Chapter 2

While the nurse dressed my wounds, I caught fragments of conversation between Caspian and Dad in the hallway.

“Jesus, Dad,” Caspian whispered harshly, “Val’s already destroyed. Do we seriously need to leak the assault footage to TikTok and Twitter?”

After a calculated pause, Dad responded with chilling detachment.

“Post it. No reputable ballet school will touch a student with that kind of viral scandal.”

Something shattered inside me as fresh tears spilled down my cheeks.

“Am I hurting you?” the nurse asked, alarmed by my sudden reaction.

I couldn’t even form words, unable to separate the searing pain in my legs from the gaping wound in

my soul.

The two men I’d built my entire world around weren’t satisfied with breaking my body–they were methodically erasing everything I’d ever been.

My entire existence reduced to collateral damage.

Within minutes, my phone exploded with notifications. Hands trembling, I unlocked it to find clips of my torture trending on TikTok, spreading across Twitter, and dissected in gruesome detail on multiple university subreddits.

beneath them gutted me:

so perfect at Manhattan Dance Academy. Karma’s finally caught up! #FakePrincess

undermining other dancers, sleeping with instructors for solos. This meltdown

and burn this spectacularly. Guess

91.5%

comment drove the air from my lungs until I was hyperventilating, my vision tunneling as my entire identity

brother role. He gently covered my

my phone away, his Academy Award–worthy performance beginning: “Caspian, what the FUCK? I specifically told you to contain

had our tech team scrubbing everything, but someone must’ve saved

synchronized deception was flawless–practiced, precise, and

made bile rise

mine–locked onto my face with practiced sincerity: “Valentina Catherine Dagonet, listen to me. No matter what vicious lies they spread, you will always

who tries to

does.”

disappeared within

already been downloaded thousands of times, reposted, remixed with cruel commentary, transformed into

had worked

future at SAB had

compound fractures to both tibias, two broken ribs, second–degree burns on approximately 15%

her arms.”

choosing his words carefully. “Most concerning are the facial lacerations. Fifteen distinct knife

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