I kept my eyes forward, my expression unreadable, but my mind was already drifting, calculating the ROI of this trip, analyzing the architectural flaws of the buildings we were passing. It was just another day in the life of Alexander Mark.

We entered the administration building, the noise of the outside world instantly muffled by the heavy oak doors.

Mr. Miller led the way down a corridor lined with oil paintings of past principals, his footsteps echoing hurriedly against the marble floor.

"My office is just ahead," he said, his voice echoing slightly.

I didn't respond. I simply walked, my polished shoes clicking rhythmically on the floor. I was about to ask him to hurry up when a sound pierced the silence.

It wasn't loud. In fact, it was barely a whisper. But in the dead quiet of the hallway, it might as well have been a gunshot.

"My belly..."

I stopped walking.

Straining to listen more carefully, wondering if I was mistaken.

The voice sounded familiar.

Mr. Miller noticed I had stopped. He froze, turning back slowly, his face pale. "Mr. Alexander? Is everything alright? Is the temperature to your liking?"

I held up a hand, silencing him. I tilted my head, straining my ears. There it was again. A voice, weak, and muffled by wood and distance.

"It hurts so bad... Please help me."

My brow furrowed. The voice... It was hauntingly familiar. It stirred something in the back of my mind, a memory I couldn't quite place. It wasn't a voice I expected to hear in a place like this.

"I'm not here to sell myself, I promise you sir. I just want to save you and nothing else."

I turned sharply and stared at the principal. "I think there's someone in that room," I said, pointing toward the door where the voices were coming from.

Allysia had told me they had locked that girl in the storeroom. If Mr. Alexander ever found out there was a student corrupting the school's reputation, the donation would surely go down the drain. The thought made him break into a sweat, which he quickly wiped away.

Mr. Miller's face went from pale to ghostly white. His eyes widened in horror, and he took a step toward me, blocking my path to the door. "No, Mr. Alexander, you must be mistaken. That... that is the old storage room. It has been abandoned for years now. We store old books and broken furniture there. It's nothing but a junk room."

He laughed, a high-pitched, nervous sound that grated on my nerves. "The acoustics in these old buildings are terrible, you see. You're probably hearing echoes from the cafeteria down the hall, or perhaps students outside. There is no one... no one is there."

"He lied."

I nodded, about to walk away, not because I believed him but then I heard another sound coming from inside.

I stopped again when I noticed beads rolling out from under the door.

Came to a stop right close to my feet.

I bent down and picked one up between my fingers, studying it closely. It reminded me of someone, and suddenly it hit me.

"She's the one."

I whispered to myself.

I shoved the bead into my pocket without waiting or giving my security any orders, I lunged toward the door, with them rushing after me.

"Mr. Alexander, there's no one in there," the principal called out, but I was no longer in the state of mind to listen to another one of his lies.

"I ignored him completely."

When I reached the door, I found it locked. Without wasting time, I stepped back slightly, shifting my weight to my left leg against it. The door broke open instantly.

"CRACK."

My security team froze, their hands hovering over their weapons, unsure of the threat. Mr. Miller let out a small, squeaking whimper.

"I didn't look at them."

I stepped over the broken threshold, into the darkness of the storage room.

My eyes adjusted to the gloom. The room was cluttered with stacks of old books and broken chairs, shoved haphazardly against the walls. But in the center of the floor, there was a clearing.

"And there she was."

She was lying in the center of the floor unconscious, her body covered in blood.

Six months ago.

"It was my birthday." Eighteen years of life, and yet, as I sat alone in the back of the lecture hall at St.Jude's College, the day felt indistinguishable from any other. There was no cake, no presents, no streamers, and certainly no joyous chorus of "Happy Birthday." I had no one to celebrate with since I lost my parents, and truth be told, I had convinced myself that I didn't care. Caring required hope, and hope was a luxury I couldn't afford.

My head was buried in a textbook, my eyes scanning the same paragraph for the tenth time, trying to lose myself in the safety of academic words. The silence of the empty classroom was my only companion until the sharp click of heels against the tiled floor shattered it.

I didn't need to look up to know who it was. The rhythm of the walk was Sereia, Allysia's shadow.

"Aurora," her voice called out, sweet enough to coat poison.

I sighed, closing my book slowly. "Sereia."

"Allysia is waiting for you in the garden," she said, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk playing on her lips. "She asked me to come and get you."

A knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach. Allysia, the daughter of the Principal and the queen bee of St. Jude's, didn't just "ask" to see me. Her summons was rarely benevolent. But refusal wasn't an option.

We both knew what she was capable of. She could make my life a living hell with a simple snap of her fingers, and I was already hanging on by a thread.

Without much thought, because thinking would only lead to the worst. I stood to my feet.

"Alright," I said, grabbing my bag. "I'm coming."

I started to walk past her, heading for the door, but Sereia stepped in my path, blocking my exit. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a strip of black cloth.

"Use this to blindfold yourself," she commanded, holding it out to me.

I frowned, taking a step back.

"What? Why?"

"You know Allysia," Sereia replied, her tone dropping the fake sweetness. "She asked you to blindfold yourself before you come with me to the school garden. She wants it to be a surprise. Are you really going to disobey her before we even get there?"

