Divine C

The dean closes the folder with a soft, final snap. “Miss Harper, you are expelled. Scholarship revoked. Effective immediately.” Evelyn’s legs fold before she feels the fall. She hits the cold marble on her knees, tears already streaming, and looks straight at the only person who could stop this. Sebastian Whitmore stands at the back of the room, hands in his pockets, untouched, untouchable. “Sebastian,” she chokes out, voice cracking like glass. “Say something. Please. Tell them it wasn’t just me. Tell them—” He walks forward slowly, shoes echoing. The same grey eyes that whispered she was special now look through her like she’s already gone. “You deserve it,” he says, calm, almost gentle. “Every word of it.” Her sob catches in her throat. “You planned this.” It’s not a question anymore. “All of it. The library. The noise. You never—” He smiles, small and vicious. “Love you?” He leans in just enough for her to smell the lie on his skin. “I don’t love scholarship girls, Evelyn. I ruin them.” He straightens, already turning away. “Know your place.”