Page 103 of Bad for Me

“Your lecture. That’s English 102, correct?”

I frown. “Since when have you been interested in my class schedule?”

The long pause on the other end makes my heart rate kick up. Just when I’m about to prompt him, he finally answers.

“Since you weren’t my only child at Graveston.”

My pulse skyrockets. “Everlyishere? Don’t tell me she’s taking my fucking class.”

“Now son, I don’t want you making any trouble for your stepsister. That’s why I called?—"

“Motherf—”

I dump my messenger bag onto my chair’s seat, clinking the zippers on the leather. The sound makes me wince. Thankfully my laptop still rests on my desk where I left it after researching late last night, so my rough treatment didn’t break anything inside.

But while my laptop is safe from my tantrum, I’m still pissed. I can’t help pacing around my small office as I curse the man who just dropped a huge bomb on me.

“How the fuck did that vapid little idiot even get into Graveston—wait…” I scoff into the phone. “Just like she and her demon of a mother always get what they want. Withmyfather’s money.”

“Everly got into Graveston on merit, Woodrow. She’ll be a Gravvie just like us and the rest of our Rutherford line. But she usedherlast name. Gable means nothing in Graveston, so she couldn’t even use my legacy to get in. Which is more than I can say for you. The Rutherford name wasn’t the only thing that got you here.”

The truth I’ve always hated prickles the back of my neck. I stop pacing before spitting venom into the speaker.

“Why don’t you just say it, Dad—theOrderwas my true legacy. But let’s not forget who got me inducted in the first place, hm?”

“Don’t act like the Order wasn’t one of the best things that happened to you, son. Not after all of the shit you pulled in high school was wiped away. The Order gave you a clean slate and now you have your dream career, virtually all the time in the world to do exactly what you want with your research, and any woman you want. Do you really think you’re where you are without all the strings the Order pulled on your behalf along the way?”

“You wouldn’t know this after virtually pretending likeourfamily never existed, but I excelled at Graveston all on my own. I could’ve gotten in on my own merit, too, with or without your legacyandthe Order.”

My father’s chuckle grates my eardrums. “I won’t deny you’re brilliant, Woodrow. You always have been. But if you think you got your master’sandPhD in half the time it takes everyone else in the academic world, you’re more ignorant of the privileges the Rutherford name and the Order have afforded you than I thought.”

What he’s saying is true—so fucking true—and I hate my name for that more than anything else. It’s why I go by Professor Woods to my students. I wouldn’t be able to stand listening to pompous brats call out the name that makes me one of them. We all come from money, privilege, and secrets, and we all know those three things got us in here. Some more than others.

Except for Everly.

No. Fuck that.

“You can’t expect me to believe it didn’t get Everly here too. Last time I saw her, she was basically illiterate. How the hell could she be in a second-semester-level English class?”

“Last time you saw her, Woodrow, she was barely a teenager and had moved from state to state her whole life. Once her mother and I provided her a stable home?—”

“You mean onceyouprovided her a mansion, two different cars, and a never-ending allowance. And that wreck she caused?—”

“—was anaccident.Andshedidn’t get anyone killed?—”

“That was an accident too, and not my fault,” I hiss, but my father continues like I never spoke.

“Not to mention, she made it straight to the top of her class despite all of her hardships. Now she’d even give you a run for your money.”

The brat is more of a liability to my father’s name than I ever was. The daughter of a gold-digger, a partier at only fifteen, and sheshouldhave a criminal record that would’ve kept her far away from this campus. She had her messes cleaned up behind her without any consequences, and yet I had to sell my soul to the Devil. She rode my father’s money train right into the stone gates of the best university in the world, but I’ll be damned if she stays here and ruins the school’s spotless reputation that I bled to keep intact.

“A run for my money, hm? We’ll see about that,” I mutter under my breath, a plan already formulating.

“Despite your…dislikefor your stepsister, I didn’t call you just to tell you she’s your student.”

My forehead furrows as I move my bag and sink into my chair. Once I’m seated, my eyes glare at my door, as if Everly will walk in at any moment.

“I’m listening.”

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