The Villain's Savior: My Spectacular Comeback

"Give it to her, Brandi. It is for the greater good of the academy."

The words hit Brandi Ratcliff like a bucket of ice water. She snapped her eyes open. Her lungs heaved, sucking in the stale, incense-heavy air of the Dean's office. For a split second, all she could see was the crimson blood from her past life, the feeling of her magic circuits being drained dry until her veins collapsed.

Her heart hammered a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She blinked, forcing the red haze to clear.

She was here. Silver Peak Academy. The massive, oppressive oak desk. The vaulted ceiling. She was alive.

Dean Obadiah Thorne slammed the base of his wooden staff against the stone floor. The heavy thud echoed off the stone walls, a physical pressure meant to force her into submission.

"Did you hear me, Brandi?" Obadiah's voice dripped with condescension. "Your refusal to hand over the Azure Lotus Artifact is entirely selfish. You are stunting the growth of this institution."

Brandi Ratcliff's stomach twisted. The phantom pain of her past death flared in her chest. She looked at the people standing before her.

Leland Draper stepped forward. His brow furrowed in that familiar, fake expression of concern.

"Brandi, please," Leland said, his tone thick with pressure masked as kindness. "Just give the artifact to Seraphina. She needs it more than you do. You know her core is fragile."

Behind Leland's broad shoulders, Seraphina Lowell peeked out. Her eyes were already rimmed with red. She pressed a pristine white handkerchief to her mouth, her shoulders trembling perfectly on cue.

"I... I don't need it, Leland," Seraphina whispered, her voice shaking. "Don't force her. I can manage my pain."

Brandi Ratcliff stared at that beautiful, hypocritical face. A cold, dismissive half-smile tugged at the corner of Brandi's mouth. She didn't scream. She didn't defend herself like the desperate, naive girl she had been in her past life.

She reached inside her heavy academy robe. Her fingertips brushed the cold, metallic petals of the Azure Lotus Artifact. The moment she touched it, she felt the steady pulse of her own magic connected to it.

Leland saw her hand move. His eyes widened in panic. He thought she was going to attack. He drew his wand instantly, stepping fully in front of Seraphina, his muscles tense.

Brandi ignored his pathetic display of chivalry. She pulled the artifact out. A soft, blue light spilled into the dim office, illuminating the greed that flashed in Obadiah's eyes.

Obadiah stepped forward, reaching his hand out to take the priceless treasure.

Brandi didn't hand it over. Instead, she gripped the lotus tightly and violently severed the soul contract connecting it to her core.

The pain was instantaneous and brutal. Acid burned up her throat. Her vision fractured into jagged white lines. Cold sweat broke out across her forehead as her magic circuits screamed in protest, but she bit down on her lower lip so hard she tasted copper. She didn't make a single sound.

The blue light of the artifact flickered and died.

Brandi tossed the heavy metal lotus onto Obadiah's desk like it was a piece of garbage.

The heavy base slammed against the polished oak with a loud, hollow thud.

The room went dead silent. Obadiah, Leland, and Seraphina froze, completely unprepared for her to cut the tie so ruthlessly.

A flash of wild, triumphant joy crossed Seraphina's eyes, but she quickly hid it behind her handkerchief, gasping in feigned shock.

Obadiah snatched the artifact from the desk. He ran his fingers over the metal, confirming the contract was broken. He cleared his throat, adjusting his robes, preparing to offer some fake words of comfort.

Brandi didn't give him the chance. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her silver badge-the mark of a core disciple of Silver Peak Academy.

She tossed it onto the desk right next to the dead lotus. The sharp clink of metal on wood cut through the silence.

"What are you doing?" Leland blurted out, his voice cracking with disbelief.

Brandi looked dead into Obadiah's eyes. Her voice was ice.

"I am officially withdrawing from Silver Peak Academy."

Obadiah's face flushed a dark, angry red. The veins in his neck bulged.

"You think you can play games with me?" Obadiah snarled. "You think threatening to leave will make me beg you to stay? If you walk out that door, you will never step foot in this academy again."

Brandi let out a dry, breathy laugh.

"Why would I want to stay in a garbage dump that only values nepotism and blood-sucking parasites?"

The words hit Obadiah's ego like a physical blow. Furious, he raised his staff and slashed it through the air.

A sharp blade of wind shot across the room. It grazed Brandi's cheek, slicing clean through a lock of her dark hair.

Brandi didn't even blink. She stood perfectly still, letting the severed hair fall to the stone floor. The absolute contempt in her eyes made Obadiah's stomach drop with a sudden, inexplicable unease.

Seraphina grabbed Obadiah's sleeve, her voice dripping with fake panic. "Dean Thorne, please don't hurt her! She's just upset!"

Obadiah used the excuse to lower his staff. He puffed out his chest, his face hard.

"Your withdrawal is accepted," Obadiah declared coldly. "But you will leave behind every single resource this academy has ever provided you."

Leland opened his mouth, as if to argue the cruelty of stripping her bare, but Seraphina leaned against his arm, and he snapped his mouth shut.

Brandi didn't waste another second looking at them. She turned on her heel and shoved the heavy oak doors open.

The cold draft of the stone corridor hit her face. It felt like freedom.

She walked out, her boots clicking sharply against the floor, leaving Obadiah's muffled shouts behind the closed doors. She headed straight for the spiral staircase, making her way down to her dormitory to pack whatever was truly hers.