Page 86 of Saint Céline
His voice lowered. “You already understand ownership, Selena. You have lived inside it for years. Thad owns the respectable future. Katherine owned the mind people praised when they thought it was yours. Bellamont owns the name Céline Martin because it invented her with you. I am simply the first person honest enough to tell you what the price is.”
“I’ll tell Thad,” I said suddenly.
His expression did not change. “Will you?”
“Yes.”
“What will you tell him?”
I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.
Vincent stepped closer, slowly, leaving me enough space to move back.
“You will not tell Thad because Thad only loves the version of you that makes sense beside him at dinner tables. You will not tell Sophia or Anya because you are terrified that their love has limits you have not tested yet. You will not tell your mother because it would destroy her to know how hard you have worked to become someone she cannot recognize.”
My vision blurred briefly.
“You are so cruel,” I said.
“Yes, my love.”
The honesty was unbearable, but the endearment was worse.
“But I am not wrong.”
I looked down at Katherine’s notes again. The handwriting was so familiar it felt alive. Something inside me began to splinter quietly.
“If you expose me,” I said, “the proposal dies too.”
“That would be so unfortunate.”
“You said the work was too good to waste.”
“It is.”
“Then you need me.”
A faint smile touched his mouth. There. Finally. An escape.
“I need the project attached to a student enrolled in my lab,” he said. “I do not necessarily need that student to remain you. I’m sure Christina would love to take your place.”
Cold moved through me. He was lying. He had to be, but the work mattered to him enough that he would protect it, but not enough to protect me for free. He was forcing me to understand the difference.
“What happens if I do it?” I asked. The question felt like surrender even before he answered.
“If you end things with Thad, I’ll keep your secret. You remain in the lab. We continue the work.”
“And what do you get?”
His gaze did not leave mine. “The satisfaction of watching you stop mistaking safety for ambition.”
I laughed softly, bitterly. “That’s all?”
“No, but we’ll get to that later.”
“You’re a monster,” I said.
His expression remained calm. “So are you.”