I looked at the cloth, then at Sereia's expectant face. The power dynamic was clear. I was a pauper in their kingdom. If I wanted to avoid a scene right here in the hallway, I had to play along.

"Fine," I muttered.

I took the rough fabric from her hand and tied it around my eyes, plunging my world into darkness. Instantly, my other senses heightened.

"Good girl," she said. "Now, hold my arm."

I felt her hand grip my waist not to steady me, but to steer me like a piece of luggage. She led me out of the classroom, down the hallway, and through the heavy exit doors. The air shifted, becoming warmer and humid. We were heading toward the school garden, a secluded area usually reserved for faculty or the elite students.

We walked for what felt like an eternity, my footsteps unsure on the uneven pavement. I had no choice but to trust Sereia, which was a terrifying thought in itself.

"Stop," she said suddenly.

I froze. "Are we there?"

She didn't answer. Instead, I felt her fingers fumbling with the knot at the back of my head. A moment later, the blindfold fell away.

I blinked rapidly, my eyes stinging as they adjusted to the bright afternoon sunlight. Colors swam in my vision greens of the hedges, reds of the roses, and the blur of faces standing before me.

"Surprise!"

The shout was deafening, synchronized, and jarring. My sight finally cleared, and the blur resolved into a crowd. It was my classmates, the popular clique, and at the center of it all, Allysia. She stood with her arms folded across her chest. She was smiling, but it was the kind of smile a predator gives its prey before the pouncing. A balloon popped somewhere to my left, sending confetti raining down on my hair. I stood there, stunned, my heart hammering against my ribs. For a few fleeting seconds, I allowed myself to feel something other than dread. I looked around at the smiling faces.

Was this real? Had they actually done something nice for me?

Allysia stepped forward, parting the crowd like the Red Sea.

"Surprise, for the second time!" she announced, clapping her hands together. The rest of the students joined in, a polite, rhythmic applause that echoed in the enclosed garden.

"Aurora," she said, her voice dripping with mock affection. "Today is your birthday. Since you're all alone and have no friends, we, the generous students of St. Jude's, decided to prepare a little surprise for you, girl. And you have to accept it.

"It would be rude not to."

I looked at her, searching for a trace of malice and finding none. For a moment, the impossible happened. I thought she meant it. I thought that, despite our history, despite the way she usually treated the lower-class students like me, she had decided to be decent. Maybe people could change.

"Thank you," I whispered, offering a hesitant smile. "This is... unexpected."

She giggled, a high-pitched sound that set my nerves on edge. "Oh, save the gratitude for the main event."

She turned and gestured to Dominic, who had been standing silently in the back. He grunted and stepped forward, holding something large and flat covered in a wrapping sheet. Allysia snatched it from him and held it up against her chest, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Here, take a look at what I got for you," she said.

I smiled, lifting my head to read whatever message she had written. My heart was actually swelling, just a little. Maybe it was a voucher. Maybe it was a gift card for the bookstore. Something that would help me.

"The sheet fell away."

And my heart stopped.

The board was large, painted in bright, garish colors. In big, bold letters, written with a permanent marker that looked suspiciously like red paint, it read:

"FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENT SEEKING ONE DAY BOYFRIEND. MUST BE DESPERATE."

"I froze."

The blood drained from my face so fast I felt dizzy. I stared at the words, my brain refusing to process them. Slowly, I dragged my gaze away from the board and back to Allysia. She was still wearing that smile, wide and cruel, her eyes dancing with amusement.

"Then, the laughter started."

It began with Sereia, a snort that she couldn't hold back. Then Dominic joined in. Within seconds, the entire garden erupted in raucous laughter. They were pointing at me, laughing at my expression, laughing at the sign, laughing at me.

"You know what, Allysia?" I said, my voice shaking with a mix of humiliation and rising anger. "I know we haven't been on good terms. But for once, I thought you were a changed person. I thought maybe you had a heart. I guess I was wrong. You are never the person I imagined you to be. I was always wrong."

I turned on my feet, my vision blurring with tears of shame. I just wanted to leave. I wanted to run away and hide.

But I didn't get far. A hand gripped my arm, yanking me back. Sereia.

"How rude," Sereia hissed in my ear. "Trying to leave without even saying thank you for the gift."

"Or maybe I forgot," Dominic chimed in, stepping into my path to block me again. "You've always been that scared cat, haven't you? Running away with your tail between your legs."

"Scared cat... scared cat... scared cat..."

The students began to chant, rhythmically clapping their hands. They were enjoying this. My humiliation was their entertainment.

I stood there, rooted to the spot, my face burning hot. I felt small. I felt powerless. And most of all, I felt trapped.

"We're giving you a gift, Aurora," Allysia said, stepping closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper that silenced the crowd. "You should be grateful. How can you just turn and walk away? That's not polite."

She looked at me, her eyes narrowing. "Let's play a little game. Here's the deal."

She leaned in, enjoying every second of my discomfort. "All you have to do is take this sign, go to the school gate, and show it to the first man you see coming in. Once you do that, the gift will be completed."

