ISLAND OF DESIRE: REJECTED HEIRESS

The corridors and grand halls of Saint Clare Academy it was famous as the finest and most exclusive school in the whole country a place meant for the children of wealthy families, heirs and heiresses, future leaders and owners of vast fortunes.

For everyone else, it looked like paradise. To me, however, it slowly became the loneliest and most painful place on earth.

Because here, everyone knew exactly who I was and exactly where I stood compared to him.

Alexus Voss.

Even saying his name inside my chest felt heavy like carrying something precious but sharp‑edged, something I had guarded secretly since I was twelve years old. Now I was eighteen, and still, nothing had changed.

He was the brightest star in Saint Clare’s sky tall, handsome, with dark hair always falling perfectly over his forehead, eyes deep and intense like polished obsidian, features carved with a sharpness that made girls turn wherever he walked.

He moved naturally like someone born to lead confident, composed, untouchable. Teachers treated him with special respect; students admired or envied him; and almost every girl in school dreamed he might glance at her once with kindness.

And I… I was Cassandra Hale daughter of one of the richest families, intelligent, well‑mannered, graceful… yet always known simply as: the girl who follows Alexus Voss like a shadow.

For years I told myself that patience and sincerity would win in the end. I believed that if I kept showing my true feelings, if I remained loyal, gentle and always there for him, eventually he would notice me properly not just as a familiar face or childhood acquaintance, but as someone who truly cared.

I prepared everything carefully that afternoon. It was a mild spring day, the air sweet with flowering trees outside. I carried a small, neatly wrapped box in my hands soft blue paper, silver ribbon, exactly chosen. Inside lay something I had spent weeks working on myself: a fine leather‑bound notebook with embossed initials, a pen carved from rare dark wood, and short handwritten notes tucked between pages small wishes, reminders, things I hoped he would like.

My heart beat fast and loud as I walked slowly toward the central hall where everyone gathered between classes. I saw him standing near the wide stone columns, surrounded immediately by friends and admirers as always.

He laughed easily, his voice clear and pleasant, posture relaxed yet commanding. I took a deep breath, smoothed my uniform skirt, and stepped forward determined that today I would finally speak openly.

But before I could even come within a few steps, his eyes caught mine and instantly changed.

His smile vanished completely. His expression hardened into cold indifference, sharp and distant, as if he looked at something insignificant he wished wasn’t there. He raised his voice just enough so that every person nearby would hear clearly and his tone was cutting and cruel.

“Look who appears again,” Alexus announced, drawing attention deliberately.

“Cassandra Hale. Always following, always trying to appear wherever I happen to be. Haven’t you understood yet after all these years? I don't like or love you. You are nothing but a pest in my eyes.8 will never like you ever and not on this life."

I froze instantly, feet rooted to the shiny floor. Heat rushed burning up my neck and cheeks, spreading until my whole face blushed deep red. The gift box pressed tight in my hands until my knuckles shone white.

“Alexus… I only wanted” I tried softly, voice trembling already.

“Wanted what?” He interrupted, stepping slowly closer, towering over me. His gaze swept over me mockingly, from head to toe, as if examining something worthless.

“To remind everyone again how much you chase me? To show you never know when enough is enough? You look pathetic to me and your being a leech It looks ridiculous truly pathetic. You act as if you belong beside me, as if you are special to me… but you never were, and never will be.”

Whispers began immediately, spreading like ripples on water. Students turned their heads, eyes wide or amused, some snickering softly behind hands. I felt smaller and smaller under their gazes, shrinking inside myself as if I might vanish completely.

“You are nothing but extra noise I have to endure,” Alexus continued, louder and colder still.

“Every gesture, every note, every little present you leave… it’s tiresome. You think love means forcing yourself constantly upon someone who never asked for it? That isn’t love it’s foolishness. And frankly… I find it annoying.”

He lifted one hand casually and knocked lightly against the corner of my box. It slipped instantly from my grasp, fell open against the marble and scattered everything across shining tiles notebook, pen, folded notes… sliding far away.

“See?” He said calmly, without even glancing down. “Just like everything else you give meaningless.”

