Raven: His First Everything

46|High Expectations

Cassian's POV

The ballroom buzzed with chatter and laughter, the kind that grated on my nerves after a few minutes.

Crystal chandeliers cast a warm, golden glow over the sea of tailored suits and elegant dresses.

I adjusted my tie for the hundredth time, trying to loosen it without looking like I was choking.

"Stand straight, Cassian," my father whispered with gritted teeth.

He was standing beside me in his perfectly tailored suit and his senator's pin.

"Tonight is important," he continued, scanning the crowd like a hawk. "The people here hold influence."

I swallowed my champagne as I bitterly held myself back from rolling my eyes.

He clapped me on the back, the gesture more show than comfort. "Senator Wells is by the bar. Let's go."

As we walked over there, I clenched my jaw.

I should be home with Raven.

This is her last night with me.

She's going back home tomorrow night.

"Ah, Cassian!" Senator Wells exclaimed as we approached. "Look at you. You're taller than me and your father now!"

I smiled tightly, shaking his hand. "Good to see you again, sir."

"Your father tells me you're excelling at Briarwood," he said. "What's your best subject?"

"Biology," I answered honestly.

"Interesting," he said.

Interesting wasn't the word he meant.

I could hear the condescension beneath his tone, the silent "waste of time" in his eyes.

My father's too.

"Yes," I replied, keeping my tone neutral. "It's a subject I'm passionate about."

My father cleared his throat. "Cassian's going to do prelaw at Yale and then start Harvard law when he graduates."

I turned to him, my jaw tightening.

We've never discussed this.

Senator Wells chuckled. "Smart move. Follow in your father's footsteps. You've got big shoes to fill, young man."

My father's hands landed on my shoulder, gripping it so tightly that it hurt a lot. "Cassian understands the importance of legacy."

Legacy.

That word again.

It tasted like ash every time I heard it.