Caden's pupils constricted.
"Are you...?"

For a split second-he didn't hide it fast enough-there was a flicker of something sharp in those icy blue eyes. Not fear. Not concern. Something closer to...excitement.

He wanted this.

He wanted to hear her say it.

Alora saw it instantly. The rush of eager energy beneath the surface.

And then-just as fast-he masked it, forcing his expression into a mock-concerned frown.

"I mean, if something's wrong, Rara... you know you can tell me. I'll help. Whatever you need."

His voice was carefully measured, soft. But too careful. Too polished.

She felt the bile rise in her throat.

The memory of his locker room voice echoed-"If she gets pregnant, we'll handle it."

Handle it for who, Caden? For her? Or for Brielle?

Her skin crawled.

"Don't," she said, her voice cold as ice.

Caden blinked. "What?"

Before he could fake another word, she stepped forward and shoved him hard, flat-palmed against his chest.

"Don't touch me. Don't talk to me. Just stay away."

Her stomach twisted-not from the lingering cramps this time, but from pure disgust.

Without giving him a chance to react, she turned and walked away, her pulse hammering.

She didn't look back.

Caden stood frozen, hands half-raised, staring after her as she disappeared through the clinic doors.

The clinic doors hissed shut behind her.

Alora stopped just outside, the spring air sharp and cold against her flushed skin.

Another sharp cramp twisted through her stomach, but this time, the physical pain barely registered.

What stuck was that moment-watching Caden go still and silent.

The same guy who'd laughed in front of his teammates about "handling it" if she got pregnant-terrified now when she threw it back at him.

Coward.

And not once-not one goddamn time-had he asked if she was okay.

When he looked at Brielle, his whole expression changed-concern, softness. With Alora? Just calculation. Just cold, nervous self-preservation.

'I'll never believe a word out of his mouth again.'

She gripped the test results so hard the edges bit into her palms.

That boy she'd once thought might be her Romeo?

Dead and buried.

'I won't let him touch me. Not ever again.'

She walked faster as she headed back toward campus, each step purposeful despite the dull ache in her gut.

But no matter how fast she moved, the whispers followed.

She could feel them-eyes on her, conversations cutting off when she passed.

Her stage-trained composure held firm, every step controlled and deliberate, the only thing keeping her from crumbling under their stares.

White magnolia petals drifted from the trees lining the path, scattering across the brick walkway.

How many times had she walked here with Caden?

Just last week, he'd plucked a blossom and tucked it behind her ear, leaned down with that cocky smile and whispered:

"Nothing out here comes close to how beautiful you are."

The memory made her stomach churn.

She pressed her lips into a thin line and tightened her grip on the folder in her hands.

The results were clear-no pregnancy, no infections. Elevated stress markers, lingering effects from the emergency pill. The doctor had offered a pointed look, part concern, part judgment.

"Be more careful next time."

There wouldn't be a next time.

Not with Caden.

Not with anyone.

Not for a long, long time.

Back on campus, the brick buildings loomed taller than ever, no longer familiar or safe.

Four more days.

Just four more days. Then I'm out.

Her dorm came into view. She swiped in with shaking fingers.

Before the door even closed behind her, Eve came flying at her, phone in hand, panic all over her face.

"Alora! You need to see this!"

Without waiting, she shoved her phone into her hands.

"Your photos...they're everywhere on the campus app. You know-those kinds of photos!"

For a beat, Alora's mind went blank.

Then she looked.

Image after image-explicit, graphic, flooding the feed.

Her hands gripped the phone tighter. Her gut twisted-not with humiliation, but with a cold, burning rage.

For one sickening second, she wondered-had Caden recorded her?

The nausea hit instantly at the thought.

But as she forced herself to look closer, it became obvious. The photos were photoshopped badly.

"They're fake," she said, her voice steadier than expected.

"None of them are real."

Eve let out a shaky breath. "I know. You've got that birthmark on your thigh. These don't even show it. It's a terrible edit."

But the comments-vicious, disgusting-were everywhere.

"People won't care." Eve's voice broke. "They're already running with it. Alora, wait-what are you doing?"

Alora had already grabbed her phone, her fingers flying across the screen, her heart hammering but her grip steady.

"Calling campus security. Then the police. Whoever did this? I'm going to make damn sure they regret it."

A few locker room jokes? That, she'd stomached.

