Page 39 of The Obedient Lie
Which meant I had to look… together.
I stood in the tall glass lobby of the academy’s main building, smoothing my blazer with a practiced sweep, teeth biting gently into my bottom lip as I faced the mirror near the entrance.
I needed a smile.
Not my real one — not the kind I used when I actuallyfeltsomething.
I needed theAdams heirsmile.
The one built for rooms like this. For dynasty lunches and empire expectations.
The one that said everything was fine.
I tried one.
Too tense.
Another.
Too tired.
I adjusted my posture. Rolled my shoulders. Lifted my chin.
There.
That one. Calm. Soft. Strategic. Just enough warmth to say I was happy to see him, not enough to raise suspicion.
Then I heard the door open behind me.
I glanced up instinctively — and froze.
Bastion Crow was there.
He was leaning against the doorframe like he’d just stepped out of the admin office behind him — hands in his pockets, school tie undone, his usual scowl softened by something far worse: silence. Stillness. That focused way only the Crow twins could stare, like they were memorizing how you broke before deciding whether it was worth the effort to shatter you more.
He didn’t speak.
He didn’t smirk.
He didn’t look away.
Just watched.
And for one awful second, I was certain he’d been standing there long enough to see it all.
The half-practiced smiles.
The way my hands shook.
The lie I was about to wear like perfume.
I had no idea why he was even in this part of the building.
The Crows didn’t do admin. They didn’t wait for appointments.
But maybe that was what unnerved me most — the fact that he’d come from that office, and yet still managed to look like the hallway belonged to him.
I dropped my gaze and turned away, slipping the chosen smile into place like armor.
