Book 2 | Chapter 1. Not My Anything (1)

[2017, June 4th]

Another insufferable ball. And the excuse for it? It was his birthday.

Lord Bartholomew Arden would rather be sitting in his room preparing for midterms than be here with his parents and all of these pretentious people. Duke Arden took Bart around the room, drilling into his head the name of every nobleman and noblewoman in attendance and their current dealings with the Arden House. As though Bart wasn’t already aware of them all. He would have given many things to not have to endure this night.

Grievances aside, there was one thing Bart looked forward to about tonight. He would get to see her. At least he hoped he would. Things between their families were still very unstable and he hadn’t seen her since the last time she came home. Mind you, there was no guarantee he would see her tonight. She had elected to spend this year at a prestigious boarding school abroad, intending to shun her father’s wishes for her by attending fashion school next year.