"I won't do it," I said, my voice trembling but firm. "I'm going home."

I tried to wrench my arm free from Sereia, but she held on tight. Allysia's face hardened, the playfulness vanishing instantly.

"If you dare refuse us," she said softly, "you know who my father is.

Expelling you would be as easy as saying a word. One phone call, Aurora, and you're out. Do you really want to throw your future away over a little sign?"

My stomach dropped. The threat hung in the air like a guillotine blade. Expulsion. The word alone was enough to freeze the blood in my veins. My aunt and uncle will make my life come to an end if they hear about this. If I were expelled... I couldn't go home. I couldn't face them.

I closed my eyes for a second, fighting back the tears of frustration that threatened to spill over. I had no choice. I was trapped, cornered by their cruelty and my own desperation.

"Fine," I whispered, the word tasting like ash in my mouth.

"I'll do it."

Allysia's smile returned, brighter and more vicious than before.

"Smart choice."

She shoved the heavy board into my hands. It was heavier than it looked, the wood rough and splintered against my palms. I gripped it tightly.

"Good luck, scared cat," Dominic sneered, stepping aside to clear a path toward the exit.

"Here he comes!" one of the students near the garden gate announced, their voice hushed with sudden excitement.

I looked up, squinting against the sunlight. A sleek, black motorcade was pulling up to the main entrance of the school administration building, which was visible from our vantage point in the garden. It wasn't a regular car. It was a convoy of armored SUVs, gleaming in the sun, flanking a central vehicle that screamed opulence and power.

I watched as the doors opened, and men in dark suits poured out, scanning the perimeter with the precision of a hawk. Then, the rear door of the central car opened, and a man stepped out.

Dominic, who had been looking bored, suddenly stiffened. "Is that..." He squinted, his brow furrowing in confusion. "That's Mr. Alexander. The founder of Vanguard Group."

I looked at the man in the distance. He was tall, imposing even from this far away. He wore a suit that fit him like a glove, exuding an aura of authority that made the Principal, who was rushing out to shake his hand, look like a nervous schoolboy.

"They told us there would be a board meeting today," Sereia murmured, sounding awed. "I never thought he would be among them. He's a legend."

Allysia's head snapped toward the scene, her eyes calculating. A wicked glint sparked in them as she watched the VIP walk toward the building.

"Well, who cares?" she said, though her voice was tinged with a sudden, manic energy. "I think I'll use this opportunity to my advantage."

She grabbed my shoulders, spinning me around so I was facing the direction of the main gate. She forced the board up against my chest, pressing it hard into me.

"Hold this," she ordered. "And don't you dare move until I say so."

"What are you doing?" I asked, panic rising in my chest again. "You can't just walk up to..."

"Shut up," she hissed. Then, she turned to the group of students. "Everyone, listen closely. We are about to give Aurora the birthday surprise of a lifetime. And we're all going to watch."

Before I could process what she was planning, I felt a sharp, violent shove between my shoulder blades.

"Go!"

I stumbled forward, losing my balance completely. My feet tangled over each other, and I pitched forward, heading straight for the pavement.

"No, no, no!"

I flailed my arms, desperate to catch my balance, but gravity had already claimed me. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for the impact. I was going to fall hard. I was going to scrape my face, probably break a tooth, and lie there in agony while Allysia and her friends laughed.

I waited for the pain. I waited for the cold, hard concrete to smash against my skin.

"But it never came."

Instead, I felt a sudden, jarring halt. A strong, firm grip clamped around my waist, arresting my fall mid-air. I was suspended for a heartbeat, my hair hanging down, my heart pounding like a drum, before I was gently pulled upright and steadied.

I slowly opened one eye, then the other.

I wasn't on the ground. I was standing, though shakily, held in place by a hand that felt like a steel band wrapped around my waist. I looked up, my breath catching in my throat.

I was staring at a chest covered in an expensive black suit. I looked higher, past the perfectly knotted tie, past the sharp jawline that could cut glass, and finally into a pair of eyes that were dark, intense, and utterly unreadable.

Up close, he was even more intimidating than he had looked from a distance. He was strikingly rugged and handsome with a trace of stubble and curly hair that framed his face perfectly. His skin was flawless, glowing with health, and he carried himself with a confidence that seemed to radiate heat. He smelled incredibly nice.

I felt my knees go weak, and this time it had nothing to do with the fall. This was Alexander Mark, the man whose name was whispered in business journals and news reports. The man who built empires with a single signature.

"Is this really him?" I asked myself, my mind racing. "He looks... he looks even better than the photos."

I realized I was still gripping his forearm for support, my fingers digging into the expensive fabric of his suit jacket. I quickly let go as if I had been burned, taking a stumbling step back.

"Uhmm... I am sorry," I stammered, my voice coming out as a squeak. I felt my face heat up, a flush of embarrassment creeping up my neck. "I didn't mean to... I tripped."

I reached up, my hands trembling as I tried to smooth down my messy hair. I must have looked like a complete disaster disheveled, wide-eyed, and pathetic.

I stole a glance at him, terrified of what I would see. Would he be annoyed? Would he look at me with the same disdain as Allysia?

"I found myself wondering."