CHAPTER 1: THE BREAKING POINT
The thing about attending Crestwood Academy on a scholarship was that you learned very quickly to make yourself invisible.
Lily Chen had mastered the art over the past two years. Keep your head down, grades up, and never, ever draw attention to yourself in a school where everyone else's monthly allowance could cover your family's rent for a year. It was a simple strategy, and it had worked perfectly.
Until today.
"Lily! Lily, I know you can hear me!"
She kept walking, her grip tightening on the strap of her worn backpack. The iron gates of Crestwood Academy were just ahead, freedom so close she could taste it. If she could just make it through those gates, down the street to the bus stop, she'd be safe. Derek wouldn't follow her onto public transportation. He never did. Too many witnesses.
"Don't ignore me!" His voice was getting closer, angrier. "We need to talk!"
We have nothing to talk about, Lily thought, but she didn't say it. She'd learned that arguing with Derek only made things worse. He fed off confrontation, twisted her words until she was the villain in whatever story he'd constructed in his head. So she did what she always did pretended he didn't exist and prayed he'd eventually give up.
Except he wasn't giving up anymore. He was getting bolder.
"Lily!" A hand grabbed her arm, spinning her around with enough force that she stumbled. Her backpack slipped off her shoulder, hitting the pavement with a thud that made several passing students glance their way.
Perfect. An audience. Exactly what she didn't need.
Derek Matthews stood in front of her, and God, he looked rough. His dark hair was greasy, uncombed, and there were shadows under his eyes that suggested he hadn't been sleeping well. He'd always been intense, but now there was something almost manic in the way he stared at her, like she was the only thing keeping him tethered to reality.
It terrified her.
"Let go of me," Lily said quietly, trying to pull her arm free. His grip tightened.
"Not until you talk to me. You've been avoiding me for weeks "
"Two months," she corrected, then immediately regretted it. Don't engage. Don't feed into it.
"Two months of what? Ignoring my calls? Blocking my numbers? I deserve an explanation, Lily. After everything we had "
"We broke up." Her voice was steady despite the panic rising in her chest. Students were definitely watching now, whispering behind their hands. She could see phones coming out, cameras angling their way. Great. Just great. Tomorrow she'd be all over the school's gossip accounts. "I told you it was over. Multiple times."
"You don't mean that." Derek's free hand came up to touch her face, and Lily flinched back instinctively. His expression darkened. "See? This is what they've done to you. This place, these rich snobs they've turned you against me. You weren't like this before."
"Before what? Before I got tired of you checking my phone? Before I realized you were tracking my location? Before " She cut herself off, breathing hard. This was exactly what she didn't want to do. Arguing with him in public, giving everyone a show.
"I was protecting you!" Derek's voice rose, and several students openly stopped to watch now. "You're in this school full of spoiled brats who think they're better than everyone, and I was trying to keep you safe! But you threw it all away, threw us away "
"There is no 'us,' Derek. There hasn't been for two months. You need to accept that and move on."
"I can't." His voice broke, and for a second, Lily almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Then his grip on her arm tightened again, hard enough to hurt. "I won't. You're mine, Lily. You'll always be "
"She's not yours."
The voice came from behind Lily, smooth and cold as winter frost. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was she'd heard that voice enough times in class, dismissing teachers' questions with bored indifference or cutting down classmates with surgical precision.
Alex Kane.
What the hell was Alex Kane doing here?
Derek's hand dropped from Lily's arm as he looked past her, his expression shifting from desperate to confused to hostile in the span of a heartbeat. "Who the fuck are you?"
Lily turned slowly, and there he was. Alex Kane, in all his untouchable glory, standing less than three feet away like he'd materialized out of thin air. His school uniform was perfectly pressed, his dark hair artfully tousled in that way that probably took more effort than it looked, and his expression was completely neutral bored, even, like he couldn't be bothered to care about the scene unfolding in front of him.
But his eyes were sharp, assessing, taking in everything with the kind of calculated intelligence that had made him top of their class before Lily had claimed the position.
