, his tie loosened. He didn't look like a prince anymore; he looked like a man who had just run a mile in a suit.
"Cissy, stop," he commanded, his voice trembling with a rage he could no longer contain.
"Oh, look! The hero arrives," Cissy mocked, holding the recorder higher. "Just in time to watch her life fall apart, Julian. Unless... you want to tell me the truth?"
Julian looked at Elena—pale, cornered, but still standing tall. Then he looked at Cissy. The mask he had worn for years, the one that kept him safe, finally cracked and fell away.
"The truth?" Julian walked past Cissy, ignoring her completely. He went straight to Elena, taking her face in his hands. "The truth is that I've spent every second of the last five years trying to forget the way she looks when she's angry at me. And I failed."
He turned back to Cissy, his gaze lethal.
"Post the recording. Tell the Board. Tell my father." Julian stepped in front of Elena, shielding her with his entire body. "But know this: the moment you do, the Blackwood-Montgomery merger is dead. I'll walk away from the inheritance. I'll walk away from the name. And you'll be the girl who was dumped for a 'scholarship case' on the front page of every paper in the country."
Cissy's face contorted. "You'd ruin your life for her? She's nothing!"
"She's everything I was before I became like you," Julian hissed. "Now, give me the recorder. Or I start making phone calls to the press right now."
For a long, tense minute, the only sound was the hum of the ventilation. Finally, Cissy threw the device at his feet, the plastic casing shattering.
"You're a fool, Julian," she spat, her eyes shimmering with tears of humiliation. "Your father will kill you for this."
"Let him try," Julian said quietly.
As Cissy stormed out, the silence of the library returned. Julian didn't move. He kept his back to Elena, his shoulders heaving.
"You shouldn't have done that," Elena whispered, her hand trembling as she reached out to touch his arm. "You just lost your empire."
Julian turned around. For the first time, he didn't look like a King or a Villain. He just looked like Julian.
"I didn't lose it, Elena," he said, pulling her into a fierce, protective embrace. "I just realized I was ruling a kingdom of ghosts. I'd rather be a beggar with you than a god with her."