Chapter 9

Kendall McCarthy, billionaire heiress daughter of a mysterious family, was making her official entrance. And the whispers had already started.

The gossips at Hawthorne were abuzz with anticipation.

For two months, she’d lived alone in her Greenwich apartment, rehearsing the role like a devoted actress becoming her most complicated character yet. Kendall wasn’t just a name on an ID anymore. It was who she was.

Two weeks before The Return to Hawthorne— the school’s prestigious orientation week—a delivery had arrived at her apartment.

Boxes upon boxes, navy in colour, and labelled with shiny, silver letters.

Inside were an iPad, a laptop, custom stationery, sleek uniforms still smelling of packaging and perfection.

Kendall had opened each one with an electric, childlike wonder, her hands trembling with excitement. She’d spent the next few days studying her new gadgets, swiping through schedules, learning apps, memorising every detail of her academic life.

And then the big day arrived.

On the morning of The Return, she’d packed her Louis Vuitton bags and Googled how to hire a luxury car. It had to be elegant. Impressive.

When the Rolls-Royce arrived, she wasn’t certain how impressive it would be, but hoped it was good enough and had happily gotten in.

Driving through Greenwich on her way to the school had felt like passing through a real-life Diagon Alley. If Diagon Alley had manicured hedges, glimmering Bentleys, and old-money estates tucked behind iron gates.

Florida’s slums?

They didn’t even feel like the same planet.

Her hand shook with the effort she was making to not gape at it all in open-mouthed awe. Instead, she sat back, the picture of poise and elegance, calmly watching it all go by.

She remembered her first day at the dorm like it was yesterday.

It wasn’t a school. It was an entire city.

Kendall had never seen anything like it.

A man in a uniform had rushed toward her car when she’d arrived, and she hadn’t been left to carry a thing. Instead, she’d shown him her student card and he’d quickly placed all of her stuff on a fancy luggage cart and taken it to her dorm for her while she stood outside, admiring her surroundings.

She’d glanced up and spotted two faces in a window. A boy and girl, looking down at her and exchanging muted words.

Clearing her throat, Kendall discreetly looked around. There were many more cars parked around, and more arrived, while some dropped students off and drove out. Uniformed men everywhere rushed to grab bags while students, rolling their eyes or staring at their phones, marched easily ahead of them. Some of the kids glanced disinterestedly at her, some stared. The longer she stood there, the more eyes she would attract

With practised poise, she’d turned away from them and gracefully brushed her sleek, black hair behind her ear as she’d finally stepped into the grand hall stretched out before her.

She couldn’t lose her cool for even a minute. Rich kids were like piranhas. The moment they sniffed out her weaknesses, they’d rip her to shreds. She wouldn’t give them the chance.

Unfortunately for Kendall, she immediately revealed a weakness by putting herself in the vulnerable position of getting lost.

Where on earth had that man disappeared to with her luggage? She stared at her student card as she walked, but didn’t see any room number.

Every door looked the same, no matter how many staircases she climbed and descended. Gleaming wood with polished brass doorknobs and gold name plates. She’d thought the rooms were arranged according to alphabetical order of names or surnames, but stopped thinking that as soon as she saw a Mitchel next to a Finch. The names were also haphazardly arranged.

Huffing, she slowed down in an empty hallway and looked in both directions. She did not want to ask someone for help; how embarrassing that would be. It didn’t matter that different grades were split into different areas of the school, so everyone in this building was her age and also sophomores; she still didn’t want to look so vulnerable before them.

At least out in the hallway, it would suck to look all helpless and lost. Maybe if she got into someone’s room, she could privately ask for help.

She’d pretend to be lost and accidentally stumble into the wrong room.

Clearing her throat, she approached the nearest door and reached for the gleaming knob.

“Don’t.”

Freezing, Kendall barely managed not to flinch.

She turned around smoothly, raising a brow.

A girl stood behind her, tall and lean with skin like deep caramel and thick braids pulled into a high ponytail. She stood in an open doorway directly across the room Kendall had tried entering, wearing a perfectly tailored blazer over her uniform and had the kind of confidence that came only from a life of unimaginable luxury.

The girl looked her up and down. “You must be one of the new kids this term.”

Kendall nodded. “That’s right. You are?”

“You know whose room that is?” the girl continued, easily ignoring her question.

Kendall shrugged a shoulder. “I thought it was mine.”

“It’s not,” the girl said. “I’m sure you know Sabrina Sinclair. That’s her room. I’d suggest you do anything but barge in there if you want to survive your time at Hawthorne.”

Kendall slightly tensed, making a mental note of that name. Outwardly, she casually tilted her head. “Again. You are?”

The girl narrowed her eyes, mentally calculating Kendall’s net worth based on her attitude. The number was accumulating zeros the longer they spoke. “I’m Adelaide Finn. Are you… that new girl everyone’s talking about? Kendall McCarthy?”

Kendall couldn’t stop the frown on her face from forming. People were talking about her? Why? How did they know about her?

“Yes,” she carefully said. “You know me?”

“You got admission to the Hawthorne Institute within a day of applying. There are kids who have been on the waiting list for years. So, no, I don’t know you, but I’m curious. Everyone is.”

She tried not to show her surprise, lowering her gaze to hide the unease trickling through her confidence. “Oh. Cool, I guess.”

Adelaide smiled. “You’re actually right there.” She pointed at a room a few doors away from hers. Our rooms are organised by net worth and social standing.”

Blinking in surprise, Kendall nodded. What a weird arrangement. “Oh, okay. Thanks.”

“If you need anything, ask me,” the girl said.

Kendall noticed the changes in her facial expression now. First, she’d looked at her with boredom and mild disdain, but now her eyes glimmered with intrigue, and her body language was loud with friendliness.

This Kendall girl was definitely from a really powerful family, thought Adelaide. There was just no way anyone could get into this school in less than twenty-four hours and not be in the top one per cent of the world’s best. Adelaide was planning to stick really close to her.

Maybe, through Kendall, she could finally climb the ranks and beat the other snarky girls on this floor.

Maybe Kendall was someone high enough to even knock down one of the insufferable princesses of Hawthorne. Specifically, Sabrina Sinclair.