The heirs of high society may be filthy rich, but they're morally bankrupt. Vengeful girls, guilty boys, broken hearts. Welcome to St. Helios Prep, where they teach wealth, risks, and the art of breaking hearts.
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𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧-𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐚
Even after a decade, Sunday mornings were still family brunch at my grandfather's sprawling two-story penthouse of Raa Tower — the building he owned.
Today was the day I would reunited with the remaining members of my family.
As I took a seat at the long mahogany dining table, I couldn't help but realize how small our family had truly become.
Grandmother had died. My only uncle passed as well. My older brother. Now, my dad and my mom, who was a Raa by marriage.
Apparently, my ancestors were right.
Death was a curse of the Raa. Grandfather was the next to bear that curse.
"You're here, Aurora," Grandfather remarked, delighted. I moved back to New York City two days ago without informing him of my decision. I decided I would break the news to him by showing up today to brunch. "Whatever changed your mind?"
My thoughts lingered back to the envelope I received in the mail from an anonymous stranger as I fed him a false excuse. "I had enough time to think it over."
Grandfather had two sons: my father and my uncle. While my father only had me, my uncle had three children. Two of my three cousins were currently peering at me, picking me apart with their eyes despite the false smiles they fed me.
The eldest of the three, Talon, and the youngest Jasmine, who was my age, appraised me. When we were children, the three of us were extremely close to each other. Now, we were strangers because distance and time apart chipped at our relationships. Still, I remember loving Jasmine like my own sister. I wonder if she did too.
"Where are you staying, Aurora?" Grandfather inquired, cutting through his breakfast.
I speared a perfectly cut strawberry, noting how extravagant breakfast was. "At the hotel a few blocks down."
"That's nonsense," he argued. "Your floors are untouched. Renovated and cleaned, but they haven't been lived in since you and your parents left."
"What?" I said, dumbstruck. "You didn't sell the two floors? That's prime real estate."
"Sell them?" Grandfather shook his head. "No. No, I always hoped-" He stopped himself. What did he hope? For us to come back? No, that wouldn't make sense... What was I missing? He continued, "At any rate, it wasn't mine to sell. You also still have your townhouse and the upscale hotel chain your grandmother left behind to you."
Both of the buildings were located in the Upper East side. That was about all I had in real estate under my name in New York City.
"Grandfather-"
He wouldn't hear it. "Please, I insist you stay there until you leave for St. Helios Preparatory."
I didn't see the value in arguing and nodded in agreement. It wasn't like I would stay in my old quarters for much longer before I left to St. Helios. Jasmine quickly changed the conversation, bored of real estate and news of oil trades.
