Lilly
I wanted to scream.
Everything I'd worked for—every late shift, every night tutoring my brother by flashlight, every ignored hunger pang—was dangling by a thread.
And Luca Demon was standing there, claiming he wasn't the one cutting it.
The admin woman's words echoed in my skull.
"Under internal review."
That didn't just happen. Not unless someone pushed for it.
And standing beside me was the guy whose family had their name stamped on half the buildings on campus.
"It's not my family," Luca said quietly, as if he'd read my mind. "They don't even know about the grant."
I crossed my arms. "So what, it's just a coincidence that the moment I'm nominated, someone starts digging up reasons to disqualify me?"
"I don't do coincidences," he said. "I do facts. And this doesn't add up."
That made two of us.
But I couldn't trust him. Not yet.
Not when the ground under me felt like it was already crumbling.
---
Later that night, I went to the library. It was empty except for one person behind the circulation desk: Professor Marla Torres, my old Literature mentor—the one who'd believed in me when I could barely believe in myself.
"Lilly," she said warmly. "I was hoping to see you. I nominated you."
I blinked. "You… what?"
"For the Legacy Grant. You didn't know?"
My throat tightened. "No. I found out when someone tried to take it away."
She frowned. "Tried? What do you mean?"
I told her. The review. The pressure. The rumors.
Professor Torres narrowed her eyes. "I'll look into it. But I can tell you right now—this didn't come from Lucas Demon's family. In fact, I heard the objection came from another student. Someone who's been eyeing that grant since last year."
A name formed in my mind before she even said it.
𝙎𝘼𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙉 𝙑𝘼𝙇𝙀
Valedictorian. Law student. Golden girl with a smile made of ice.
Someone who didn't like "outsiders." Especially ones who dared to be good enough.
I swallowed. "She's legacy, isn't she?"
"Her entire family went here," the professor confirmed grimly. "And she plays the game well."
---
Luca
I couldn't sleep.
So I didn't.
Instead, I broke into the university's digital records using a password I'd stolen from my father's assistant. It was stupid. It was risky. And it was the most alive I'd felt in weeks.
Because for the first time in a long time, something mattered.
Her.
I searched the recent activity on the Legacy Grant files. Pulled up the access logs. Read through the red flags.
Then I saw it.
Objection filed by: Vale, Samantha J.
Status: Active appeal to reassign grant nomination.
I leaned back, lips parting in a slow smile.
So it wasn't my fault. Not this time.
But now I had a new problem:
If Samantha wanted Lilly out… I wanted in.
--
The next morning, Lilly walked into the cafeteria to find her cleaning cart missing.
Instead, there was a note taped to her locker:
"𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨. 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙚".
—SV
And watching from across the quad, Luca closed his laptop, rage bubbling behind his calm smile.
"Game on, Samantha."
---