Chapter 311

Alex called at noon the next day. I was relieved to know he and Cassidy were home safely.

“I want you and Victor to come to dinner tonight,” he said. “Be here around five, and we’ll have that talk you’ve been wanting to have with him first.”

“I’m nervous,” I admitted. “Will you help me make him understand why I didn’t tell him before this?”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. When I tell him everything, he will understand and be glad you kept the secret,” Alex assured me.

“Was your trip successful?” I asked.

“Yes and no?” Alex replied. “I’ll tell you and Victor all about it later this afternoon,”

“Okay,” I agreed, wondering what that meant. “We will see you then.”

I hung up and went to the kitchen counter with my laptop and sat on a stool. I would work on my report until it was time to go to the mansion.

I had gotten a few of my questionnaires back overnight. Every one of them told the same story.

They were discouraged from applying to colleges by their high schools and then rejected when they did apply despite good grades and test scores.

Victor’s footsteps approaching the kitchen made me turn the stool around. I smiled when he took a strand of my curly hair in his fingers and kissed it.

“I’m going with Dad again,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Alex called,” I told him. “He’s back from his trip and wants us to come to the mansion around five this afternoon to talk and then stay for dinner.”

“I’ll be back in plenty of time,” Victor said. “What does he want to talk about?”

“I’m not sure, but it sounds important.” It made me cringe inside to say those words, and I promised myself it would be the last time I lied to Victor.

My stomach ached from nervousness when he kissed me goodbye.

“Are you okay, my love?” he asked. We were too attuned to each other to hide anything.

“I’m just eager to see Alex,” I said. “I was worried about him and Cassidy.”

He pulled me into his strong arms. “Since John Cameron and his minions disappeared to the same place Alex was vacationing, I can see why. But why did Alex and Cassidy go to a place like Virople anyway?”

I shrugged and remained silent to keep from breaking my promise to myself.

“It’s strange,” Victor said. “It’s as if Alex knew something was going on in Virople.”

I bit my lip. Should I tell him? He knew I was nervous and hiding something.

No. I needed Alex’s help to tell him. Alex had all the information that Victor would want after he knew about the passages and the spy’s hallway.

I had to admit that I was curious to hear everything Alex knew about the situation. I had the feeling that what I knew only scratched the surface.

I jumped when Victor’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “Is there anything you want to tell me, sweetheart?” he asked.

“Um, not right now,” I replied. “I want to get some research done on my report before we go to Alex’s.” At least, that was the truth.

But Victor was studying me closely. “Are you sure?”

My cell rang and saved me from having to answer. I glanced at the caller ID and told Victor I had to take the call. He kissed me and left, but he wasn’t going to be put off much longer.

Thankfully, with Alex home, everything would be out in the open soon.

The caller was one of the names on Provost Shire’s list. Marty Moore was a Beta currently enrolled at Frampton University. A freshman like me, he was also a Journalism major and was probably in the same classes.

I grabbed my phone and accepted the call.

“Hello,” I said. “Thank you for returning my call.”

“I’m happy to speak to you, Miss Wilson,” Marty said. “I was in Professor Barns’s class on Friday when you didn’t like his tasteless jokes. Thank you for sticking up for Betas.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. “But I couldn’t help myself. His jokes were revolting.”

“Agreed,” Marty said. “So what can I do for you?”

“I’m researching the discrimination against non-Alphas in the college admissions system,” I replied. “I’d like to know more about you and how you were accepted by Frampton University.”

“Money,” he said. “My family won a contest. I couldn’t believe it when it happened. It’s nice to have the necessities in life. And we moved into an old mansion and have been fixing it up ever since.”

“It must have been a lot of money,” I said before realizing how intrusive it sounded. “Sorry. That came out wrong.”

“It's okay,” Marty said. “Let me explain it to you. It’s not how much money my parents have. It’s how much they donated to the college that got me admitted.”

“I’m glad your education is important to your parents,” I said. “But they shouldn’t have had to resort to bribery to get you into the school.”

“In a more fair world, my parents wouldn’t have needed to bribe anyone,” Marty said before telling me his aptitude test scores.

I whistled. “Wow, you’re right.”

He was quiet for a moment, and I wasn’t sure what to say.

Finally, I heard him sigh. “The college is trying to expel me. I got my first written warning on my first day of the semester when I argued with Professor Malory about the Morton scandal and the Jim Gains case.”

“How is defending your opinion a reason for punishment?” I said in disbelief. But then I realized who he was. “You are in most of my classes. We sit next to each other in Ethics class. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was you.”

“That’s okay,” he assured me. “I know who you are because everyone is talking about you being an ally of the non-Alphas,” he said. “You must be a good person.”

“I try to be, but I miss the mark sometimes,” I told him, thinking about my lies and hiding things from Victor.

“I hope my story helps your report,” Marty said.

“Don’t worry about me using your name in the article,” I assured him. “I’ll protect my sources.”

“Thanks,” Marty said. “Can you use a few more? I have friends with similar stories.”

“That would be great,” I said. “I have a questionnaire I can send them by email to fill out and return, or they can call me.”

“I’ll give them your email address and cell number,” Marty said. “I’m sure they’ll be eager to talk to you.”

After we hung up, another Beta from Frampton U called. Her family inherited money from her mother’s employer, and her parents gave the university millions in donations in exchange for her admission.

However, she was only permitted to study courses the provost approved for her. She had a talent for healing, but medical school was well out of her reach.

Her parents wanted her to speak to me. They had proof of everything their daughter told me if I needed it.

The rest of my afternoon was the same. I had just hung up with another Beta friend of Marty’s when Victor came home.

He spotted me still working at the kitchen counter and came to me for a kiss.

“How’s the report coming?” he asked. “You’ve been working on it all weekend.”

“I’ve got plenty of sources willing to tell me their story?” I said. “And I’ve got data from the college’s records. I have to keep expanding the outline.”

“I would keep the article shorter than the report,” Victor suggested. “More people will read a shorter article. When most people see a lot of words on a page, they tend to skim the text or stop reading.”

I nuzzled his neck. “I’ll write the longer report to be released to some outlets and condense the story for the newspapers.”

“It’s after four, honey,” Victor said. “We better get ready and go to Alex’s.”

The butterflies in my stomach took flight, and I felt a tingle of fear. I threw my arms around Victor, clutching him tightly, and buried my face in his shoulder.

“I love you so much,” I said. “You know that, right?”

“Of course,” he said, but I sensed he was wary of my strange behavior. “And I love you.” He pulled away and looked into my eyes. “What’s wrong, Daisy? I’ve felt like you’ve been hiding something from me for weeks.”

My eyes grew misty while I nodded. “Let’s go to Alex’s. He will be able to explain everything better than me.”