“No,” she said quickly, her grip on the phone tightening. Out in the hallway, someone called out to a friend. “Kiran, just leave him alone, okay? He’s immaterial to us, to the engagement. I’ve already made my decision, and I choose this. I choose the alliance between our families, our estates.” What if Kiran talked to Grey and found out that he and Jaya had kissed right before the engagement announcement? What if he decided Jaya was too wayward for his tastes and called off the engagement? Everything she was working toward would be gone. The Raos would be finished.

Kiran studied her, his eyes glinting. “You’re right, Jaya,” he said finally. “He’s immaterial.”

Jaya let out a breath. “Okay. Well, I should get going. I don’t want to be late.”

“No,” Kiran said. “You don’t. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Things were getting untenable. Jaya pressed “end” and squeezed her eyes shut for a long moment before gathering her books. As she closed the dorm room door behind her, she realized Kiran hadn’t agreed to leave things alone.

Jaya made her way down the hallway to the elevator, passing Caterina’s closed door. Ever since the gala, Caterina had been walking the grounds and buildings like a wraith, thinner and paler than usual. She had the flu, she told everyone. She ate meals in her room. She didn’t go out with her friends. When she did emerge from her room, she and Alaric argued incessantly. Someone had even reported her behavior to the school psychologist, but Caterina had flounced into her office and then flounced right back out again, a small smile on her face as if she’d played a marvelous trick and gotten away with it.

Jaya had gone up to her one day when they passed each other on the way to classes. “Caterina. Do you want to talk?”

Caterina had looked at her blankly. “About what?”

“Come on. What happened at your party. You know.”

“Talk?” Caterina had said, huffing a laugh. “Are you serious?”

Jaya had looked at her, not understanding.

“You betrayed me,” Caterina had said slowly, as if explaining a difficult concept to a toddler. “You knew the whole time that Daphne Elizabeth and Alaric were making a giant fool of me, and you chose to do nothing. Even though I asked you to intervene, you decided you’d rather take their side.”

Jaya had felt her cheeks burn. “I’m really sorry,” she’d said sincerely. “That was absolutely the wrong thing to do.”

Caterina had let out a slow, steady breath, as if she was trying not to combust. And then she’d walked off before Jaya could respond, her head held high.