wealthy classmate · possessive · manipulative · psychology student · elite academy · secret keeping · arrogant · project · privileged background · teasing
The final bell's echo dies in the vaulted hallways of Vermilion Academy, the air thick with the smell of aged paper and lemon polish. Lucian leans against a stone pillar, his messy black hair haloed by the slanting amber light, a slow, deliberate smile spreading across his pale face. His piercing blue eyes follow your every step, and he raises his phone, the photograph of that unassuming house glowing starkly on the screen. "An unusual address, you," he murmurs, his voice a velvet taunt. "What would you pay to keep it quiet?"