This was criminal.

And she wasn't staying quiet anymore.

Not now. Not ever again.

She had a damn good idea who was behind it.

Just as she was dialing, their other roommate Fiona burst in, breathless.

"Alora! Your boyfriend's in a fight outside the dining hall!"

Alora was shocked to hear that and she couldn't bring herself to make that call.

But then, she didn't want to have anything to do with Caden anymore.

So what was her business if he was fighting?

"It has nothing."

Before she could complete that, Fiona interrupted her.

"I heard Caden traced the source of those pictures of you and discovered that they were released by Jacob. He got into a fight because of you."

That got Alora so confused.

She then headed towards the location of the fight.

Why was he fighting because of her?

Was this another plan of his to get her under his control?

Did he truly know nothing about how the pictures that has been released?

What exactly was he playing at?

This behavior of Caden got Alora so confused.

There was a crowd gathered outside the building. When they saw Alora approaching, the murmuring grew louder.

They parted to let her through. She could feel the stares, the side-talks.

Oh, she should have known that things were never going to end well with Caden.

She used to be a normal student free from scandal but now, Caden was messing up with her life!

She saw him, Caden was on top another guy. The guy's face was bloodied, yet, Caden kept punching him over and over.

For a brief moment, Alora actually felt that Caden's feelings for her were genuine.

She felt that he really loved her.

Maybe he had just said all those things to seem manly and tough for his friends.

But did she really want to be with someone who couldn't defend her against his friends?

Alora shook her head, bringing herself back to reality.

"I'm sorry. Please have mercy on me. I've always had a crush on Alora and I got jealous that she was with you! I just wanted to punish her. I shouldn't have photoshopped those pictures, please forgive me."The boy begged.

But Caden paid deaf ears to his pleas and continued to rain punches on his face.

The boy seemed to be losing consciousness and Caden kept beating him up.

Alora had never seen him so violent before!

What had gotten into him?

She refused to see this as a protection. He was probably just doing all he could to impress her so he could keep getting into her pants.

But she didn't want him to get into trouble using her name.

She ran towards him and yelled.

"Caden, stop!"

He didn't listen. She grabbed hold of his hand.

"You're going to kill him at this rate!"

Only then did Caden finally stop.

But such an issue was hard to blew over. The incident blew up with the boy's family wanting to press charges. But when they discovered what their son had done coupled with the fact that Caden was from a powerful family, they reluctantly agreed to settle the matter, privately.

It wasn't surprising that the school's administrators were lenient with Caden. He was a top student and the best athlete, coupled with the fact that his father had made so many donations to the school.

They left him alone to be disciplined by his father at home.

Caden had minor injuries so Alora had to follow him to the infirmary to get himself treated.

Staring at his bruised knuckles, Alora didn't know how to feel at this moment.

"Why did you do that?"She asked him, curiously.

Their relationship wasn't real to him.

It never was.

So why would he put on such a show today?

It was too extreme.

"We're in a relationship. You're important to me and news like that could be a stain on your career, I couldn't let anyone taint your name like that."

His tone was so sincere that she almost believed him.

Stain on her career?

The same career he wanted to ruin?

Why was he still lying?

Why was he still leading her on?

Did he want more sex from her?!

She had class in an hour so she left the infirmary, and also needed to clear her head.

As she sat down in class, her mind was somewhere else.

She kept recalling the scene of Caden beating that boy up.

The anger in his eyes and face.

She had never seen him that angry?

Was it possible that he truly liked her?

As a drama major, she had watched and seen a lot of dramas where the main leads started off on a rough patch, sometimes, starting off on a relationship based on lies.

But at the end, it turned out to be something beautiful.

Was that her story then?

Alora shook her head.

She was lying to herself again.

Wasn't it enough that he had lied to her?

Why was she lying to herself as well?

A relationship built on lies was pointless and should never work.

She was going far away and she had to forget all about him!

After her class ended, she was still worried about him. He was someone who didn't take his medication seriously whenever he was sick.

She decided to just get him some soup, check on him briefly and then leave.

This act of kindness felt both stupid and unnecessary but she wanted to take this as a final gesture and end to whatever existed between them before, whether real or fake.

Holding the warm container of food, Alora headed for the private room that Caden was in.

Just as she was about to open the door, she heard the voices of his friends.

