The sun over City Z seemed a little warmer the next morning.
Birds chirped outside Lynn's window as she stretched beneath silk sheets, blinking into the light that filtered through her curtains. The estate was unusually calm—no frantic footsteps, no urgent whispers.
Suzie had been escorted off the property late last night.
John Kay hadn't said a word to Lynn after watching the exposé go viral. He simply nodded at her in the hallway as if acknowledging a queen returning from battle.
And that was enough.
She earned that silence.
But peace was never permanent—not in the Kay world.
---
At school, the atmosphere was electric.
Lynn walked through the front gates with Dianne, Gallagher, and Fanshia flanking her like a royal court.
Whispers trailed behind them, but they were different this time—curious, reverent, even a little afraid.
"Is it true she got Suzie exiled?"
"She took down the whole system."
"She kissed Alex after exposing her stepmom. Iconic."
The power Lynn once fought for wasn't just social now. It was real.
And she wasn't afraid of it anymore.
---
In the courtyard, Alex stood waiting, leaning casually against the wall in a grey jacket and black jeans. When he saw her, he smiled—not the soft, shy one from the first day, but something bolder, more certain.
She met him with a smirk and a slow kiss to the cheek.
"Morning," she said.
"Morning, Queen Kay."
He held out a coffee. "Extra cinnamon."
"You remembered," she said, taking it.
"Of course. I'm your boyfriend now. That's the job, right?"
She raised a brow. "Did we agree on titles?"
"You kissed me in front of half the school. I think the label's earned."
She laughed—and for once, it wasn't calculated or reserved. It was genuine. Free.
But before the moment could stretch into something sweet, Gallagher appeared, wide-eyed.
"You guys need to see this."
---
In the library's quiet back corner, Harden, Sam, and Peter had already gathered around a laptop.
Fanshia pulled up a news article from a minor City Z outlet. Dianne scrolled through it quickly.
"It's about Suzie," she said. "But not the school stuff. This is from five years ago."
Lynn leaned in.
A photo of Suzie in a black dress, arm-in-arm with a man they didn't recognize.
"Who is that?" Alex asked.
"Scroll down," Peter said.
The caption read: Suzie Zelar with business partner Anton Greaves, former associate of the Zelar Group's security division.
Dianne blinked. "Anton Greaves is not a small player."
"He went missing three years ago," Harden added. "Interpol case. Vanished during a corporate raid in Prague."
"And now," Lynn said slowly, "someone's digging this back up."
Fanshia clicked to refresh the article. It was gone.
Error 404.
"Someone wiped it," she whispered.
---
That night, Lynn sat by her bedroom window, staring out at the glittering skyline of City Z.
It wasn't over.
Suzie may have been removed from the board, but she wasn't done. And now, someone bigger was moving behind her—someone with ties to the Zelar Group's darker corners.
Her phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
> She was only your first lesson. The next won't bleed so easily.
Attached: a single image.
An overhead shot of the school's courtyard—taken just that morning.
Lynn in the center.
Alex beside her.
A red X marked over both their heads.
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
She wasn't afraid.
But she wasn't naive either.
"I'm going to need you," she whispered into the night.
Behind her, Serene stepped into the room, eyes shadowed but fierce.
"Then let's start preparing."
---
Because even after the fire, ashes can still burn.
And queens?
They never rest.