"I didn't?—"
"I don't care. You aren't working with us."
"This study group is a requirement, and I was assigned."
"Well, someone unassigned you, and the rest of us are thrilled. So figure it out on your own time, stupid Russian whore."
"Excuse me?"
"You think you're hot shit because some rich asshole is fucking you," she scoffed. "He'll get tired of you soon enough and find someone of value. Cheap sluts like you might warm his bed, but a zaddy like that will never give you a ring."
What the fuck?
"If I wasn't too drunk last night he would have left you immediately."
Fucking Artem.
Heat rose in my cheeks as I fought back tears, pushing my way past her and out of the library.
There was no use in defending myself. She had already made up her mind, and it wasn't my job to change it. But it still stung, and it was all his fault.
Each step I took felt heavier than the last.
I could feel invisible chains tightening around my ankles, my wrists, my throat.
Each time I thought I'd found a foothold, a way to assert myself, he was there, undermining it.
The world was shrinking around me, controlled by his invisible hand.
People who once ignored me now actively despised me.
My freedom was an illusion he granted, then stripped away at will.
Fucking with my living arrangements was controlling.
Fucking with my friendships was a dick move.
But dangling my education in front of my face then ripping away the opportunity to excel was unforgivable.
The realization of how completely he had ensnared me slammed into me.
I leaned against the wall outside the library, trying to steady myself and catch my breath.
How far would his control reach? Would I ever have anything that was truly mine again?
Or would everything I touched become another link in the chain he was wrapping around me?
He was not going to win. Not this time.
But even as I thought it, fear’s icy fingers crawled up my spine.
Because deep down, I wasn't sure I could fight him.
And worse still, a small part of me wasn't sure I wanted to.
CHAPTER15
ARTEM
