Jasmine's POV
The principal's office felt like a tomb, its walls closing in around me with suffocating silence.
I remained motionless in the hard wooden chair while Principal Caesar positioned himself near the towering window, his hands clasped rigidly behind his spine. He gazed out at the academy grounds with false interest, but Atlas could detect the waves of terror emanating from his trembling form.
A fleeting moment of remorse touched my conscience as I recalled nearly ending his life at Ebony's gathering, yet that emotion crumbled instantly when I remembered his complete indifference toward my suffering.
During those early days when the torment began, I had approached him as any desperate student would approach their principal, pleading for intervention, for protection. Instead, he dismissed my anguish as if I were insignificant. As if I deserved every cruel moment.
Now I sat motionless, waiting for whatever judgment he planned to deliver.