Laughter broke out openly now. It stung far deeper than any physical blow. I knelt shivering to gather my things, fingers clumsy and blurred by tears I struggled hard to hold back, while shoes passed close around me and voices murmured cruel little comments: “Always there… always rejected… doesn’t she learn… truly hopeless…”

When I finally stood again, clutching the broken box and scattered contents pressed tight against my chest, Alexus had already turned away as if I no longer existed at all. He walked on proudly, surrounded by friends, while I remained alone in the empty space he left behind.

From that afternoon onward, life inside Saint Clare Academy became even heavier. Humiliation no longer happened only occasionally it became constant.

If I sat somewhere quiet to study, he would make remarks within hearing distance about people who “clung too desperately”. If teachers called my name for good grades, he would sigh audibly and mutter about how even achievements were only ways to attract attention. If I walked across open grounds, groups of girls near him would exchange knowing smiles and whisper loud enough for me to catch: “Still trailing behind… like a loyal pet…”

I endured it all silently, bowing my head and swallowing tears back into my throat, telling myself it would end eventually that graduation would come soon enough and everything painful would fade away. But I was wrong. He was not satisfied with what he had already done. He was planning something far worse.

I learned the truth only weeks later entirely by accident.

It happened late one afternoon, when most students had already gone home and long shadows stretched across corridors. I went to the library section further inside the old building, where the archives and reading rooms lay quiet and nearly empty. I needed to fetch a reference book kept behind the administrative office a small room whose heavy wooden door stood slightly ajar, letting voices drift clearly out.

I recognized Alexus’s tone instantly and stopped dead in my tracks, pressing flat against the stone wall so I wouldn’t be seen. Beside him spoke another man I hadn’t met older, calm and business‑like, as if discussing ordinary arrangements.

“…so you understand exactly what is required,” Alexus said, voice low and sharp, precise like calculating profit. “Find a suitable young woman beautiful, graceful, socially confident, someone who knows how to act convincingly. She will officially become my girlfriend for at least six months.”

“Understood,” replied the stranger. “But you realize, Mr Voss, that playing such a role publicly attending events, meeting family, accompanying you daily, acting affectionately before everyone increases the f*e significantly.”

“Money is absolutely no problem at all,” Alexus answered without hesitation. “Pay whatever amount she demands. I only care about results.”

“And exactly what purpose do you aim for?” asked the man calmly.

Alexus laughed hollow, cold and cruel, echoing through the gap. “It is simple: I want Cassandra Hale to suffer until she finally breaks completely. She still foolishly imagines there might be hope for her. She thinks persistence might win me someday. I intend to crush that illusion thoroughly.”

My breath caught painfully inside my chest. I pressed hand hard against my mouth to stop myself from gasping or crying out. Every word stabbed deeper and sharper than knives.

“Make it impossible for her to ignore,” Alexus continued relentlessly. “Hand‑holding, close conversations, dancing together, kisses in full view… everything natural and loving‑looking. I want her watching it happen every single day. I want her hearing how everyone talks about us perfect couple, destined match… while she realizes she never meant even a tiny bit to me. I want her humiliated, lonely and miserable enough that she finally understands: she never stood any chance from the beginning.”

“And if she still persists?”

“Then make it hurt more,” Alexus said indifferently. “Use every opportunity to remind her she is nothing compared to whoever stands beside me. Break her heart completely and then she will finally leave me alone forever, exactly what I have waited years for.”

“Agreed,” said the stranger. “I know exactly one girl Lila. She works as model and performer, intelligent and very capable. She needs money badly and will follow instructions strictly.”

“Excellent,” Alexus replied. “Arrange meeting quickly. I begin as soon as possible.”

I slipped silently away from there then, legs trembling so badly I could barely walk, my whole world crumbling into dust and ash inside my mind. All the coldness, all the public remarks, all the humiliation it was never spontaneous. It was calculated, designed, planned carefully to crush me. And now he intended to pay someone just to pretend loving him… only to make me suffer even further.

Within barely ten days, everything unfolded exactly according to his plan.

