This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, events, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Hate Me copyright @ 2020 by Nora Cobb and Scholae Palatina Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
HATE ME
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
LOVE ME: Weissmore Academy Book 3
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HATE ME
Chapter 1
Anna
“Frankly, I’m not surprised. I mean the woman clearly hates you, Anna.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, rubbing a hand over my face. Johanna and I sat in our dorm room, rain pelting the window and further dampening the mood that I was in. “That makes me feel so much better.” I had started talking to her again yesterday, after the blow-up at the lake, knowing that I needed to keep my allies close if I was going to get through this. I wanted to think that they were just looking out for me and that was the thought I was going to cling to, no matter what.
“Oh, Anna,” Johanna sighed, hugging her pillow to her chest. “I wish I could tell you differently, but let’s face the facts. Based on your link with her, what woman wouldn’t hate the daughter of her husband’s fling?”
I thought about her words. What a crazy couple of months I had endured, first thinking I was off to college but instead becoming a student at Weissmore Academy, an ultra-exclusive higher learning institution for the wealthy and titled. I had first tried to figure out why I was here, combating the hatefulness from the other students for me being here, until the headmistress had dropped a bomb and changed my life forever.
Now I knew who my father was and that I had lineage tying me to the emperor of Rome, but there was still the huge gap on who my mother was and how the heck an American had gotten involved with a royal monarch.
I had my theories, but I couldn’t prove any of them right now.
I swallowed. “I guess you are right, but I had nothing to do with it. I didn’t even know who my mom was until I came here.”
Johanna cocked her head to the side. “You think that she’s the reason you are here? Isauros, I mean.”
I wouldn’t think so. Why would she want to bring me here just to taunt me? “Don’t you think that a woman like her, married to a man like my father, could have offed me at any point in my life?” I asked lightly.
“Maybe,” Johanna shrugged, popping her gum. “But what if she couldn’t find you? What if your mom hid you so well in the States that Isauros wasn’t able to hunt you down?”
That was a possibility, I guessed. That was why it was so important for me to find out who my mother was. I needed to know her backstory and maybe it would link all of this together.
But no one was helping me do so—not even the ones that had offered—and it was starting to frustrate me greatly.
“Has your case manager gotten back with you yet?”
I shook my head, thinking of the empty email inbox that I had checked earlier. Sara had said it might take some time and I wasn’t a very patient person, but I knew she would do all she could in her power to get me what I needed.
“Well,” Johanna said, placing the pillow aside on the bed. “One thing is for sure. She must want something out of you, or I imagine you would already be dead.”
“Thanks,” I said sarcastically, shooting her a look. “It’s comforting to know that the woman who runs this place could shoot me in my back and no one would care.”
“I would,” Johanna protested. “Hey, if word gets out—”
“Word can’t get out,” I interrupted. It was already hard enough surviving in this academy but if word got out that I was some illegitimate daughter of the headmistress’ husband, that would make things ten times worse.
Well, outside of those that already knew. “We have to keep this between us.”
Johanna chewed on her lip. “All right, fine. I won’t say anything. Are you going to tell Arthur?”
I thought about the handsome king who had stolen my innocence and then broken my heart, somehow becoming sort of a friend up until recently. “I have to,” I sighed, pushing my hair out of my face.
“You don’t have to,” Johanna frowned. “I thought you had broken things off with him?”
“I did,” I said slowly. “It’s just complicated, all right?” Just because he lied to me didn’t mean I could just cut off my feelings for him. I didn’t like him like I had before, but there was a soft spot in my heart for the grinning fool.
A very small soft spot.
“Well, I already told you this once, but I will tell you again,” Johanna was saying. “The kings are dangerous, Anna. They are going to hurt you in the end.”
I balanced my chin in my hand, thinking about the kings and how they had infiltrated my life during my time here. The three kings were all seniors and from very influential families all over the world. For some reason, they had decided that my lineage was top on their list and