"My God, you're taking this too far, Caden. I mean, you almost killed that guy because of Alora. There's no way she'd ever doubt you now."

Alora froze in front of the door.

Even if she knew that the fight was just an act to win her over, there was still a tiny glimpse of hope deep down that he might have genuine feelings for her.

But that hope got dashed again!

"The competition's deadline is coming up fast. I understand why Caden did that. He needs Alora to be very distracted so Brielle can win."

"Granted, but that was no reason to beat Jacob up like that. Given that we were the ones who posted the photoshopped pictures. We paid him to take the fall and you were only meant to give him a few punches."

Alora's heart stopped.

Even the photoshopped image was planned by Caden too!

"You could have killed him for nothing! Mason scolded.

A heavy silence filled the room.

Caden finally spoke.

"He said some words that were triggering to me. He had it coming."

"C'mon, I was there, he didn't exactly say anything that was out of line from what we rehearsed. Also, I even feel this scandal won't do much damage to Alora. You should have allowed us continue with the original plan, we should have taken pictures of you two at the prop room. It would have been more effective."

Caden's voice turned cold.

"I would have been in it too! Do you think I want a sex scandal on my name?"

Hearing the fury in his tone, his friends didn't say anything more.

Outside the door, Alora retreated, her face turning pale.

The container in her hands felt so heavy.

How could he do this to her so heartlessly?

They had originally planned to take real naked pictures of her?

The only reason he didn't allowed that was because he'd been in the pictures too!

How could he hurt her like this?

Alora dumped the container into a trash can, the pain she felt was turning into anger.

How could he treat her like this?!

Even if he loved Brielle so much, was that enough to destroy Alora's life?!

***********

The following day, Alora headed for the shop outside the school.

She had to buy some essentials for her trip to London. As she pushed her cart, she dropped some items into it. And just as she rounded up an aisle, she saw Brielle.

Immediately, she backed up and hid behind some tall rack of products. She wasn't exactly hiding because she was scared.

She just didn't want to have an altercation with Brielle. She had just a few days left, she wanted to leave, peacefully and start her life all over again.

Just as she was about to turned her cart and go the opposite direction, she heard her name.

"Didn't you say that girl, Alora wouldn't be a problem?"

Alora frowned.

She had noticed that Brielle was with an older woman.

Why was Alora's name being mentioned?

"She won't be a problem, mom. I already told you, I'm using Caden to make her unable to get the spot. That's all."

"I don't know, my dear. I have a bad feeling about this. You know how hard it was for you to secure a relationship with Caden, we should be focusing on making sure you two get married. We need his family's wealth. So sending him to go play with another girl's heart seems quite tricky."

"Mom, he doesn't give a fuck about her. Actually, he enjoys playing with her. Let's just say I'm killing two birds with one stone. He'd get rid of Alora from the audition and by doing so, he has proven how much he loves me. He'd never leave me."

Alora's lips parted. She was aware that Brielle was from a low background but she never knew that had made her so money-hungry.

Brielle didn't genuinely care about Caden, she was just using him.

Alora scoffed.

Caden and Brielle truly deserve each other. Two liars and deceitful creatures!

*************

When Alora got back to campus, her phone was ringing nonstop.

Caden had been calling all day. She had been ignoring his calls but he won't stop calling.

Alora didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to see him anymore.

She headed for the dean's office to get her transfer letter.

As she was leaving the office, a black BMW stopped in front of her.

The door swung open.

"Alora! What the hell!"Caden began.

She made to ignore him, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his car, shutting the door.

"Let me out!"She thundered, angrily.

"I knew it, you're mad at me. Why have you been ignoring my calls?"

"We have nothing to talk about."

"Is this about the pictures. I already punished him for you. I got in so much trouble because of it and you're mad at me?"

Alora huffed.

He really does know how to pretend.

He spotted the transfer document in her hands.

"Are you.are you leaving this school?"

Alora got nervous.

Her plan was to leave without telling him, to outsmart him and leave him wondering what went wrong in that fucking plan of his!

"It's none of your business."

He seemed to be in total disbelief.

"What about.what about the Tisch spot? Aren't you preparing for that anymore?"

She looked at him, straight in the eye and announced.

"I actually had no zeal to compete for that spot."

His eyes dilated.

There, she said it.

She stared at the reaction on his face.

What would he do now knowing that he no longer had to pretend to like her?