The night before graduation, my best friend Sophie talked me into confessing to Lucas Sterling, the boy I'd secretly loved for three years.

She said Lucas was at the basketball court, wearing a white T-shirt.

I gathered every ounce of courage I had, grabbed the bouquet of roses, and rushed over.

I came up behind a boy and covered his eyes with my hands.

"Lucas, I've liked you for so long!"

I felt his body go rigid.

He turned around — and the face staring back at me was dangerously handsome, with a wild edge to his gaze.

It was Dominic Blackwood. The one person at Westfield High that nobody dared to cross.

I spun around to run, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me against his chest.

He dipped his head, breathing in the scent of my hair, his voice rough and low.

"What did you just say? That you like me?"

"Say it again."

"If you don't, I'll kiss you right here in front of the whole school."

My mind went blank.

The bouquet of roses I'd carefully picked out tumbled to the ground.

I was shaking from head to toe, my teeth chattering.

"N-no, that's not — I got the wrong person..."

My voice came out barely above a whisper.

But Dominic just laughed — a dark, amused grin that dripped with menace.

He caged me between himself and the basketball hoop, his hot breath fanning over my ear.

"Wrong person?"

"Then tell me — this 'Lucas' you're looking for, what does he look like?"

I couldn't bring myself to look at him. I just stared down at the tips of my shoes.

"He... he's also wearing a white T-shirt."

"Hah."

Dominic let out a mocking scoff.

He lifted his hand, gripping my chin, forcing my face up toward his.

"Then take a good look. Who am I?"

I was forced to meet his eyes — black as an abyss, churning with emotions I couldn't begin to read.

"Dom... Dominic Blackwood."

"Good. Remember that."

He gave a satisfied nod. Then, right there in front of everyone passing by, he bent down and picked up the roses from the ground.

"Nice flowers. I'll keep them."

"No, you can't —"

Before I could finish, I spotted someone walking toward us in the distance.

It was Lucas.

The real Lucas Sterling.

He was wearing a white T-shirt identical to Dominic's, tall and composed, with an air of cool detachment.

He saw me tangled up with Dominic, and his footsteps faltered.

In those eyes — always so calm, so indifferent — a flash of something I'd never seen before: disappointment, and an icy coldness.

My heart felt like it had been stabbed by a needle.

Dominic clearly noticed where I was looking.

He followed my gaze, then deliberately pulled me closer against him.

He flashed Lucas a provocative smirk.

"What are you looking at?"

"She's mine."

Lucas's gaze lingered on my face for less than a second before it moved away, smooth and indifferent, as though I were a stranger who meant nothing at all.

He turned and walked into the darkness.

My world went dark with him.

The next day, I became the most talked-about girl in school.

Not because of my grades. Not because of my looks.

Because someone had pinned a notice to the hallway bulletin board, scrawled in the most reckless handwriting imaginable.

"Elara Pemberton — my girlfriend. Touch her and see what happens."

Signed with a flourish: Dominic Blackwood.

I rushed to the board, desperate to rip it down, but a crowd had already gathered, pointing and whispering.

"That's her? She's so... plain. How'd she end up with Dominic Blackwood?"

"I heard she threw herself at him on the basketball court last night. Totally shameless."

"Please. She's obviously a gold-digger trying to ride his coattails."

Overnight, I became enemy number one to every girl at Westfield High.

Back in the classroom, my textbooks had been thrown on the floor, shoe prints stamped across the covers.

When I went to get water, someone "accidentally" bumped into me, and hot water spilled all over my hand.

When I walked down the hallway, someone stuck out a foot and sent me sprawling.

I found Dominic and told him to take down that notice.

He was on the basketball court with his friends, shirtless, sweat sliding down the hard lines of his muscles.

When he saw me, he let out a whistle and tossed the ball aside.

"Well, well. My girlfriend's here to check up on me?"

I stood there with red-rimmed eyes and slammed my ruined textbooks down in front of him.

"Dominic Blackwood, what the hell do you want? Take that notice down! We are nothing to each other!"

The grin slowly faded from his face.

He backed me into a wall, step by step, his tall frame casting me entirely in shadow.

He pressed me against the bricks, his voice dropping low. "You started this. Now you see it through."

