Chapter 4

I didn't cry. I didn't even flinch.

I just turned my head back slowly and looked at Kevin. A cold, calm clarity settled over me.

Then I shoved him.

I put all my strength, all my grief and rage from a lifetime of pain, into that one push. He stumbled backward, tripping over an ottoman and crashing onto the floor.

"We're done, Kevin," I said, my voice ringing with finality. "We are over. Go enjoy your life as Madison's little lapdog."

I turned my gaze to the rest of the sorority sisters, who were staring in open-mouthed horror.

"And I'm de-pledging," I announced. "I'm out of this sorority. I'm out of this friend group."

I bent down, picked up my ID from the floor, and slipped it back into my wallet. Without another word, I turned and walked out of the sorority house, leaving a tableau of chaos and confusion behind me.

The cool evening air hit my face. It felt like the first clean breath I had taken in two lifetimes.

I didn't go back to my dorm. I walked straight to the bus station and bought a ticket home. I needed to see him. I needed to see my father.

The bus ride was long. I watched the city lights blur past the window, my heart aching with a strange mix of grief for what I had lost and overwhelming relief for what I now had a chance to save.

When I arrived at the gates of our secluded Silicon Valley estate, the security guard recognized me immediately and let me through. I walked up the long driveway to the modern glass-and-steel house that was my real home.

My father was in his study, surrounded by screens of code and market data. He looked up when I entered, his face immediately softening from a titan of industry to just... Dad.

"Chloe? What are you doing home? Is everything okay?"

I ran to him and hugged him, burying my face in his chest. The familiar scent of his cologne and the solid feel of his arms around me was the safest thing I had ever known. I started to cry, not from pain, but from sheer, gut-wrenching relief. He was alive. He was here.

"Hey, hey, what is it, kiddo?" he murmured, stroking my hair.

I pulled back, wiping my eyes. "I'm having some trouble at school, Dad. With the sorority. I want to switch dorms. I need to get away from them."

I didn't tell him everything. It was too much, too insane. But I told him enough.

He didn't ask questions. He didn't doubt me for a second. He just nodded, his expression firm.

"Of course," he said. He picked up his phone and made a call. "John? It's David. I need a favor... Yes, about my daughter's housing at the university... I want it changed. Tonight."

He listened for a moment. "I'm aware it's after hours. You're the Dean of Students. And I'm the guy who just funded your new science wing. Make it happen."

He hung up. He looked at me, his eyes full of the unconditional love and trust that was my true power.

"It's done," he said. "You have a new single suite in the graduate housing complex. It's ready for you now. No one will bother you there."

He was my safety net. And this time, I would never let anyone cut him down.