CHAPTER 38: KINGSLEY BLACKTHORN

There were three big names in the city: the Whites, the Blackthorns, and the Delacroix.

The Blackthorns owned politics –governors, senators, judges– the kind of power that couldn’t be bought.

The Whites ran the tech world –wealth wrapped in patents, satellites, and digital gold. Cold, brilliant minds and colder reputations.

And the Delacroix family? They owned the underworld. Velvet gloves over bloodstained hands. Art auctions by day, international arms deals by night. Classy, cultured, and terrifying.

Greenville had students from all three bloodlines. They were the true elite of the elites — more powerful than the self-proclaimed 7 Divas, yet quieter, like ghosts.

Their silence gave the Divas their stage.

Still, the Divas knew better than to touch certain lines. And they never dared to anger them.

Except Charlotte.

Charlotte wasn’t born into any of the three families but Anita had gifted her the privilege. As Anita’s beloved sister-in-law, she automatically became one of them.

Anita may have severed ties with her White family, no one dared to take that literally.

Charlotte has power, access to everything in school... except Kingsley Blackthorn.

And that truth ate her alive.

It was her obsession. Her shame. Her secret war. Her cause of resentment for Anita and Lilly.

She hated Lily because that stinky, cheap, little charity-case somehow made Kingsley notice her.

Charlotte couldn’t understand it. She had the looks. The status. The right name beside her, thanks to Anita. Yet every time Kingsley passed her in the hallway, he didn’t even see her. His eyes only softened for Lily. Only paused for Lily. Only lingered on Lily.

Charlotte hated her for that.

She hated her even more because, deep down, she knew Lily didn’t do anything to earn it. She didn’t scheme. Didn’t seduce. She just existed, and Kingsley chose her – a wretched little whore.

That was the worst part.

As for Anita, Charlotte was mad at her because Anita wouldn’t let or help her pursue Kingsley Blackthorn.

Her reason...?

She said the Blackthorns were not good people. Said Kingsley wasn’t right for her. Said she’d get hurt.

But Charlotte investigated only to find out the Blackthorns and Whites were mortal enemies. And Charlotte concluded it was the reason Anita was stopping her from chasing the love of her life.

What does the Whites and Blackthorns’ fight have to do with her? She was not related by blood to them. How the fuck was that her business? She loved this man, and Anita wouldn’t let her have him.

That was her complaint.

For that reason, she despised Anita, and wanted her gone from her brother’s life, believing that if Anita’s marriage crumbled, she’d finally understand what she was going through.

Wanting Linda to replace Anita wasn’t because she loved Linda. No, it was because she wanted Anita to taste what losing and desperation felt like.

Kingsley pushed off the locker. His eyes locked on hers as he moved forward — calm, slow, like a storm that had decided where it would strike.

The students in the hallway watched, parting, making sure their shadows weren’t in the way.

The air shifted around him and everyone could tell he was angry.

"He’s coming this way," Annalise whispered, her voice tight with fear or awe... or both.

Charlotte saw it too.

Butterflies swam in her stomach. No, fought, thrashing wings of dread and adrenaline.

It was the first time he really noticed her. And took the initiative to go to her first.

She told herself to stay still. To breathe. To not flinch.

Kingsley stood before Charlotte, hands tucked in his pockets, expression unreadable, but the storm in his eyes were unmistakable.

"Where is Lily?" he asked.

The question caught Charlotte off guard. It wasn’t what she expected. Not even close.

Her face changed, fist clenched as her nails dug into her palm. "Do I look like her keeper?" she snapped before she could stop herself.

The words hung in the air like a slap. Sharp. Reckless.

Kingsley’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of something dangerous passing through them. Not anger, not yet, just a warning.

A slow breath escaped his nose as he stepped even closer. The hallway had gone dead quiet again. You could hear a pencil drop. Or a heartbeat break.

"Are you not?" He asked coolly. "I’ve seen you with her a number of times. Heard of the unpleasant rumors."

Charlotte refused to shrink. Not now. Not in front of him.

Her jaw tightened. Of course he heard. Everyone knew it. Charlotte and her girls didn’t hide their hatred for Lily. They bullied her every single day she existed – In and out of school. They didn’t give that girl a moment to breathe.

He knew about it but never raised a voice to stop them. Never lifted a finger to help her. They thought he enjoyed it too. They thought his silence meant approval.

Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn’t. But he never said a word. Not once.

"What’s this really about?" she asked, standing her ground. "If Lily’s gone off the grid, that’s her problem. Not mine. Not yours."

Kingsley stared at her a moment longer, like he was peeling back layers she didn’t even know she had.

Then, slowly, he pulled out his phone, swiped on the screen and clicked on a video. He didn’t need to show it to them.

From the voices and background noise, they knew it was the video they took two days ago, at the club, when they forced Lily to do unsavory things.

They recorded it themselves and Charlotte’s video editor edited out their faces, voices, and names out. Cropped the angles. Altered the timestamps. Then uploaded it anonymously on the school forum under the title: "Charity Girl Shows Her Real Worth."

The comment section exploded within minutes.

It was the reason Charlotte was in a good mood today. She wanted to see the height of damage this would do to that leech.

"You did this," Kingsley suddenly spoke, eyes piercing as he pinned Charlotte down. "When will you stop?"

"Accusing me wrongly and maliciously tarnishing my reputation is a punishable offense, Kingsley. And without evidence...you should know better." She frowned.

But Kingsley didn’t even blink.

He turned the phone toward her, long enough for her to see the unedited version of the video. The one where her friends’ voice rang out loud and clear.

"Drink it, little rat. Or I swear I’ll make you bathe in it."

There was no mistaking it. The laugh that followed was hers. So was the smug tilt of her head, caught in the corner of the frame. She hadn’t realized someone else who wasn’t supposed to be recording, was doing just that.

Charlotte’s face drained of color.

She hadn’t seen that angle. That footage wasn’t from their phones.

"That’s—" she began, but her throat locked up. "That’s fabricated."

Kingsley took a step closer. "You think I’m stupid?"

"No, of course not—"

"You think I wouldn’t dig deeper? That I wouldn’t find out who edited and posted the original video?" His voice was a blade now, slicing the silence between them. "You’ve done more than enough. Stop now, when you still have the chance." With that, he brushed past her and walked off.