Lila appeared at Saint Clare Academy like a shining star tall, elegant, glamorous and smiling brightly. She transferred officially but everyone guessed easily she came for Alexus. And from her very first morning, she stayed constantly by his side.

Alexus performed his role flawlessly. He walked arm‑in‑arm with her everywhere across campus grounds and halls. He opened doors for her, carried her books, leaned close while speaking softly, laughed freely at everything she said. During assemblies or gatherings he sat beside her; between classes they strolled slowly together; and more than once I saw him deliberately pull her near and kiss her openly slow and lingering while his eyes searched through the crowd until they locked directly onto mine.

He wanted me watching. He made sure I always watched.

And every single time, it hurt like fresh wounds tearing open again.

Whispers grew louder and sharper now: “See? Even he got tired of her chasing… now he has someone truly worthy…” “She thought she was special… but look how easily replaced…” “Pathetic… she waited years and got absolutely nothing…”

Lila played her part perfectly too she glanced at me with polite yet triumphant pity, as if confirming everything cruel people whispered. She smiled sweetly while standing close to him, as if mocking silently: You tried… and failed completely.

I spent those weeks moving through school like a ghost quiet, withdrawn, eyes lowered, shoulders hunched under invisible weight. I lost appetite, slept poorly, woke up with aching chest and tight throat almost every morning. I kept my old dreams locked deep away, now covered thickly in bitterness and sorrow. Everything I had treasured and hoped for slowly turned painful and poisonous.

Even going home did not bring proper relief. My parents were busy running business empires and social duties; they hardly noticed how changed I had become. I remained alone in my spacious room, staring at things I once prepared for him letters never sent, gifts never accepted, sketches and notes carefully stored… all useless relics now.

Sometimes late at night I sat beside my window watching the moon and stars, tears running silently down my face and soaking pillowcase. I re‑heard Alexus’s words again and again inside my mind: “Make her suffer… make her realize she never meant anything… break her heart completely…”

But slowly, deep within pain, something else began to grow small and hard like seed under stone: determination.

I would not stay here forever to be trampled endlessly.

I began working quietly and steadily. I researched abroad academies best schools for creative arts, media design, fashion and visual storytelling, fields I truly loved and excelled naturally. I prepared portfolios, gathered documents, studied harder than ever, practiced foreign languages day and night. I sent applications and waited anxiously.

When acceptance letters finally arrived from Paris from one of Europe’s finest institutions I cried again, but tears tasted different this time: salty yet hopeful, mixed with relief and strength.

I told my family only after everything was certain. They were surprised at first, but eventually understood and supported me knowing also perhaps how difficult and heavy atmosphere here had become.

The last days in the city felt strange and quiet. I walked familiar streets and visited corners I remembered since childhood, seeing them with eyes that knew already I would not return soon. I passed Saint Clare Academy gates one final time tall iron bars and stone pillars shining in sunlight and felt no longing anymore, only a sense of closing one long, painful chapter completely.

I never saw Alexus or Lila again before departure. I did not try meeting them once more; it would serve no purpose now. Whatever cruel plans they had, whatever fake romance continued… it belonged to the past I was leaving far behind.

On the morning I was to leave, the sky stretched vast and clear pale blue above the city. A fresh breeze blew gently, carrying scent of flowers and distance.

I stood inside the great hall of the international airport, luggage neatly ready beside me. I wore simple but elegant clothes, hair combed back smoothly, posture straight and proud. I looked back one last time toward the direction where my hometown lay toward the academy halls, toward the cruel boy who taught me hard lessons, toward every humiliation and tear I shed… and said silent goodbye.

I turned my back firmly to all of it. No more shadows, no more chasing, no more hoping for someone who never cared to look properly.

I walked forward toward departure gate leading straight to Paris. I was eighteen years old, free at last, ready to build my own life, my own career, and become exactly who I truly was strong, independent, creative and shining entirely on my own merit.

The aircraft lifted smoothly above rooftops and trees, then climbed higher above clouds until familiar land faded far below and vanished completely. I leaned toward window and watched the horizon open wide and endless blue knowing deep in my heart: my story was truly beginning now.