"I asked you a question," Derek said, taking a step forward. He was taller than Alex, broader, more physically intimidating. But Alex didn't even blink.
"And I'm choosing not to answer it," Alex replied calmly. Then his gaze shifted to Lily, and something flickered in those cold eyes. "You ready to go?"
Lily stared at him. "What?"
"We're going to be late." He said it like it was obvious, like they had plans she'd somehow forgotten about. "I told you I'd drive you home after my student council meeting, remember?"
No. No, she absolutely did not remember, because that conversation had never happened. They'd never had a conversation longer than thirty seconds, and most of those had been academic debates that left her annoyed and him smirking like he'd won something.
What was he doing?
"She's not going anywhere with you," Derek cut in, his voice rising. "Who the hell do you think you are, man? This is between me and my girlfriend...."
"Ex-girlfriend," Lily corrected automatically.
"....and you need to back off before...."
"Before what?" Alex's tone didn't change, still that same bored drawl, but something in his posture shifted. He was still relaxed, hands in his pockets, but there was an edge now. Dangerous. "Before you continue harassing her? Before you make an even bigger scene in front of half the school?"
Derek's face flushed red. "I'm not harassing her! We're having a conversation..."
"A conversation requires both parties to be willing participants." Alex's eyes flicked to Lily's arm, where Derek had grabbed her. Red marks were already forming. "That looks more like assault to me."
The small crowd that had gathered murmured at that. Phones were definitely recording now. Lily wanted to die.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Derek growled, but he sounded less certain now. The audience was getting to him, all these rich kids in their expensive uniforms, watching him like he was entertainment. "Lily, tell him. Tell him we're together."
"We're not," Lily said quietly. Then, louder, because she was tired of this, tired of Derek showing up and ruining her life, tired of being afraid: "We broke up two months ago. I've told you that. Multiple times. You need to leave me alone."
Derek's expression crumpled, and for a second, she thought he might actually listen. Then his jaw tightened, his hands clenched into fists, and she saw the moment he decided to escalate instead of retreat.
"You heard her," Alex said, before Derek could speak. "Leave."
"I'm not going anywhere until she and I talk. Alone." Derek took another step forward, and Lily instinctively stepped back right into Alex's space.
His hand came to rest on her shoulder, light but unmistakable. Claiming.
"That's not going to happen," Alex said, and his voice was colder now. Final. "Because Lily is my girlfriend. Which means whatever pathetic claim you think you have on her? It's done. So I suggest you leave before I call security and have you banned from campus."
The world seemed to stop.
Lily's brain short-circuited. Girlfriend? What....when...why...
Derek looked like he'd been slapped. "What?"
"You heard me." Alex's hand was still on her shoulder, warm and steady. "Now leave. Or I'll make sure you regret ever stepping foot near this school."
It wasn't a threat. It was a promise. And apparently, Derek was smart enough to recognize the difference, because after a long, tense moment where Lily was certain he was going to throw a punch, he backed down.
"This isn't over," he said, looking at Lily like Alex didn't even exist. "You're making a mistake. When you realize that, don't come crawling back."
Then he turned and stalked away, shoving through the crowd of onlookers like they were personally responsible for his humiliation.
Lily waited until he was gone, until the crowd started to disperse and the whispers started to spread, before she rounded on Alex Kane.
"What," she said slowly, carefully, "was that?"
Alex's hand dropped from her shoulder. His expression was unreadable.
"That," he said calmly, "was me solving both of our problems."
"Both what are you talking about?"
"We need to talk." He bent down to pick up her backpack, which she'd completely forgotten about, and held it out to her. "Somewhere private. Are you free?"
Lily just stared at him. This had to be a dream. A really weird, stressful dream.
"Why did you tell him we're dating?"
"Because," Alex said, like it was obvious, "we are. Starting now."
And then he smiled a small, dangerous thing that made her heart do something very complicated in her chest.
"Well," he amended, "we're going to pretend we are. If you're interested in a deal, that is."