[Rosella – First Person POV]
There's a reason people fear silence. It doesn't mean peace. It means something's coming.
And Saint Augustine's?
It's gone quiet around me.
No cruel whispers. No side-eyes. No nasty notes in my locker.
Which is worse.
Because now I know they're watching me — from the corners of this too-perfect school with its marble floors and poisoned smiles.
And I know he has something to do with it.
Damien Carter.
The boy with storm-colored eyes and a smirk that's either flirtation or a warning — maybe both.
I tried avoiding him. I even ignored the gold card he gave me. But today? He cornered me under the old library archway.
"You haven't given your answer."
"To what? Your creepy golden club?"
He didn't flinch. Just leaned closer. "It's not creepy. It's inevitable."
I swallowed. Hard. "I didn't ask to be part of this."
"You didn't have to. The game already started, Rose."
And just like that, he was gone again.
---
[Damien – Third Person POV]
He watched her walk away with fire in her steps and stubbornness in her spine.
Rosella was the only girl at this school who didn't chase him.
Didn't flinch when he got too close.
Didn't care about his last name.
And that made her dangerous. Irresistible. Essential.
She hadn't said yes to the Thorns, but he'd already marked her name in the registry. That wasn't a gesture — it was a claim.
Veronica wouldn't like it. Julian would pretend he didn't care. And the rest?
They'd just wait to see if she'd survive.
Because in the Thorns, you're either useful...
Or removed.
---
[Lara – Third Person POV]
Lara saw them — Rosella and Damien — speaking beneath the arch.
And even from this far, she could feel the shift.
This wasn't flirty drama.
This was war.
And she was caught in the middle.
She liked Rosella. She wasn't fake like the others. She wasn't trying to climb. But Damien Carter didn't give people attention for free.
And she'd heard rumors. Old ones. About the last girl he invited into the Thorns who wasn't born for it.
She left in the middle of the night.
No goodbye. No explanation.
Just gone.
---
[Julian – Third Person POV]
In his study, Julian read the updated registry with mild interest. Rosella Rivers' name was now inked, official.
Damien's doing.
Interesting.
He wasn't worried. Yet.
But Damien was always chasing chaos — and this girl reeked of it.
Still, she had potential.
And potential, in the right hands, could be shaped.
In the wrong ones?
It explodes.
---
[Rosella – First Person POV]
That night, the invitation arrived.
Not a card.
An actual envelope. Black wax seal. No return address. Delivered under my dorm door like a threat wrapped in elegance.
Inside?
A folded note.
> "Midnight. South wing ballroom. Wear black. Speak to no one."
I stared at the words, heart thumping.
This was the moment. The point of no return.
I could throw it away. Pretend I never saw it.
Or I could go.
Step into their world and find out what they were hiding.
And maybe — just maybe — burn it from the inside.
I took the dress from my closet.
Black. Simple. Sharp.
Time to play their game.