Page 221 of The Obedient Lie
Vince suspected.
And Emilia?
She packed like none of it mattered.
Like what we had wasn’t delicate and temporary and already counting down.
Luca finally gave up. He tossed the folded hoodie onto the bed, raking a hand through his hair like he was trying to exorcise the obsession.
Emilia stood and stretched, the hem of her shirt lifting just enough to show the curve of her stomach. She walked toward the second duffel bag by the window, then paused.
“How’s Villain?”
The question hit sharper than it should’ve.
I glanced at Luca. He was already looking at me.
Neither of us answered.
Emilia nodded like she didn’t expect us to. “That good, huh?”
She crouched to shove a pair of heels into the side pocket, but she wasn’t really focused on the shoes anymore. Her voice was light, too light. The kind of casual that wasn’t casual at all.
“I’m flying out early next week,” she said. “Back to the estate overseas.”
That was the first matchstick.
Luca went rigid.
I blinked once, slow. “You what?”
She stood up, dusted her hands off, and turned like it wasn’t a bomb she’d just dropped. “My mother’s hosting that gala—what is it? The Midsummer something-or-other. Anyway, I’m expected.”
Of course she was.
A legacy daughter at a legacy event.
But hearing her say it—hearing the finality ofleavingin her voice—felt like being gutted from the inside out.
Not the gala. Not the estate.
Gone.
And we weren’t even going to be here when she left.
She stepped toward us, hands on her hips now, gaze cutting between us like she was tired of pretending we didn’t all know how this would end.
“Stop stalling.”
Luca flinched.
“You belong there,” she said. “In the city. Not here, hovering around a dorm room just because I’m still in it.”
I opened my mouth. Closed it.
She exhaled slowly, then said it—clear, final, like she’d rehearsed it.
“That’s why I’m not coming back next semester.”
