(Sierra's POV)
Neon lights, perfume, and laughter-gossip bouncing off marble floors-buzzed around me on campus. I worked at sipping my iced mocha, but Stefano Blackwood's shadow kept brushing the edge of my awareness like some sort of storm I couldn't outrun. He strode ahead-dark hoodie, his jaw tight, his eyes colder than the steel tables.
Marko and Ethan trailed behind him, speaking in low voices. Whispering about me. Seb never notices the tension between me and Stefano neither I wanted him to, It will only make things more worse.
I knew it. But I kept my chin up. Mother always used to say: Never let the world see you bleed. Sebastian looped around from the vending machine, handing me a strawberry drink.
"Here, Bella," he said softly. I blinked. "Bella?"
"It fits you," Seb smiled-soft, warm, protective. "Pretty, little, bright. Like… you." My chest warmed. "Thank you, Sebastian."
Stefano's head whipped around from upfront—narrowed eyes, clenched jaw. He heard it. Of course he heard it. Now he will again stupid things! A flash of something wild, dark, crossed his face before he turned away sharply. He hated me. And yet he always watched.
Ethan nudged Marko, both smiling wryly.
"James's staring again," Angel whispered from beside me. Angel my new friend , also my classmate. Ethan's girlfriend, he introduced her to me.
Great. James was fine. Nice. Polite. Smart. Absolutely not someone I cared about. James came up to me, smiling.
"Sierra, you dropped this earlier." He slid a pen toward me.
Before I could reply, before I could even open my lips— A loud clack resounded through the room.
Stefano's chair.
Doesn't he have any classes? Why he always roams around the college or around me? He had shot to his feet, glaring at nothing, jaw so tight it looked painful. But he didn't look at me.
Did not look at James. He just walked out. Sebastian exchanged a confused glance with me. I sighed. "What did I do now?" I really didn't know.
(Stefano's POV)
I wasn't jealous. I wasn't. But when I saw James leaning over her table, when she smiled politely, when her hair fell over her shoulder like she didn't even realize how stupidly beautiful she was- Something burned under my ribs. I hated it.
Marko tapped my shoulder. "Bro… calm down. You're crushing your water bottle."
I looked down. The plastic was warped in my fist.
"Shut up."
Ethan snorted. "She's just talking. James's harmless."
"I didn't ask." I sound much more bitter than I actually intended. Marko and Ethan exchanged a quick look, one that said they had fathomed far more than what I wanted them to.
Stefano Blackwood doesn't get jealous.
I reminded myself, like a mantra. She's nothing. Just part of my plan. To get rid of her mother and her.
I'll never give my mother place to anyone neither I'll let anyone take my mother's place!
Her mother had ruined everything, by trying to take my mother's place. She will go. I will ensure that. And yet-
Why did my heartbeat react every time someone looked at her?
Why did it feel like a punch in my stomach when Sebastian called her Bella?
Why did I want to destroy every boy who even breathed near her?
I hated this feeling. Hated her for causing it. Hated myself most..
(Sierra's POV )
The house was dark and quiet as I stepped out to get water. But a floorboard creaked. Stefano appeared from nowhere, like an instant storm—hair tousled, eyes ablaze as a midnight fire. The hallway felt too small. Too dark. Too full of something dangerous. He stepped closer, voice low. "You enjoy the attention, don't you?"
My breath caught. "What are you talking about?"
"James. Sebastian. Half the damn college. They're drooling over you."
His tone was acidic, but beneath it-
Jealousy.
Pain.
Confusion.
"You're imagining things," I whispered. He stepped closer-so close I felt the heat radiating off his skin. His fingertips brushed the wall beside my head.
"Am I?"
His voice dropped lower.
Rougher.
Hotter. Almost… vulnerable.
My breath shook.
His eyes flicked to my lips.
I froze.
He froze.
The universe, for one suspended second, tilted—
our shadows combined,
our lips close enough that if either of us inhaled wrong—
"Keep James away," he muttered.
I whispered, "Why?"
He didn't answer.
"If u can't answer then don't give me pathetic orders next time."
He came more closer. "I'm giving u a warning, It's for ur own good."
I roll my eyes in irritation, he frowned and pinned me on wall. I was shocked. His lips are too closed to mine, our breaths tangled, we stared into each other eyes, then half on an inch distance was between our lips and we were about do that a servant came. I jerked away from him. My body trempling in shock, even he couldn't resist him. And
He just walked away.
Leaving me drowning in a silence I didn't deserve.
(Stefano's POV )
I shouldn't have said it. I knew the instant her eyes dimmed, the instant her hands began to shake upon her fork. Anger was easier than… whatever the hell else I was feeling. Later, Marko and Ethan cornered me in my room. "You're going too far," Marko said quietly. "That was low," Ethan added. "It's necessary," I muttered. "She needs to break. She and her mother need to leave. I'm getting information—your job is to get close to her." Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "We started talking to her. She's. not what you think." Marko nodded. "She's actually sweet, bro. Clueless. Kind of fragile." That word made my jaw tighten. Fragile. I didn't want her fragile. I didn't want her hurt. But I needed her gone. "Just do what I said," I bit out. But hours later, lying awake, all I saw was her face at dinner— the way her eyes sparkled before looking down. the way her breath caught like she'd been slapped, How she had whispered I'm fine when she wasn't at all. I hated that it bothered me. I hated that I remembered it. I hated that I cared. I hated that I want to pinned her on wall touch her every part, kiss her mindlessly until her breath run out, cup those beautiful bosoms and feel the immense pleasure. I hated that I want to taste her breath , her lips , her….. Christo she is driving me crazy. I have to do something of her sooner….
(To be continued...…..)