// Best YA Romance in the Romance Fiction Awards 2021//
Thrill Hawthorne, keeping up to his name, lives his life on the edge. Or so people think.
Ignatius Rookwood is the darling son and the sole male heir to a gigantic business corporation. Or so...
And I'm sure this chapter has a gazillion typos, so holler if you see them, yeah?
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Ignatius woke up to a terrible headache and a throbbing nose which, unfortunately, seemed to have become a part of him by that point.
"–have not yet received any official statement, either from the police or the Hawthornes–"
Ignatius had to blink a couple of times to gauge his surroundings. He was lying in the same room he had been in, earlier that day – the window in front of him lay open to a dark sky and an array of bright lights were glaring overhead on the peach-coloured ceiling. The TV on the wall was on, tuned into a news channel.
"–Thrill is under heavy custody. His lawyer arrived soon after his arrest and we're awaiting–"
"Oh hey, you're awake!" came a voice Ignatius did not recognise. He craned his neck to see a girl, probably his age, sitting on a chair on the other side of the room. As he watched, she turned off the TV, rose to her feet and pulled the chair closer to the bed so Ignatius did not have to struggle to look at her, and sat down on it. "Are you... okay? How are you feeling? Do you want anything? Should I get you something?"
She was speaking quite fast, or maybe Ignatius was still dazed. He pointed at the TV. "Turn that on, please."
"Um..." the girl frowned. "I don't think you should watch the news right now. Like, get some rest first."
"Please. I need to know."
The girl nodded, picked up the remote and turned on the TV.
The screen showed a crowd of people outside the city police headquarters. There were dozens of guards pushing back reporters trying to get a word from Drayden Hawthorne who got out of a car and marched into the building. Walking alongside him was a boy Ignatius recognised as Aqil Faiz, another hotshot – his father was such a big name in the country that Ignatius remembered his mother always going an extra mile to impress him. Seeing him and Drayden walk into the police station so confidently gave Ignatius hope that Thrill would be okay... he had to be, with such powerful people backing him. The Hawthornes had a lot of power and influence and...
"–according to our sources, David Hawthorne is not in the country right now," the news anchor was saying, "but he's flying back immediately. Though what he will be able to do in this matter is uncertain because the charges against Thrill are quite serious and, as we speak, protests are erupting online against the entire Hawthorne family as well as the bureaucracy. Why does the law discriminate, people want to know. When a crime has been committed, appropriate justice needs to be meted out, even if it's the son of the richest person–"
Ignatius squeezed his eyes shut. "Turn it off."
The girl did as asked. "I think I'll go fetch Dr. Ra'hor–"
