Chapter 625:

Aurora didn’t look up from unpacking her books. “This bed is taken. The other one is free.”

The room went silent. The movers froze.

The blonde girl took off her sunglasses slowly. “Excuse me? Do you know who I am?”

Aurora turned around. She leaned against the bedpost, crossing her arms. “Enlighten me.”

“I,” the girl announced, flipping her hair, “am Stella Kensington. The Kensington Heiress. Just returned from Europe.”

Aurora’s eyebrows shot up behind her glasses.

“Kensington?”

She looked at Stella. She looked for the eyes—the Kensington gray. Stella’s eyes were blue. Contacts? Maybe. She looked for the bearing. Stella stood with a slouch of entitlement, not the posture of nobility.

And most importantly, Aurora knew every single member of the main branch. There was no Stella.

“Kensington,” Aurora repeated, testing the word. “I thought the current Head of House was… someone else.”

Stella blinked. A flicker of panic crossed her face, quickly masked by anger. “You mean Aurora Vance? Pfft. She’s just a distant cousin. A figurehead we put in charge to handle the boring paperwork while I was finishing my education in Switzerland. I am the true bloodline, the power behind the throne. I’ve been… observing from the shadows. For safety.”

Maddie gasped. “Kensington? Like… the tower?”

Stella smirked at Maddie. “Yes, four-eyes. Now, since you know who I am… go get me a coffee. Iced soy latte. No foam.”

Maddie stood up automatically, terrified. “I… okay.”

“Sit down, Maddie,” Aurora said. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it had the weight of an anchor.

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Maddie froze.

“She is your roommate, not your servant,” Aurora said to Stella. “And as for the bed… no.”

Stella’s face turned pink. “You’re refusing me? I could have you expelled! My family donated this library!”

Aurora took a step forward. She was taller than Stella without heels.

“If you are really a Kensington,” Aurora said, her voice dropping to a whisper that only Stella could hear, “then you should know the family motto. Do you?”

Stella opened her mouth. She stammered. “It’s… it’s ‘Money is Power’.”

Aurora laughed. It was a dry, humorless sound.

“Wrong,” Aurora said. “It’s ‘Virtus in Arduis’. Virtue in Difficulty.”

She stepped back, her eyes mocking behind the thick lenses. “Try googling it next time you steal an identity.”

Stella looked furious. She looked around at her minions, who were confused.

“Whatever!” Stella shrieked. “You’re just jealous! You’ll regret this!”

She stomped over to the other bed, throwing her bag onto it. “This room smells like poverty.”

Aurora went back to unpacking. She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Cloud.

Cloud. Run a background check on a ‘Stella Kensington’. Freshman. Blonde. Claims main branch.

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