Chapter 46: What She Had on Him

"I’m not trying to ruin Roxanne," Arabella said, holding up her phone.

Her eyes shifted to Kai. "I’m trying to ruin you."

Roxanne looked between them, confusion giving way to unease as she watched something change in Kai’s posture, small but unmistakable. Whatever was on that screen, he already knew what it was.

Arabella turned the phone toward him. A confidential academy document filled the display, official letterhead at the top, and beneath it, in bold text: KAI MOONSTONE — DISCIPLINARY REPORT.

"What is that?" Roxanne asked.

Kai didn’t answer right away.

"Ask him," Arabella said, smiling.

"Where did you get it?" Kai finally said.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

Arabella told him she had the full report along with several supporting documents, and that she intended to release everything unless he gave her a reason not to.

Kai’s answer surprised even Roxanne.

"Release it."

Arabella’s smile faltered. "You don’t understand what happens once everyone sees this."

"I understand."

"Your royal family won’t be able to protect you."

"They’re not supposed to," Kai said.

That caught Roxanne off guard. Arabella accused him of suddenly playing the honorable prince, and Kai said nothing in response. He simply reached for Roxanne’s arm.

"We’re leaving."

"You’ll regret this," Arabella called after them.

Kai didn’t turn around.

Once they were far enough away, Roxanne stopped walking. "What was that?"

Kai kept his eyes forward.

"Kai."

He finally looked at her.

"What did you do?" she asked, refusing to let him sidestep it.

He told her, plainly. There had been an incident months earlier. He’d entered a restricted combat area after hours, broken academy rules to do it, and gotten into a fight that had gone too far. Someone had ended up seriously hurt.

"You hurt someone?" Roxanne asked.

"Yes."

No excuse followed. No softening. Just the truth laid out flat between them, and something about that honesty mattered more than she expected it to.

He explained the rest. One of his brothers had been injured during unofficial training, and Kai had believed the same student responsible would attack again. He’d lost his temper before anyone could stop him, and the fight had spiraled beyond anything either of them intended.

"Did you deny it?" Roxanne asked.

"No."

"Were you punished?"

"Yes."

"Then why was it hidden?"

Kai looked away. "Because the academy didn’t want a royal scandal."

Roxanne absorbed that quietly. She didn’t tell him it was fine, didn’t offer him an easy way out of what he’d done.

"You shouldn’t have done it," she said.

"I know."

"And you shouldn’t have been protected from the consequences."

"I know that too."

That honesty shifted something in how she saw him. He wasn’t asking her to believe he’d done nothing wrong.

By the next morning, the academy had erupted. Students crowded around phones in every hallway, the report clearly leaked and spreading fast.

"Kai hospitalized someone."

"And the academy covered it up."

"That’s why nobody can ever touch the Moonstones."

Roxanne walked into the cafeteria and felt every conversation stall the moment she entered. Kai wasn’t there. Lucien arrived shortly after with Roshan and Liam, the latter visibly furious.

"She actually released it," Liam said.

"We knew she would," Lucien said.

Roshan had already started reading through the leaked document, his brow furrowing. "Some portions are missing."

"Meaning?" Roxanne asked.

"This isn’t the complete report."

Arabella had released the version that made Kai look worst, stripped of anything that might soften the picture.

Not long after, the academy administration announced that Kai’s participation in the Alpha Challenge would be temporarily suspended, with the entire Moonstone team placed under review.

Liam immediately pushed back. "You can’t suspend him right before the next round."

"They can," Lucien said quietly.

Kai appeared moments later, and the group fell silent.

"Don’t fight the decision," he told them.

"So we’re just supposed to accept this?" Liam asked.

"I accepted the punishment the first time," Kai said.

Roxanne watched him. He wasn’t running from any of it.

Joanna moved quickly, filing a formal complaint against the entire Moonstone team, arguing that if Kai had received special treatment for being royal, then every result the team had earned deserved scrutiny. The student committee agreed to open an investigation.

Joanna found Roxanne shortly afterward. "Looks like your royal protection isn’t helping anymore."

"You really enjoy paperwork," Roxanne said.

"I enjoy fairness."

"No. You enjoy opportunities."

Joanna didn’t bother denying it.

Kai found Roxanne later that day and told her to stay out of it entirely.

"You’ve already got enough problems," he said.

"That’s not your decision."

"Arabella is targeting you because of me."

"She was targeting me before you."

"Exactly," Kai said.

He didn’t want her pulled further into his own mess. But Roxanne reminded him, "You stood beside me when everyone thought I was guilty."

"You didn’t deserve what they said," he said quietly.

She stepped closer. "Neither do you."

Kai looked surprised.

"But I’m not going to pretend you’re innocent," she added, "just because I like you."

The words left her mouth before she’d fully thought them through, and she caught herself a half second too late.

"I mean—"

"I heard you," Kai said, something close to a smile forming.

"Forget it."

"No."

She looked away, embarrassed, though the moment settled somewhere warm despite everything happening around them.

Dorian approached her privately not long after, holding a folder instead of asking about how she was feeling. "My family has connections at the academy," he said. "I got access to the original disciplinary record."

Roxanne took it and read through carefully. The full document confirmed what Arabella’s leaked version had conveniently left out. Kai had confessed immediately. He’d accepted his punishment without resistance. The incident had been formally investigated, and his suspension from training had already been completed months ago.

"Arabella didn’t tell the whole story," Dorian said.

"Why are you helping me?" Roxanne asked.

He hesitated. "Because it’s the truth."

She didn’t offer him gratitude beyond a simple, "Thank you," before walking off with the document in hand. Dorian watched her go and, for once, didn’t follow.

She brought it straight to Roshan, and together they compared it against the leaked version. Roshan spotted the missing sections immediately.

"She removed the part about his punishment."

Roxanne understood the strategy now. Arabella wasn’t trying to prove Kai had done something wrong. She was trying to convince the entire school he’d escaped consequences entirely because of his royal blood.

"Someone had access to the confidential file," Roshan added. "Arabella couldn’t have gotten this on her own."

Roxanne filed that thought away without chasing it further. The hearing was what mattered now.

Students had already gathered outside the hearing room by the time she arrived. Kai stood with his brothers, Liam tense, Lucien composed, Roshan still holding the original report. Kai looked resigned to whatever was coming.

Roxanne walked straight toward him.

"You shouldn’t be here," he said.

"I know."

He looked confused as she stopped in front of him and took his hand.

"I’m here anyway."

His fingers tightened around hers. "Roxanne—"

"You stood beside me," she said, "when everyone thought I was guilty."

She held his gaze.

"Now I’m standing beside you."

The doors to the hearing room opened, and every head turned toward them. Kai glanced down at their joined hands for a brief moment before meeting her eyes again.

Together, they walked inside.