"I didn't start anything!"

"Yes, you did."

He stared me down, unblinking. "The second you put your hands over my eyes, you sealed your fate."

I closed my eyes in despair.

At lunch, the moment I walked into the cafeteria, Dominic grabbed my wrist.

He pulled me, under the weight of countless stares, to his usual seat — the one nobody else dared to claim.

He pushed his tray in front of me, piled high with food.

"Eat."

It was a command, not an offer.

I had no appetite, and I certainly didn't want anything from him.

I reached to push the tray away, but he stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork and held it up to my lips.

"Open your mouth."

His voice was quiet, but it carried an authority that left no room for argument.

The air around us seemed to freeze.

Every pair of eyes in the cafeteria was fixed on us.

I squirmed, my face burning with embarrassment.

"Dominic, please don't do this..."

I lifted my head — and my gaze cut through the crowd to land on Lucas Sterling, standing not far away, his eyes cold as ice.

He was holding a tray of his own, just standing there, watching me.

As though he were watching a scene that had nothing to do with him.

Lucas's gaze cut through me like a blade, slicing through every defense I had.

I shoved Dominic's hand away and shot to my feet.

"I'm done eating."

I fled the cafeteria in a humiliated rush.

After that day, Dominic's number-one admirer — Vanessa Holloway, the prettiest girl in school — cornered me backstage at the gymnasium with her entourage.

She was wearing a gorgeous dress, her makeup flawless, but the way she looked at me was pure venom.

Crack!

A stinging slap landed across my face.

My cheek burned.

"Elara Pemberton, have you no shame?"

Vanessa jabbed a finger at my nose.

"Take a good look in the mirror. What makes you think you can go after Dominic?"

The girls around her closed in, shoving me back and forth.

"Exactly. A nobody from a regular family, thinking she can climb the social ladder?"

"Stay away from Dominic Blackwood, or you'll regret it!"

They knocked me to the cold floor. I looked up at their sneering faces, caught between terror and rage.

"I'm not going after him — he's the one who —"

"Who what? Forced you?" Vanessa let out a theatrical laugh. "How shameless! You actually think Dominic would look twice at someone like you?"

Just then, the backstage door was kicked open with a deafening bang.

Dominic stood in the doorway, drenched in sweat from the court. The moment he saw me on the floor, his expression turned savage.

"What are you doing?"

His roar sent the color draining from every face in the room.

He charged in, shoving aside the girl closest to me so hard she went flying.

The scene spiraled out of control.

He grabbed Vanessa by the hair and slammed her against the wall.

"Who gave you permission to touch what's mine?!"

His eyes were bloodshot — a crazed animal, all reason gone.

Vanessa screamed.

His brutality terrified me.

This wasn't protection. This was violence.

I scrambled up and grabbed his arm.

"Dominic, stop! You'll kill her!"

He flung me off with enough force to send me stumbling.

"Back off! Nobody's stopping me today!"

Watching him — wild-eyed, murderous — a wave of pure fear crashed over me.

I screamed at him to stop, then ran out the door without looking back.

I couldn't take it anymore.

My life — my quiet, ordinary life — had been destroyed by this lunatic.

I sat by the campus pond, hugging my knees, sobbing until my throat was raw.

I don't know how long I cried before a clean tissue appeared in front of my face.

I looked up through blurry tears and saw Lucas.

He was the same as always — cool, composed — standing beside me like a quiet, steady tree.

His voice was soft, but it had a way of calming everything it touched.

"Stay away from him."

That's what he said.

"He's not a good person."

I took the tissue, wiped my eyes in a messy swipe, and couldn't manage a single word.

He just stood there with me in silence for a while, then turned and walked away.

The next day, Vanessa came to apologize — voluntarily.

Her face still bore the wounds, and she looked at me with undisguised fear.

I found out later that Lucas had sent video evidence of the bullying straight to the school administration.

The Vanessa family's business had also received a call from the Lucas — and overnight, they nearly went bankrupt.

Vanessa got a formal disciplinary warning and came within inches of expulsion.

I was stunned.

I had no idea Lucas wielded that kind of power.

After school, Dominic came to find me again.

He looked haggard, dark shadows under his eyes. When he saw me, something flickered in his gaze — guilt.

