Wrong Love, Right Starlight

My fingertips gripped the admission letter to University A for my fourth year. The edges of the paper were wrinkled with sweat, but nothing could dull the shine of the gold-embossed letters. Three years of preparing for the graduate entrance exam, three times failing; everyone else laughed at my arrogance. Only I knew this was the closest I could ever get to Seward Louis. He was my benefactor, the figure I adored throughout my entire youth. I once thought that getting into his alma mater would finally make me worthy of him. I pushed open the door, and the living room was thick with the acrid smell of burning paper. Seward stood by the fireplace, holding a half-burnt piece of paper in his hand. That familiar layout—it was last year's admission letter. My heart sank sharply, and I rushed over to grab his wrist. "What are you doing?" Seward slowly released his grip, ashes drifting onto the carpet like broken dreams. "Nothing." He said calmly, "Just a worthless piece of paper." "Worthless?" My voice trembled, "That's my admission letter!" "I'm the one who made you fail the exam." Seward looked up, his eyes empty of any guilt. "The admission letters from the first three years, plus the one that should've arrived early this year, I've held onto them all." I stepped back in disbelief. "Why?" "Kinsey needs someone to take care of her." He said matter-of-factly, "Wouldn't it be better if you stayed with the Louis family to look after her?" "I'll pay you a salary. You won't need to work hard or go out looking for a job. Isn't going to University A all about getting a job and making money?" Seward's younger sister, Kinsey Louis, was his precious treasure, pampered and spoiled since childhood. "So you mean all my hard work over the past three years was just to be a nanny for your sister in your eyes?" "Not entirely." Seward pulled a document from the drawer. "I didn't waste your admission spot." "Kinsey will use your spot to get into University A; she just happens to need that degree to get into the research institute and polish her credentials." "As compensation," he said, looking at me, "I can marry you and make you mistress of the Louis estate." Mistress of the Louis estate? I laughed until tears ran down my face. So his "compensation" was to imprison me for life within the Louis family, turning me into a free nanny and ornament. "Seward Louis," I wiped my tears away, my gaze clear, "I don't want your compensation." "And I won't love you anymore." The words struck like a sharp knife, tearing through his calm facade. Seward's face darkened instantly. "Luna, say that again." "I said I don't love you anymore. I'm leaving." I spoke each word slowly and firmly, with absolute resolve. "Leaving?" He stepped closer, pinching my chin with a strength that made me wince. "I can give you wings, but I can still break them." "You really think you can leave without me?" I stared straight into his eyes, without a trace of fear. "We'll see about that."