As the daughter of a Mafia Boss, Camilia Caruso knows to keep a secret. After 3 years of flying under the radar at Dalton Preparatory Academy, Camilia Caruso's long kept secret of her family's business is discovered by the last person she'd expect;...
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Sebastian was drowning or at least it felt like it. His chest was about to burst. When he tried scuba diving with Richard in Thailand last year, the instructor had told him that your body will want to convulse to try to get you to breathe. You just have to wait it out. So he waited until he was sure a few minutes had passed, until black spots filled his vision, then he rose out of the water.
The bathroom filled with sounds of his gasps. His watch hanging on the edge of the tub was beeping. He had stayed under for 4 minutes, the longest he'd ever been.
His arms sloped around the edge of the tub, giving time for his body to reset before turning on the tap and filling the room with more steam.
On the ledge was his prescribed gel, he took a scoop of the cool gel with his right hand and spread it on the pink scar that curved around his left bicep. Sighing in relief, he moved onto to the scar on his stomach and then the one behind his calf. Glass shards from the car accident had pierced his skin deeply in several places. Most of his injuries had healed except the scars left behind that sometimes flared up and itched like hell.
He took baths like these often to heal his skin and occasionally stop his mind from whirling.
There was a time where there was nothing on his mind except the rain and whether he would have enough time to go to the beach before it came. It was a harsh reminder of the moment where it all changed for him.
Sebastian became severely behind in school after the car accident with his mother. It was not only that but he didn't want to sit in a classroom for most of his day. He wanted to sit in the grass and watch the pond by the Worthington estate, peacefully licking on Morphine lollipops provided by the doctors for his pain. Sometimes there would be swans that would swoop in, sending ripples across the body of water. Sebastian would dip his hand in the water and imagined his skin dissolving into the water until he had disappeared.
His father had arranged for a tutor named Wellington to get Sebastian caught up. Wellington was very strict and whipped a ruler on Sebastian's hand every time Sebastian daydreamed or didn't do his homework. When Sebastian let that slip to Angelina she immediately found Mrs. Mary, who was gentler, who let Sebastian daydream and went on Sebastian's pace.
It wasn't until Barnes Primary School starting publishing the academic standing of students in the school that it all went to hell. Sebastian always placed last. The first time his family came to the award ceremony, it was because Lucinda had placed 2nd the whole school. His father was brimming with pride. Down that list was Benjamin who had also made it into the 80th percentile. Way down the list was Sebastian, three students up from being last.
A picture of Lucinda from that day still hung on the wall at the London estate. Arthur and Angelina didn't know where Sebastian was standing academically. Angelina only focused on her blood-related children and passed care of Sebastian to the housekeepers, who never had time for Sebastian with their real jobs. After finding out his placement, his father was ashamed. Arthur Howl never let anyone get away for making him feel that way.
