At St. Augustine’s Academy, privilege and power run through every marble hallway. For some, this final year means freedom. For others, it’s the stepping stone to even greater influence. But for a few, it will become a life-altering secret they can never escape.

Isabella Marquez has her future mapped out; graduate top of her class, enter the most prestigious university, and one day take control of her father’s empire. Nothing and no one will stop her.

Especially not Alexander Hawthorne with his smirk and blue eyes, the Duke’s reckless second son. To Isabella, he’s nothing more than a chain-smoking, party-throwing menace who will likely end up in jail before graduation.

But when a classmate turns up dead in Isabella’s dorm room, Alexander becomes the only person who can help her prove her innocence. Forced into an uneasy alliance, Isabella discovers that behind his arrogant smirk and scandalous reputation lies someone far more complicated than she ever imagined.

And in a world where secrets are currency and friends can become enemies and enemies can become something dangerously more, Isabella may find herself risking more than just her future, she may risk her heart.



Dive in to explore Isabella's life as it either takes a turn for the best or the worse.


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Chapter 21: An Alliance Between Isabella and Alexander


I had expected mockery from Alexander, perhaps a cruel joke too, a raised brow, some comment about how desperate I must be to show up here and how I should go crawling to my father but...that wasn't the case. 


Instead, Alexander just listened. Arms crossed, posture lazy but his eyes were razor sharp, as he listened attentively. He didn't care that I had come to him. He was willing to help. He didn't tell me anything about taking this to the authorities like Mateo would have done. There was none of that and his friends were ready to jump in to help me too.


"Well then, the choice is simple." Eilidh leaned forward, her hair sliding over one shoulder, brown eyes sparkling with a mixture of calculation and excitement. "If the police want to frame you, then we don't wait around and let them. We show them how to do their jobs. We will prove to them that you are not the killer."


Chapter 21 - An Alliance Between Isabella and Alexander