"About yesterday... I'm sorry. I scared you."

I ignored him and turned to walk away.

Just then, Lucas walked out of the school building.

He saw me. He saw Dominic beside me.

He started walking toward us.

Dominic spotted Lucas and instantly puffed up like a territorial lion, hackles raised.

He yanked me behind him, jealousy blazing in his eyes.

"What do you want?!"

But Lucas didn't spare him so much as a glance. His gaze only fell on my cheek, still faintly swollen.

Then, calmly, he spoke to Dominic.

"Dominic, you can't handle this."

Dominic snapped, lunging forward with a fist cocked.

"Say that again!"

Lucas didn't flinch. Not even a shift in posture. His tone was utterly flat, yet it carried a crushing weight of authority.

"Violence is the lowest form of problem-solving."

"If this is your idea of 'protecting' her, all you're doing is pushing her further away."

Dominic's fist hung frozen in midair.

The quiet, effortless dominance that Lucas exuded was something a street brawler like Dominic couldn't begin to match.

I watched Lucas's lean but straight-backed silhouette walk away, and for the first time, I sensed that the boy I'd been pining for carried enormous secrets I knew nothing about.

The senior trip was the final chapter of high school.

I thought I could use it as a chance to cut ties with Dominic for good.

I was naive.

On the bus to the coastal resort, Dominic ignored the assigned seating and dropped into the spot next to me.

He stuck to me like a shadow, forbidding any boy from coming within three feet.

A friendly classmate from another section came over to chat, and Dominic snarled a single "Get lost" that sent him scurrying.

I'd had enough.

"Dominic, could you stop being so childish?"

He pulled out one earbud and lounged against the headrest.

"Nope."

"I'm doing you a favor — weeding out the trash."

I was too furious to speak.

At the hotel, after rooms were assigned and free time began, Sophie slipped me a note.

"Ellie, Lucas is down on the beach. This is your last chance! Go say goodbye — don't leave yourself with regrets!"

I clutched the slip of paper, my palms slick with sweat.

I was torn inside.

Go, or don't go?

If I went and Dominic found out, there'd be another scene.

If I didn't go, I might never get the chance to say a single real word to Lucas.

In the end, I made my decision.

I changed into a dress, planning to slip out while Dominic wasn't around.

But the moment I opened the door, I collided with a solid wall of chest.

Dominic stood in the doorway with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, hair still dripping, his expression dark as a storm.

"Going somewhere?"

"I... I was just going down to grab something." My voice came out too high, too guilty.

"Dressed like that, to grab something?"

His eyes swept over my new dress, then he let out a cold laugh.

"Is it something you're grabbing, or someone you're meeting?"

He dragged me back into the room and kicked the door shut behind him.

He pulled me back into my room and threw me onto the bed, then pinned me down, his eyes blazing red.

"You really like him that much?"

"Right in front of me, you can't wait to run to him?"

His strength was terrifying. I thrashed and fought, but I was a fish pinned to a cutting board.

"Dominic Blackwood, let go of me! We've graduated! This farce is over!"

My words detonated something inside him.

"Over?"

He laughed — a crazed, broken sound — then stood up, and I heard the door slam with savage force.

"I told you — unless I'm dead, this is never over."

The memory of his unhinged expression unleashed every ounce of fear, fury, and grief I'd been holding back.

He'd finally pushed me past my limit.

I crawled off the bed, stormed to the door, and pounded on it with both fists.

Through the door, I screamed myself hoarse.

"Dominic Blackwood, you're insane!"

"I have never liked you!"

"The person I like is Lucas Sterling! It's always been him!"

"He was the one I was trying to confess to that night! Not you!"

On the other side of the door — dead silence.

A long, long time passed. So long I thought he'd left.

Then I heard it — the sound of a wounded animal, a guttural growl of pain pressed down to its absolute limit.

My heart plummeted.

BANG.

The hotel room door burst inward, kicked clean off its hinges.

Wood splinters flew.

Dominic stood in the doorway, eyes bloodshot, and walked toward me step by step, his towering frame radiating apocalyptic fury.

His voice was shredded raw, as though dragged across sandpaper.

"Say that again. Who do you like?"