Page 205 of The Silent Note

“She wanted more money.”

The world starts spinning. “You’re lying.”

“I’m sorry, Grey.”

“Did you notice that your friend was depressed before her demise? Did she seem like anyone who was being mistreated?”

I glance to the side.

Sloane avoids eye contact.

Thinking back, I had no idea what was going on with her. I saw that we were going out to eat more often and that her mom kept mentioning their bills being taken care of, but…

“She was a willing participant,” Kurosaki adds.

I remember Sloane smiling at me just before she took the call from Harris that night. I remember the small wrinkle between her eyebrows when she hurried out the door.

“No,” I stammer.

“She was defiled long before she joined the club, but at least we gave her money for her time and skillset.”

“He’s right, Grey.”

“No!” I scream. Tears fill my eyes. “No. I don’t care if she came begging on her hands and knees. She was sixteen years old.Six-teen. You had no right to use her, to diminish her like that. You had no right to take someone in a desperate situation and sacrifice them on the altar of your twisted empire.

He blinks slowly. “If my deeds were so despicable, why did none of the others speak out when you investigated?”

“Maybe because you chopped Sloane into pieces to send them all a message.”

He smiles.

I see red. “Youare the adult and you took advantage of her and of all the students in The Grateful Project.”

“This… coming from a woman married to a high school student?” His tea is finished. He pours another cup.

My snarl melts off my face.

Finn lets out a growl of frustration. “I told you to keep my brothers out of this.”

Kurosaki drinks his tea without a care in the world.

Something breaks inside me as I look at him, the mastermind behind The Grateful Project.

One by one, scales are falling off my eyes.

The world will look on us from the outside and judge us both. Just like Kurosaki thinks Sloane accepting payment meant he was not committing a crime, all society will hear if I try to explain myself is lackluster excuses.

I’m done offering any.

I am married to Zane Cross, an eighteen year old. They might point fingers at me and accuse me of leading him astray. That I acted inappropriately. That I abused my power as his teacher, but I know the truth.

I lean forward and grip the edges of the table. Finn’s eyes are drilling into my back.

I’m sure all of Kurosaki’s guards are feeling trigger happy.

Not that I care.

“Here’s why you and I are very,verydifferent.” I see the amusement cast over his expression, but that doesn’t move me. “I didn’t want any part of Zane Cross, but I was forced into amarriage with him. Along the way, things changed. And then I fell in love.”