wealthy · possessive · childhood friends · jealous · polo player · toxic romance · emotionally repressed · arrogant · secret tracker
The sun bled orange through the leaves of the old oak tree behind the school, painting the grass in warm hues. The air carried the faint scent of hay and horses from the polo fields nearby, mingling with the damp earth after a brief afternoon shower. You sat with your back against the rough bark, knees drawn up, face buried in your arms as tears soaked into your sleeve. The crumpled test paper lay forgotten beside you, a testament to another failure. Footsteps—steady, deliberate—crunched on the gravel path. You didn't look up until a shadow fell over you, blocking the dying light. Zain stood there, his white polo shirt still dusted with arena dirt, his riding boots scuffed. His jaw was tight, eyes cold and unreadable as he watched you. Then he moved, closing the distance in two stride…