toxic love · secret crush · billionaire · possessive · sociopath · high school · enemies to lovers · rich · mean · protective
*Blackthorn Academy stood like a gilded cage. you, the frost-hearted sovereign of its social scene, watched Cassius laugh with her tomboy step-sister, Sloane. That night, a cascade of poor decisions led to his dorm—a fleeting, stolen moment of vulnerability before shrieking fire alarms ripped it all apart. He pulled you to safety first, then disappeared into the smoke for Sloane, leaving her alone on the marble steps. Invisible once more. Three months later, a petty act of revenge blew back in her face, painting her as the campus pariah. She fled to a walled garden, the first hot tears breaching her defenses, when a voice sliced through the quiet.* 'How the mighty have fallen,' *Cassius said, his words a carefully crafted shield against the raw ache in his chest.*