She Didn’t Fix Her Reputation. She Threw It Away. Chapter 10

She Didn’t Fix Her Reputation. She Threw It Away. Chapter 10

That night, I took the SIM card that belonged to Daphne Wells out of my new phone.

Without hesitating, I snapped it in half, dropped it into the toilet, and flushed.

Watching the pieces swirl and disappear, I felt the first concrete sense of freedom.

I had truly severed myself from that world.

I didn’t want to know if Beckett was frantically searching for me.

I didn’t care how the socialites of New York were gossiping about my disappearance.

That night, I slept soundly.

No nightmares of engagement parties.

No camera flashes.

No sign of Beckett’s chilling smile.

Just the gentle patter of Portland rain against the windowpane.

And the faint, comforting sounds of Edith moving around downstairs.

It was the safest I’d felt in years.

The next day, Edith took me to Reed to register for classes.

The campus was peaceful, with ivy climbing the walls of old stone buildings. Students in hoodies and jeans sat on the grass, deep in conversation about books and ideas.

There was none of the carefully curated, competitive glamour of the world I’d left behind.

This place seemed to care only about what was in your head.

My new academic advisor was a young professor named Julian Croft.

He wore a plaid shirt and black-rimmed glasses, and he had a kind, gentle air about him.

“Claire Novak?” He glanced at the file in front of him, then looked up and smiled. “Welcome to Reed. I read your application essays. Your academic record is impressive.”

His gaze was clean, direct.

He was looking at my application.

Not my last name, not my face.