She'd seen him before.
Once. Maybe twice.
A distant presence in the Valmont's upper halls—always passing, never lingering.
The kind of figure you noticed without knowing why.
Not loud. Not even particularly imposing.
But unforgettable in the way gravity is.
This, though—
this was the first time she saw him closely.
And it was almost too much.
Cassian Dantes didn't look like a student.
He looked like something Avalon hadn't decided how to classify—let alone contain.
His hair was dark—layered just enough to look careless, yet too exact to be careless.
His jaw was sharp, his posture correct, composed, unreadable.
But it wasn't confidence that radiated from him.
It was restraint. Control.
Presence that didn't lean in—but pulled gravity around it.
He didn't project. He withheld.
And somehow, silence bent to him anyway—
As if absence, when intentional, could echo louder than presence.
But it was his eyes that held her.
Icy grey. Deep-set. Calibrated.
Not cruel. Not kind. Just... knowing.
The way a storm knows exactly when not to break.
Cassian Dantes wasn't like Luc Raveneau.
Luc dazzled—sunlit, born to be watched, impossible to ignore.
Cassian didn't shine.
He absorbed.
Beautiful in the way avalanches are: silent, inevitable, unstoppable.
Where Luc commanded the room, Cassian shifted its gravity.
No House insignia. No legacy crest.
No declared alliances. No visible record of performance, victories, or strategic accolades.
And yet—he sat at the top of the Prestige system.
Not rumored.
Registered. Confirmed.
As if Avalon had stopped trying to rank him—
And simply let him operate outside the algorithm.
He wasn't the name students whispered to feel important.
He was the one they didn't dare mention at all.
Because in Avalon, even silence could be traced—and no one wanted it traced back to him.
He belonged to no House,
Yet was seen in every event that mattered.
Rarely speaking. Never campaigning.
Just... present.
Watching Council Renders from the gallery.
Appearing at Prestige Simulations.
At Tier Matches, Strategic Trials, off-record debates—
YOU ARE READING
Valmont Series - Inheritance Code
Teen FictionWhat if your perfect life was just a rehearsal? On their twelfth birthday, Aria and Aiden Lancaster wake expecting luxury, freedom, and the future they were promised. Instead, they're given an ultimatum: Leave everything behind - their friends, thei...
