Novels by Fini Tiebiri

Cole’s POVStatistics were almost never wrong. In less than twenty-four hours since the video of the kiss went viral, it had already gathered over a hundred reposts. The narrative about me being Histon’s golden boy who manipulated his subordinate was beginning to lose traction, exactly like I predicted.The new narrations were far more dramatic, but at least they didn’t damage my reputation.Now there were two viral videos, over a hundred notifications, and one email that actually mattered.I woke up to a message from AetherCore Technologies. They had decided to place my application under a three-month observation period while they evaluated my “conduct, public image and moral standing.”Totally inconvenient.“Dude, you’re trending.” Tyler barged into my room without knocking. “And not just as the cold genius or golden boy this time. You’re trending as the cold genius dating a celebrity star student and secret heiress. This is top-tier scandal. How do you somehow have more drama than

Riley’s POV“Riley Marinette Brooks!”June stormed into my apartment without knocking. Not that she needed to. She literally had a key.Mom had decisively refused to let me stay in the dorms or get a roommate because, according to her, “it invites unnecessary drama.” Which honestly sounded ironic considering my life currently resembled a badly written reality show.I’d deliberately picked one of the more modest apartments near campus to avoid drawing attention to my family name, but during the first few weeks, I couldn’t stand living alone. So June became my unofficial roommate. I gave her a key, and ever since then, she came and went whenever she wanted.“Care to explain what the hell is going on?” she demanded, waving her hands dramatically as she marched toward me.“June,” I greeted calmly, lacing my converse, “a wonderful morning to you too.”“Now is not the time for that.” She pointed accusingly at me. “Have you seen the campus blog? Or do you no longer own a phone?”Her eyes pra

Riley’s PovWho would have guessed the cold genius could actually be a good actor?Because honestly, this dinner was going far better than I’d expected. I had fully prepared myself for disaster. I mean, come on. Cole was practically a stranger who treated conversation like an optional feature in life, and my mother was impossibly picky. In my head, a complete train wreck had been the closest thing to success.“You look like a promising young man,” Mom began, folding her napkin neatly onto her lap, “but I must ask… if you’re a computer engineering student, how exactly did your paths cross?”“We met at the library.”“Theatre.”Cole and I answered at the exact same time. Mom’s eyes narrowed slightly as her gaze shifted between us.“I first saw Riley at the theatre,” Cole explained smoothly. “My twin is her co-star, so I sometimes have reasons to be around there. But we officially met in the library.”What a clean save. Mom nodded slowly, though she still looked unconvinced.“And when was

Cole’s POVOne lunch with two strangers, if it could erase my little scandal, shouldn’t have felt like such a big deal. However, being in a relationship with someone, even a fake one, even the most logical option available to me right now, didn’t sit right in my chest.Statistically, it was hundred percent a win. But there was one variable I couldn’t account for.Attraction.Though I had clearly included in the contract that there would be no feelings involved, and though I was ninety-nine percent certain I wouldn’t fall for Riley Brooks, one percent was still enough to crash an entire system.And that one percent irritated me. Unlike data, human emotions were inconsistent. Irrational. They corrupted judgment. They made people reckless. They couldn’t be trusted.So instead, I built myself an exit route.A fail-safe. A way to prove to myself that I tried this option and it simply didn’t work. The video. Allow the kiss video to go viral.There was no realistic way Riley would agree to t

Riley’s PovI had already written an entire script in my head explaining why Cole absolutely had to meet with me. Then I wrote another one as backup, just in case he refused. Which, honestly, felt highly likely considering yesterday he had thrown “No” at me in at least twelve different variations, like it was the only word available in his vocabulary.During my very questionable research session, I’d done some digging on him and stumbled across a photo of Cole kissing another guy. The caption beneath it read:Your golden boy Cole has never been seen in an intimate relationship with a girl because he’s into guys and takes advantage of them due to his position.The whole thing felt intense.I didn’t know Cole, not really, but the rumors didn’t line up with the kiss we shared. Not after the way he kissed me back. There had been nothing uncertain about it. Nothing forced either.Still, maybe this worked in my favor.If I pitched fake dating as something that could help redirect the rumors

Cole’s POV“You did what?” I snapped, the words coming out sharper than intended.Tyler sat sprawled across the couch, completely unbothered, eating popcorn like he was watching a live show. He shrugged.“I gave a girl your number.”“No. No. Who exactly did you give it to?”“Relax, man. Try to be chill about it.”“Chill? Sure.”Except nothing about this was remotely chill.Ever since the night of the festival, call it algorithm, or coincidence stacked on coincidence, or something less random, but a certain red-haired girl had been appearing in my space far more often than made sense. Tyler, of course, had filled in the blanks where I didn’t ask, her name, and an unnecessary number of reminders about the kiss.Every time I saw Riley, she was trying to get away from me. Now she wanted my number? That didn’t align. There was missing information somewhere in this equation, and I didn’t like working with incomplete variables.My phone rang.“Ouu, that must be her,” Tyler said, jumping up b