The next day, Xavier rolled up to the academy on his bike, calm and composed like nothing ever happened. The engine purred as he parked it in the usual spot. Clean, quiet, efficient. No one dared to look twice. The ones who did—looked away faster.
He walked into the main building and headed to class.
Didn’t matter which one.
After the stunt he pulled on Dominic and his crew, plus the perfect scores on all his courses, he could walk into any class he wanted.
But Xavier wasn’t here to study. Not today.
The lectures began. But his eyes weren’t on the board. They were sowhere else. Sowhere deeper. He was plotting.
He needed to pick the next target.
His finger tapped slowly against his knee as he thought. Lucas... or Ethan?
Lucas Blackwood. A goddamn walking fortress. Not just in na or power—but in protection. He belonged to the Blackwood family—the wealthiest family in Astraeus City. Hell, they were one of the wealthiest families on the planet.
If Xavier made a wrong move, Lucas could throw a few billion at the problem and send an army of hitn or corrupt officers to wipe him out, clean and quiet. He could pull so politician strings and get Xavier expelled, blacklisted, or worse—vanished. And his grandfather was a dean, one of the chancellors of the academy.
But Lucas wasn’t the biggest problem.
It was Ethan.
People thought Lucas was the leader of that little bully squad. He wasn’t. He was just the muscle, the money, the spoiled loudmouth with a bloodline. Ethan was the one pulling the strings behind the curtain.
If Lucas was the blade, Ethan was the one holding it.
That bastard was cunning. Smart. Calculated. And dangerous.
He never gave orders directly. He whispered. Suggested. Played little mind gas. And sohow, Lucas always ended up doing exactly what Ethan wanted—without even realizing it.
Ethan was poison dressed in silk. A ghost in plain sight.
He was the real threat.
And Xavier knew it.
He sat through the rest of the class, lost in thoughts. He had to kill them both eventually. That much was decided. He just needed the right timing, the right trigger, the right push.
About ten minutes before the class ended, Xavier had already made his decision.
His eyes narrowed. His fingers stopped tapping.
The mont the bell rang, Xavier stood up, slung his bag, and walked out. No one dared to block his way.
Instead of heading to the First-Year hallway, he made his way to the Second-Year Departnt.
Maybe killing Lucas first was the smarter move.
Without Lucas, Ethan would be nothing. No connections. No power. No influence. Just another punk with a brain and no muscle to back it.
But... the Blackwood family wasn’t the kind to sit back and cry. If Lucas died, they’d burn half the city looking for the killer. And if they even got a whiff of Xavier’s scent, they’d torch him alive—evidence or not.
So this wasn’t just about killing Lucas. It was about how. It had to be quiet. Clean. And undetectable.
Lucas and Ethan were both suspended for four weeks anyway. They wouldn’t be returning to the academy anyti soon.
Xavier had ti.
Ti to expand his reach. Ti to move deeper than those two ever could. Ti to make the city his.
But before any of that, there was soone else on his mind.
Victoria Sterling.
Ethan’s little sister.
Sa year as him. Sa course. Different vibe. Xavier had been watching her for a while now—not because she was a threat, but because she wasn’t.
She was kind. Genuinely kind. Helped her classmates, volunteered at clubs, always showed up early, never missed a class. Participated in every activity without fail. The teachers loved her. The students respected her.
And it wasn’t an act.
Xavier had checked. Personally. He even had Oliver dig into her past—high school friends, old teachers, records, everything. Not a single red flag. No scandals. No rumors. Just a perfect girl with a perfect reputation.
And that made things harder.
Xavier didn’t want to use her. He only used Cindy because she offered herself on a silver plate and had a track record of screwing around. But Victoria? She wasn’t part of their ga. She didn’t deserve to be collateral.
So he crossed her off the list.
For now.
Which left only one more person of interest.
Eleanor Von Stein.
Lucas’ fiancée.
Xavier knew nothing about her. No face. No voice. No behavior. Not even a single photo. She was a ghost. Even Oliver, who was in the sa batch as her, had never seen her. She rarely showed up. Barely attended classes.
But rumor was—she was the top student of second year.
Just like Xavier was for first year.
And she only ca to the academy once a week.
Tuesday.
Today.
Xavier walked faster.
He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with her yet. Use her? Manipulate her? Befriend her? Break her?
First... he had to et her.
Xavier didn’t know which class Eleanor was in.
He’d asked Oliver about it, of course—since he was second year too—but Oliver’s answer was useless.
"I don’t even know what she looks like, bro. Never seen her once. Don’t even know if she’s in my class or so other course."
Xavier had a few ways to figure it out. He could press Oliver harder or tap into the system if he really wanted. But he didn’t want to disturb Oliver mid-class. Even though he knew if he asked, Oliver would ignore the teacher and help him without hesitation. That’s just how tight they were.
But still... not yet.
There were eight main courses in the second year. A few electives and side projects too. Xavier couldn’t just walk around checking each class like a headless idiot. He didn’t even know what Eleanor looked like.
And asking around?
Hell no.
One whisper of his na reaching Lucas or Ethan and the ga would change.
He had to move quietly. He had to keep them paranoid.
’Maxmillian must have told everything to Lucas and Ethan, anyway. But what they don’t know is who my next target is.’
He finally reached the second year departnt, and as soon as he entered, he could feel like he was being watched. His glasses had picked up so signals of people hiding around. And then, around the corner, he heard a loud and painful groan, followed by the voices who were cursing.
Although he had guessed from the voices, he wasn’t sure. But when he turned the corner, he was witnessing a bullying scene.
Four second-year boys had a guy cornered against the lockers. One of them held him by the collar while the others took turns beating the shit out of him. His groans were low and broken, like he’d already given up. Blood dripped from his nose and lip, pooling near his shoes.
To the side, two girls stood like bored spectators, recording everything with their phones like it was so trashy reality show. They looked way too entertained for people watching soone get his face rearranged.
Then their eyes landed on Xavier.
The punching stopped.
"Oh, who do we have here?" one of them said.
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