Ani
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
I truly believe in that phrase, especially now as I stare directly at the proof.
Jeremy is looking down at me, lowering his gaze the same way he has ever since I found out I was going to be his forced pair. I tried my absolute best to stop this from happening. I pleaded with all the seniors, but once a pair is chosen for The Sovereign Term, it is absolute.
Absolute.
I repeat the word mockingly in my head.
Fuck that.
Fuck this.
Fuck this entire school.
Fuck the seniors, fuck the rules, and most of all, fuck him.
I’m in my third year of college, studying medicine. It’s not like I’m actually going to work or anything. No, it’s just a way to waste time until I get married. That’s what rich folks do — arranged marriages, cult-like schools to attend, and ultimately, being a slave to someone else’s power.
“What are you staring at?” I demand.
He doesn’t answer.
“Tsk. By the way, I hate your guts,” I spit out. “I don’t want to be your Consort.”
He still just stands there, his head slightly bent. He is tall — so tall and broad — with piercing blue eyes. The way he stares at me feels less like a look and more like he’s gauging me, measuring my worth like an asset.
“So, you’re a senior,” I push further. “You should choose another girl. Not me.”
Still, no answer.
What the hell is wrong with him?
I step forward, closing the distance just a little so I can whisper directly into his face.
“Don’t do this. I will make your life a fucking misery, get it?”
Finally, a reaction. Jeremy narrows his eyes.
I step back immediately. I look him up and down, from his toes to his head, letting my face contort into an expression of pure disgust. I click my tongue and turn on my heel, walking away from him. He does the exact same thing, turning his back without a word.
“Were you talking to Jeremy?” Sile asks the moment I get back to her, raising her eyebrows in shock.
“I was trying to make him leave me alone,” I sigh, my chest tight. “But he just stood there staring like the dumbass he is.”
“Ani, shush! Walls have ears,” Sile whispers frantically, glancing around the corridor. “Insulting him won’t change anything.”
“But I want to change it,” I admit, letting out a heavy breath.
Ever since he beat up Henry — the guy who was supposed to be my boyfriend at the time — something inside me grew into a deep, volatile hatred. Henry had accidentally bumped into him, and when Henry called out to apologize, Jeremy just turned around and landed a fist squarely on his face.
I had to watch it.
I couldn’t do anything.
I was completely stunned.
Jeremy kept throwing punches over and over and over again, completely relentless. He was going to kill him. And the worst part? No one stopped him. That is exactly why this school is so fucked up. They believe you should sort out your issues by yourself, even if it means murder.
I had tried to move, tried to yell, but my throat had closed up. The sight was too gruesome. I was terrified. By the time Jeremy stopped, Henry’s face was unrecognizable, covered in blood with his teeth shattered on the floor. His face was entirely deformed from the swelling.
Jeremy had simply walked away, swiftly, with absolutely no expression on his face. He didn’t even look angry when he was beating Henry to a pulp. It was just cold.
Henry was rushed to the ER and spent two weeks in the hospital. I tried visiting him, but I wasn’t allowed in. The next time I went back, I found out they had transferred him to a different hospital out of the country. I tried calling him repeatedly, but he never answered.
I was heartbroken.
I was really falling in love with Henry.
Determined, I decided to confront Jeremy. When I cornered him and demanded to know why he did it, he just stared at me with those dead eyes. I started screaming at him, but he just cut me off with two cold words:
“Fuck off.”
Then he walked right past me. That was the exact day I knew I hated him more than anyone else on this earth.
I did my research on him after that. Turns out his dad is involved in some incredibly dirty business. He’s a powerful, dangerous man whom everyone fears at the mere mention of his name. Fuck, I hate men who look like they own the world. In every picture I found of his father, the man looked like he could rule and destroy your life in seconds. Jeremy is a direct replica of him.
“Just accept it, Ani,” Sile says gently, bringing me back to reality.
“No, I don’t want to,” I mumble.
“Or you could run away.”
“I won’t do that. You know my mother.”
Sile sighs. “So what are you going to do?”
“Just throw insults at him until he realizes that he doesn’t want to deal with me for a year and a half.”
“Ani, the guy is a cold-blooded person. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Sile, don’t worry, okay? I can handle it.”
“Okay…”
But now, a week has passed. Tonight is the ceremony where I am forced to pair up with him for The Sovereign Term. I swore I wouldn’t let it happen. I spent the whole week throwing threats and insults at him whenever I passed him in the halls. I did everything I could think of. But the guy is like a brick wall. He just keeps staring right through me and walking past. I even tracked down his phone number just to text him to stay the fuck out of my life.
It didn’t work.
The day is finally here.
I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I’m dressed in a black, satin, see-through gown. A whimper escapes my throat.
Fuck.
He didn’t do anything to stop this.
Now I’m the one who has to face it.
I feel hot tears building up behind my eyes, but I blink them away fiercely.
No.
I am not going to cry.
He should be the one who’s upset tonight.
Because from this moment on, I am going to make it rain absolute havoc on his life.
I gave him a chance to walk away, but he didn’t listen.
