<b>Chapter </b>38


    Next Friday…


    Et vouchers


    That was great. I had a lot of time to prepare. I nodded at Axel, turning to leave. “Thank you.”


    And I did mean that. They were sending me to college when my own parents never even bothered to make a move. I was grateful, if not a little sore that they were desperate to get rid of me.


    “Rosette, wait!” Axel grabbed my arm, stopping me from going. I stood still, looking forward. “Would you look at me? Please?”


    “State what you want, Axel, or let go of me,” I said, smacking myself inwardly when my voice came out bitter. I wanted to go for cool, but guess not.


    “Rosette, we’re not trying to get rid of you, I—”


    I turned to him, my eyes hard. “Don’t lie to me, Axel. Don’t you fucking dare. The injury is sore, so don’t try to rub salt in it.”


    I drag my hand away from his hold and he lets go, his eyes burning into me as I walk away.


    ***


    FRIDAY…


    I stepped out of the building, drawing deep breaths and looking up at the sky. Then a smile broke across my face. I was definitely getting into that college. The exam was as easy as easy could be.


    I walked to the car with a bounce to my step, trying my hardest to hold my excitement and not jump like a little kid.


    “I assume the exam went smoothly, ma’am,” Christopher said when I entered the


    car.


    “As smoothly as velvet,” I answered with a smile.


    EX 55–vouchers


    Ah, I felt good. I had doubted myself when I was about to take the exam, thinking that because it had been so long since I left high school, my brain would have rotted. Guess I still got it.


    “Congrattions, ma’am,” Christopher said with a smile, which was just a lift of his upper lip, but it was still a smile to me.


    He drove to the mansion with a song ying on the radio and me humming to it. Was this what happiness felt like? Was I finally experiencing it? The emotion had developedte, butter is better than never, right?


    I waved Christopher goodbye when we got to the mansion, stepping into the elevator and it took me up. I stepped out and was about to go up but then I paused.


    All three men were in the living room, still in their suits except for the jacket and tie, and when they saw me they stood up, acting like they didn’t know what to do with themselves.


    “You’re all back early,” I said, my voice soft.


    “We got off early,” Kross answered, trying to keep his voice cool but I could hear the edge in his voice.


    Axel cleared his throat. “How… How’d the exam go?”


    My smile came back, even bigger than thest. “Smoothly! I’m definitely getting into that school!”


    All three of them looked shocked, but they quickly shook it off.


    “You would have gotten in even though you failed the exam,” Kross said, looking too proud of myself.


    I turned to him. “Oh? And how?”


    “He thinks money can get you anything,” Kade answered, rolling his eyes to the back of his head.


    “That’s because it can, Kade,” Axel put in, and Kross added his agreement.


    14.11 Mon, Sep B


    Ind 65 Vouchins


    A smallugh escaped my lips and they all went still, once again looking shocked, their eyes fixed on me like they were looking at a stranger.


    Things have been pretty tense in the mansiontely, all because I was acting like a grumpy witch who couldn’t take rejection. They had their reasons for wanting to send me away, and I should respect that.


    I looked away from them, rubbing my arm. “Uhm… Thank you,” I whispered. “For everything. There are a lot of things I want to say but I can’t. But I’m really grateful.”


    “Why does this sound like goodbye?” Axel asked, his voice sounding devastated.


    I quickly raised my head to them, my eyes wide. “Oh no! No, no, no. It’s not goodbye. Of course not.” I paused. “But… isn’t it? Aren’t you guys trying <i>to </i>get rid of me?”


    They all stared at me like I’d grown a second head.


    “That was what you thought?” Kade asked, sounding a little pained. “That we were trying to get rid of you?”


    “I mean, in a sense, yes,” Axel said and his brothers gave him a look. He just rolled his eyes and continued. “But not in a goodbye sense. You’ll still be our little rose, but we just need to spend less time with each other. For all our sake.” He pointed at me. “Don’t question it.”


    “And if it’s fine with you, we coulde visit,” Kross said softly, and I nodded, my chest tight.


    I had really thought it was goodbye. That if I left for school I wouldn’t see them anymore. “Thank you.”


    It was like after the long and ugly years, I’d finally found my family, people that I know genuinely care for me. And things were better this way, without that sexual tension and all that. Maybe I could finally see them as my stepbrothers if I wanted things to remain this way.


    “We should celebrate, don’t you think?” Axel suggested. “Celebrate our little rose getting into college.”


    I rolled my eyes at him but I was smiling. “I’m not in yet.”


    “You were all smiling and bouncy and I’m pretty sure you’re confident you’ll get in,” Kade said, his arms folded.


    “And again, there’s always another way to get you in,” Kross said smugly, and Kade and I exchanged looks.


    Axel pped once, already looking like he was far away from here and already celebrating. “So it’s settled then.”


    “No alcohol, though,” Kross warned, and Axel’s face fell.


    “What is a celebration without alcohol?!<b>” </b>


    “A celebration,” Kade answered.


    Axel looks frustrated. “Rosette, back me up.”


    I shook my head. “I’m sorry, but I do agree.”


    He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Such boring people.”


    “Go get dressed,” Kross said to me. “We’re taking you out for dinner.”


    曲