The meeting room stayed frozen long after Aira's footsteps faded down the corridor.
No one moved. No one dared to breathe too loudly.
Her words—cold, sharp as ice shards—still hung in the air. The silence wasn't empty. It burned hotter than fire, pressing down on every corner of the room.
Even the students who had whispered about her sat stiff and pale, avoiding eye contact. Cassandra stared at her desk with clenched fists, her face burning red with humiliation, while Janice bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
It was Rei who broke the silence.
With a frustrated growl, he slammed his notebook shut against the table. The sharp sound made several students flinch. His voice was low, venomous. "Idiots. All of them."
Ivy leaned back, folding her arms, her nails tapping against her sleeves with dangerous precision. Her gaze swept the room like a predator's. "Pathetic cowards. Barking from the shadows but not brave enough to face her head-on."
Damian didn't speak, but when he finally lifted his head, the sheer weight of his glare was enough to silence the last traces of whispering. His eyes, cold and merciless, pinned Cassandra until she visibly shrank back into her chair.
Kai—who almost never let a serious moment pass without a joke—wasn't smiling. His usual grin was gone, replaced by a scowl that looked out of place on him. "Next time," he muttered, "I'm spilling coffee on anyone dumb enough to open their mouth like that."
Bianca glanced toward Valentina. No words. Just a look. And in that glance, the same thought passed between them—this couldn't keep happening.
Valentina smirked faintly, masking her tension with sarcasm, but beneath it, her heart thudded heavy. It wasn't just anger that filled them—it was a quiet promise threading silently through their bond.
A promise to never let Aira stand alone again.
But Zane—
Zane hadn't said a single word.
His eyes were locked on the door Aira had disappeared through. His jaw was tight, his fists clenched beneath the table, knuckles white with strain.
He had seen anger before. Pain. Betrayal. He had lived through it.
But the storm that swirled silently in Aira? That was different.
It wasn't weakness. It wasn't surrender. It was survival, sharpened to steel.
And though he would never admit it out loud—not yet—he craved it.
On the far side of the university, in her private office, glass shattered against the wall.
Wine sprayed across the floor as the glass exploded into glittering shards.
Mrs. Harper's hands trembled with rage, her chest heaving as she glared at the crimson stain bleeding into her expensive carpet.
"That little witch…" she hissed, voice low and venomous. "She dares stand against me? After everything I did to bury her past?"
Her assistant froze near the doorway, too afraid to breathe, eyes darting between the mess on the floor and the terrifying figure pacing like a caged lioness.
"I planted the rumors," Mrs. Harper continued, her voice rising. "I placed Cassandra exactly where she needed to be. The whispers should have spread like wildfire. She should have crumbled."
Her hand slammed down onto her desk, rattling a stack of neatly arranged papers.
"But no…" her lips curled, half snarl, half smile. "She turns it back with a single sentence. Just words. And they believed her."
She stalked toward the window, her reflection warped against the glass. Her eyes gleamed like a predator's, sharp and hungry.
"No. Fear alone won't work. Not on her. She's stronger than I expected."
Her assistant dared to whisper, "Madam… should we continue the rumors?"
Mrs. Harper turned, her expression so sharp the girl recoiled instantly.
"No." She hissed the word like poison. "If fear won't break her… then something else will."
Her gaze burned with a dangerous light. This wasn't over. Not by a long shot.
Later that evening, the seven gathered in a hidden corner of the university—the rooftop garden.
Few ever visited the place. Ivy had found it weeks ago, and now it had become their quiet refuge.
The gray sky stretched endlessly above them, clouds hanging low and heavy, matching the silence that lay thick between them. The wind toyed with the scattered papers on the table, tugging at hair and coats.
For a while, no one spoke.
It was Rei who broke the silence again, his voice low but steady this time. "She heard everything. Every whisper. Every lie. And she still stood taller than any of them."
Ivy nodded, her eyes still burning with that earlier fire. "She's stronger than half the idiots in this school combined."
Damian leaned forward, his words sharp but heavy with truth. "Stronger, yes. But strength like that… it's lonely."
Bianca sighed softly, adjusting her glasses. "No one should have to carry that kind of weight. Not after surviving everything she already has."
Kai dropped his chin onto his folded arms, his tone quieter than usual. "It's badass, sure. But it's also… sad. Like watching someone fight a war we can't even see."
Valentina twirled her pen between her fingers, lips pressed tight. "We can't leave her like this."
Rei straightened, his eyes blazing with determination. "Then we won't. We protect her. Whether she wants it or not."
A silence followed, thicker than before. Then Kai suddenly smirked, his voice cutting through the heaviness. "Alright then. Operation Melt the Ice Queen—anyone in?"
Valentina groaned, rolling her eyes. "You're an idiot."
"Yeah," Kai said cheerfully, throwing his arm over his chair. "But I'm a loyal idiot."
Despite themselves, a ripple of laughter spread through the group, breaking the tension just enough.
But Zane—
Zane didn't laugh.
He leaned back, his gaze distant, lost in thought. His friends wanted to protect her. That was fine.
But he… he wanted something more.
He didn't just want to shield her. He wanted to know her. To understand the storms raging inside her. To see the scars she hid. To unravel the cold armor piece by piece until she stood bare before him, with no walls, no masks.
And something deep in his chest whispered, darker than loyalty, sharper than protection.
Not just need. Not just curiosity.
Obsession.
Meanwhile, beneath the gray sky on the far side of campus, Aira stood alone.
The wind tugged at her coat, her hair whipping into her face as she stared at nothing, her gaze fixed on a horizon only she could see.
On the outside, she was perfect. Composed. Untouchable.
But inside, the old wounds bled silently.
Her hands trembled in her pockets, nails digging deep into her palms.
She had heard it all. Every whisper. Every judgment. Every venomous laugh that echoed memories she wished were buried.
Why did I think… I could belong anywhere?Why did I think… I deserved something as fragile as trust?
Her throat burned. Her eyes stung.
A single tear threatened, glimmering against her lashes.
But before it could fall, she swiped it away with the back of her hand, forcing her face back into its perfect mask. Her lips pressed into a line.
"I won't cry," she whispered to herself. "Not here. Not anymore."
The words cut against her tongue, bitter and familiar.
And in the shadows, unseen—Zane watched.
He didn't move. Didn't announce himself.
He just stood there, silent as a sentinel, eyes locked on her like a man possessed.
And for the first time in years, he felt something sharp and alive stirring in his chest.
Something dangerous.
The beginning of an obsession.