Chapter 1
It was 2 a.m., and the academic building was almost deserted.
I closed the final draft of my thesis revisions, my fingertips still trembling faintly.
My phone lit up. I glanced down.
Notifications from the campus forum were flooding in, one after another—
[Exclusive: Female Student from a Certain Department Exposed for Chaotic Personal Life; Suspected of Sleeping Her Way to the Top]
[Attached: High-Resolution Photos from the Scene]
My fingers went still as I tapped the post open.
The girl in the photos was me.
The angle was suggestive, the lighting dim—but it was more than enough to invite speculation.
The comments section had already exploded.
[And someone like this wins an outstanding thesis award? What a joke.]
[I heard she’s got a sugar daddy.]
[So who’s the boyfriend? Who’s brave enough to admit it?]
I stared at the screen, a burning heat rising behind my eyes—but no tears came.
Who’s my boyfriend?
I knew the answer.
But no one would believe me.
Still… this would all be over soon.
In seven days, Luca would make our relationship public.
I slowly turned off my phone, took a deep breath, and began packing up to leave.
My phone lit up with an incoming video call from Selene Carter.
Instinctively, I pulled my scarf higher, covering the mark Luca had left on my neck—still dark, still fresh—before answering.
“Hey, Aria.”
The moment the call connected, Selene’s face filled the screen. She was seated somewhere dim and exclusive, her red lips curved into a faint smile, golden curls cascading in perfectly styled waves. I recognized the backdrop immediately—a members-only private club, all crystal chandeliers, black marble, and low jazz humming in the background.
“You look like you just crawled out of hell,” Selene said with a soft chuckle.
“Just turned in a manuscript,” I replied flatly. “Why are you calling me this late?”
“Guess what?” she said lightly, as if sharing a joke. “I lost a bet.”
She paused, clearly amused. “So I married Luca Rhodes.”
For a moment, it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room.
My voice caught in my throat. “…You what?”
Selene arched a brow. “We went to a church. Signed the papers. That’s it.”
A dull ringing filled my ears.
I wasn’t even sure what I said next. “Why would you—how could you—”
Selene laughed softly. “Why not?”
“Oh, right,” she added, as if remembering something trivial, “he said he’d make it public at the club tonight.”
“Announce what?” I asked.
Selene blinked. “Me, of course.”
The call ended.
As the screen went dark, I sat on the edge of the bed, my fingers tightening unconsciously.
On my left wrist was the star bracelet Selene had given me.
On my ring finger was the silver band Luca had slipped on.
One stood for friendship.
One stood for a promise.
Now both belonged to the same person.
The elevator numbers ticked upward, one by one.
I didn’t even realize I was shaking.
The moment I pushed open the club doors, the world seemed to split in two.
Lights. Champagne. Laughter.
And Luca Rhodes.
He was on one knee, holding a diamond ring.
And the woman he was looking up at—
was Selene.
“Selene,” he said, his voice low. “Marry me properly.”
Selene smiled softly. “We already did.”
Then she leaned down and kissed him, with the ease of someone who had done it countless times before.
I stood frozen in the doorway, silent and unmoving—like a stranger who had wandered into someone else’s private moment.
Until a voice cut through the room with a laugh.
“Man, you really pulled this off.”
“I heard about that seven-day deal between you and Aria. Now it makes sense—you just used it to make Selene jealous and push her into marrying you, didn’t you? You wanted her all along.”
Another voice chimed in, even more careless. “And Aria? What is she, then? A backup plan?”
A brief silence followed.
Then Luca’s voice came—low, cold, utterly indifferent.
“She’s convenient. Just someone to keep around.”
The air turned to ice.
Something pressed tight against my chest, but I didn’t cry.
Instead, I pulled out my phone and hit record—steady, almost eerily calm.
Someone asked, more cautiously this time, “Did you ever actually love her?”
Luca didn’t answer right away. He lit a cigarette. As the flame flickered to life, his face blurred behind a thin veil of smoke.
“Love?” he repeated.
A quiet, dismissive laugh.
“No.”
One word was enough to erase four years.
Outside the door, I stood there, voiceless, as if something inside me had been hollowed out.
Then someone laughed again. “Still, she’s hot. If you’re done with her, can I—”
The ashtray slammed down hard against the table.
For the first time, Luca’s voice turned dangerous.
“Don’t finish that sentence.”
The room fell silent.
But by then, I couldn’t hear anything at all.
