Chapter 45: The Price of Being Chosen

Roxanne woke up with Kai’s face still hovering in her mind, inches from hers, the music long gone but the moment refusing to fade. She pressed her palms against her cheeks, trying to figure out why she was still thinking about it, when Isla burst through the door.

"Don’t freak out."

Roxanne sat up immediately. "That’s exactly what people say right before I should freak out."

Isla handed over her phone, and Roxanne scrolled through a set of pictures already circulating around the academy, one showing her and Kai mid-dance, another capturing the exact moment their faces had been inches apart. Underneath ran a caption. Royal protection, or something more?

Her embarrassment shifted into irritation fast. "Who posted this?"

"Nobody knows."

She scrolled further, past teasing comments and outright accusations that she’d deliberately gotten close to Kai, until one line stopped her cold. She knew exactly what she was doing. This wasn’t harmless gossip anymore.

At breakfast, the whispers followed her the moment she walked in, and she spotted Arabella sitting with a group of girls, sliding her phone across the table to one of them without a word. The girl looked at the screen, then at Roxanne, and everything clicked into place.

Before she could confront her, another student approached with a set of screenshots, asking if the messages were hers, supposedly showing Roxanne admitting she’d gotten close to the Moonstones for their status. "I never said this."

"That’s what everyone’s saying," the student shrugged.

Arabella finally looked up, meeting her eyes across the room with a small, satisfied smile that said everything without a single word. She’d learned from their previous confrontations. This time, she wasn’t attacking with fists.

She was attacking with reputation.

The consequences arrived before lunch, when Roxanne was summoned to a student leadership meeting and informed that her position on the Founders’ Festival committee was being temporarily suspended.

"Why?"

Joanna stepped forward with a folder, a petition signed by several students claiming Roxanne’s relationship with the Moonstones created an unfair advantage in academy events. "It’s not personal," she said calmly.

"Then why does your name appear first?"

"Because I care about fairness."

"You care about beating me."

Joanna’s expression tightened. "Believe whatever you want."

The committee ruled she couldn’t participate in leadership decisions involving the Moonstone team until the rumors were investigated, and Roxanne walked out of the room furious, having actually lost something this time.

Dorian was waiting outside. "I heard what happened."

She kept walking. "Congratulations."

"I wasn’t trying to—"

"Then don’t."

He caught up anyway. "They’re lying about you."

She stopped. "I know."

"Then you know you don’t have to let this affect you."

"Why do you care?" she asked flatly, and he didn’t have an answer ready, finally settling on, "Because I know you’re not like that."

Something in her expression shifted. "You should’ve remembered that before you rejected me." She walked off, leaving him standing there, unaware that Arabella had heard the entire exchange from a short distance away, her expression darkening considerably.

Arabella cornered Dorian shortly after, not crying, not pleading, just openly angry. "You defended her."

"I told the truth."

"You haven’t defended me like that once."

He tried explaining that the rumors were unfair, and something settled in Arabella’s eyes as she realized he still cared what happened to Roxanne, whether he admitted it or not. Instead of pushing further, she went strangely calm.

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"If you want to protect her so badly," she said, smiling, "maybe I’ll give you something worth protecting." She walked away, leaving Dorian with no idea what she meant.

At lunch, the brothers already knew about the committee’s decision, and Liam was furious. "Give me five minutes."

"No," Lucien said.

"Three?"

"No."

Roshan studied the screenshots carefully. "The wording is inconsistent."

"You can tell?"

"Yes."

Kai had said almost nothing until now. "Arabella."

"I think so," Roxanne said.

His jaw tightened, and Liam wanted to confront her directly, but Roxanne stopped him. "Don’t. That’s what she wants."

"What are you going to do?" Lucien asked.

Roxanne looked at the screenshots again, then smiled faintly. "Find out what else she has."

After classes, Arabella approached her without any audience, without insults, just a quiet, unsettling calm. "You want to know where those messages came from?"

"You?"

Arabella didn’t deny it. "I have the originals." She claimed she could prove the screenshots were manipulated, but wanted Roxanne to meet her privately to see them. Roxanne knew immediately it was a trap.

"Why would I trust you?"

"You shouldn’t."

The honesty of it made the whole thing more unsettling, but Roxanne considered it carefully. If Arabella really had the originals, this might be her chance to expose everything. "Where?"

Arabella gave her a location and walked off.

When Roxanne told the brothers, Kai said immediately, "No."

"That’s not your decision."

"I know." His expression softened slightly. "But don’t go alone."

Lucien agreed, and Liam added, "For once," which Kai ignored entirely.

"I’m not going because I trust her," Roxanne said. "I’m going because I want proof."

Roshan understood first. "You’re trying to make her reveal what she has."

"Exactly."

Kai studied her for a long moment. "Then be careful."

"I will."

He didn’t try to stop her. He simply said he’d be nearby, and she didn’t argue.

At the agreed location, Arabella held up her phone and showed Roxanne the original messages, some genuinely harmless, others clearly edited, confirming exactly what Roxanne had suspected. Then Arabella revealed something worse, a recording, private and cut in a way that made Roxanne sound calculating and cold.

Her stomach dropped. "Where did you get that?"

Arabella smiled. "You’d be surprised how easy it is to make people believe something when they already want to believe it."

Roxanne realized this wasn’t just gossip anymore. Arabella had been collecting material against her deliberately, something she could shape however she wanted.

"You thought everyone would love you because the Moonstones chose you," Arabella said, stepping closer.

"They didn’t choose me because I asked them to."

"No. They chose you because you’re useful."

Roxanne refused to give her a reaction. "Are you finished?"

"Not even close."

A voice cut through the space behind them. "She said she’s finished."

Roxanne turned to find Kai walking toward them, and Arabella didn’t look surprised at all, which told Roxanne everything.

"You knew he was coming."

"Of course," Arabella said, smiling wider.

Kai stopped beside Roxanne, his focus entirely on Arabella now. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," she said, lifting her phone and turning the screen toward him.

Roxanne saw the file title before he did. Kai Moonstone, confidential.

His expression shifted instantly, and Arabella said quietly, "You should probably see what I have."

Roxanne looked at Kai, and for the first time since she’d met him, he looked genuinely concerned.

Arabella’s smile stretched wider. "Because this time," she said, holding the phone up between them, "I’m not trying to ruin Roxanne."

She let the silence stretch a beat longer.

"I’m trying to ruin you."