Page 133 of Vengeful Princess

The two idiots continued to bicker while I turned a page. It was hilarious. Did they think I was so unaware of my surroundings that I hadn’t spotted them? I almost rolled my eyes.

Torrance had drilled that lesson into me more times than I could count. Always know what’s around you, or you die.

The fifth time he’d ambushed me and dragged me down into the cellar, I’d figured it out. It had been a painful lesson.

Milo often spied on me from the shadows. I liked him watching me; it made me feel protected while on campus.

Cassian’s presence was less agreeable. He’d messaged me repeatedly in the last few days, trying to arrange a time when we could start work on our joint project. Naturally, I’d ignored him.

The last thing I felt like doing was stupid college work. It was bad enough that we had an exam in the morning. On contract law.Ugh. How boring.

I half-watched through my eyelashes while scanning the scene. Milo muttered something about cake and my ears pricked up.

Then Cassian disappeared, and I sighed with disappointment. OK, so he didn’t have any cake. Ah well. At least I could finish my book in peace now.

Just as I finished the chapter, Cassian reappeared. This time, instead of whispering to Milo, he strode in my direction and dropped a small plate with a slice of cake and a paper cup containing liquid that smelled a lot like hot chocolate onto the window ledge next to me.

“Peace offering,” he explained, while I stared at him with surprise.

“Have you done something bad?” Him feeding me cake made no sense. Landon gave me cakes. Cassian mostly gave me a headache.

He bristled with annoyance. “No, but I need you to cooperate on this joint project, Thea.” As I watched, he sucked in a breath and closed his eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

I smirked, which he caught when he opened his eyes.

“It’s not funny. This grade is important.” His jaw ticked, and I felt guilty for being such a bitch.

Knowing what an abusive asshole his father was, it made sense he kept Cassian on a tight leash with regard to school. No doubt Lucian had lots of plans for him. I mean, I’d seen the way he treated Cassian, so I had no doubt the man would take great delight in punishing his only son if he flunked a stupid college course.

“What do you need me to do?” With a heartfelt sigh, I closed my book. The latest chapter had ended on a cliffhanger, and the thought of not finding out what happened next until later grated on me,

“I need you to sit with me so I can outline my ideas and we can put together a framework for what we do next.”

He relaxed when I shrugged and replied, “Sure.” I had no clue what we were doing, so I hoped he had a lot of ideas. There was zero chance of me contributing anything useful to the discussion.

But since he’d brought me cake and hot chocolate as a peace offering, I’d do my best.

Two hours later, Milo had vanished and I was more than ready to punch Cassian in the nuts.

“You’re daydreaming again,” he growled while running his fingers through his hair. I suspected he was ready to kill me too but couldn’t summon enough energy to care.

“We’re going around in circles,” I pointed out with an eye roll. “The company Professor Asshat assigned us is doomed. Even I can see that, and I know fuck all.”

“Remind me again why you chose to major in business?” he asked in a silky voice. “It’s clear you don’t have any background knowledge of the topic.”

I glared at him.

“Maybe accounts and contract law turn me on?”

Cassian huffed with annoyance and shoved his laptop away. “Don’t distract me,” he muttered.

“Distract you?” I picked up my pencil and started doodling again. This stupid exercise was a waste of time. Based on the data provided, the company could not be turned into a profitable endeavor without a significant cash injection.

The product was niche, expensive, and very few people would want to buy it.

It was a mystery to me why the professor had assigned us such an impossible task, but whatever.

“Yes, distract me.” The man talked in riddles sometimes, so I ignored him. He was the expert in our little partnership. His father was a business mogul. If he didn’t know how to get this pretend company off the ground, then how was I supposed to come up with any amazing ideas?

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