LOGINLilly sat in class tapping her foot under the desk at a frequency she hoped was invisible and prayed the music teacher would not ask about her lyrics progress today.He came in, set his notes down, and looked around the room.“Before we begin — we have a new student joining us. He’s a member of the band and has decided to extend his musical education formally.” He gestured toward the door. “Come in. Introduce yourself.”Lilly looked up.Ethan walked in.She felt her foot stop tapping.What, she thought, is he doing in my class.“Hi,” he said to the room, easy and unhurried. “I’m Ethan. New student.”The reaction was immediate and entirely predictable — half the room sat up straighter, several girls exchanged looks, someone in the back row audibly lost composure. Ethan received all of it with the calm indifference of someone who has long since stopped being surprised by his own effect on rooms.“Find a seat,” the teacher said.Ethan walked down the aisle and sat next to Lilly.“Hi,” he
Lilly found a seat in the stands and told herself this was fine.She did not like hockey. She had never liked hockey. The noise, the speed, the general atmosphere of controlled aggression — none of it was her. But she was here, in the stands, with her scarf and her determination, because a supporting girlfriend showed up to watch her boyfriend play. Even a fake one.She settled in and looked at the ice and prepared herself.“Hi.”She turned. A girl had taken the seat beside her — pretty, put-together, smiling with the open friendliness of someone who considers strangers a resource.“Hi,” Lilly said.“Are you here to watch our team?”“Yes.”“Amazing. Who are you rooting for specifically?” The girl leaned in slightly. “In the team, I mean.”Lilly smiled with just enough awkwardness to be genuine. “Zane, I think.”“Same.” The girl’s smile stayed but something behind it adjusted. “How do you know him? Are you two friends or—”“Zane’s Mauli.”Jade dropped into the seat on Lilly’s left, com
Elliot stood exactly where Lilly had left him, looking at the door she had walked out of, then slowly turning to Zane with the expression of someone who needs a moment to process what just happened.“What was that?”“She was proving a point,” Zane said.Elliot blinked. Then something shifted in his face — the specific look of someone who has just revised their opinion of a person significantly upward. “She’s something else.”“She’s my tutor.”“Are you two—”“You know I don’t do girlfriends.” Zane picked up his water bottle. “Come on. Let’s work out.”They trained hard — the focused, almost punishing kind of session that leaves no room for conversation — and by the end of it both of them were quiet in the satisfied way of people who have used their bodies properly. They headed back to the house still catching their breath.They found Blade on the sofa.With a girl.Who looked up when they came in and said brightly, “I should go — I’ll see you later,” and collected herself and left with
The morning shift had a particular quality that Lilly had not fully appreciated until she was standing in the middle of it having gone to bed at two in the morning.She moved through the restaurant on autopilot — wiping down the counter, checking the orders, trying to remember why she had agreed to cover this shift — when a voice cut through the noise.“Are you okay?”She looked up.Ethan.Standing at the counter, looking at her with the careful attention she had noticed he gave most things, unhurried and genuine.“I’m yes. I’m okay.” She straightened. “Thank you. For last night. You didn’t have to do that.”He nodded once, accepting the gratitude without making anything of it. “Can I get a burrito?”“Of course.”She put the order in and had it back to him within minutes, sliding it across the counter.“Here you go.”He took it. Paused. “Aren’t you tired? You were at the party until late and now you’re here.”Lilly looked at him. “I didn’t plan the scheduling very well,” she admitted.
Ethan stood up from the bed and looked between them with the easy composure of someone who knows when a room no longer needs him.“You’re here,” he said to Zane. “I’ll leave you two to it.” He glanced at Lilly briefly. “Take care of yourself.”He walked out.Zane watched him go, then crossed the room and crouched down in front of Lilly, bringing himself to her level. He looked at her properly — not the quick social scan he gave most situations, but the actual kind of looking.“What happened, Mauli? You were fine twenty minutes ago.” He paused. “I looked around and you were gone. What happened?”She looked at her hands. “I just — I remembered something.”“Something like what?”She turned it over in her mind — whether to tell him, how much, where to start — and then her phone rang.She looked at the screen.Mum.“I need to take this,” she said. “Could you step outside for a minute?”“Yeah.” He stood. “Take your time. Text me after.”She nodded.He pulled the door mostly closed behind hi
“Why is your arm on me like that?”Lilly turned to look at Zane with the specific expression she reserved for things that required immediate correction.Zane didn’t move his arm. “Relax. We need to make this convincing.” He glanced toward the front of the classroom. “Besides — he’s not even looking at us right now.”Ethan was sitting a few seats ahead, turned slightly away, apparently absorbed in something on his desk.Zane picked up the water bottle beside him and threw it toward the front of the room.The entire class turned.Ethan turned with them — and his eyes landed on Zane and Lilly, close together, Zane’s arm draped casually across the back of her chair. Something shifted in his expression. Not nothing. Definitely not nothing.“See?” Zane said quietly, eyes forward. “Told you.”Lilly kept her face neutral and felt quietly triumphant. “You’re going to make this work, aren’t you.”“Obviously.”Across the room, Hannah and Dave exchanged a look — the look of two people who have be
The next day, the Ashford mansion was alive with motion and aroma. Maids bustled up and down the grand hallways, the clatter of pots and pans mingling with the scent of roasting meats and freshly baked bread. “Good morning,” Marcus greeted his mother as he entered the dining area, still rubbing s
That night, Lilly slept in the maids’ quarters.The small room smelled of detergent and ironed clothes. The bed was narrow, the blanket thin. The two maids, still new in Dante’s house, looked at her with quiet pity.They didn’t know who she was.They didn’t understand why such a small
Days passed.Since she had started living in the Ashford mansion, mornings had slowly found a rhythm. That morning, soft sunlight filtered through the curtains as Zara stood behind Lilly, gently combing through her hair. The little girl sat still, humming quietly, her school uniform already on.She
Adrian sat alone at the café, his fingers tapping restlessly against the porcelain cup in front of him. He hated waiting. More than that, he hated Dante and he didn’t even know when that hatred had grown this deep. Yet here he was, answering his call.The door finally opened, and Dante walked in, u







