Chapter 1: Humiliation, Lies and Farewell

Saint Clare Academy stood tall and grand famous as the finest school in the whole country. Only children of the richest families came here: heirs, heiresses, and those born to lead great empires. To everyone outside, it looked like paradise. But to me, Cassandra Hale, 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 Alexus Voss.

Just saying his name felt heavy inside my chest like holding something beautiful but sharp, something I had guarded secretly since I was twelve. Now I was eighteen… and nothing had changed.

Alexus shone like the brightest star here. Tall, handsome, with dark hair falling perfectly over his forehead and eyes deep and cold as polished black stone. He moved like someone born to rule confident, calm, and far above everyone else. Teachers respected him; students admired or envied him; and almost every girl dreamed he might look at her kindly.

And me? I was always called simply “the girl who follows Alexus like a shadow.

For years I told myself: be patient, be true, be gentle. I believed if I stayed loyal and caring enough, one day he would finally see me not just as a familiar face, but as someone who truly loved him.

That afternoon I prepared carefully. Spring air smelled sweet with blooming trees. In my hands I carried a small box wrapped in soft blue paper with silver ribbon weeks of work inside: a hand‑bound notebook, a pen carved from rare dark wood, and little notes filled with quiet wishes.

My heart beat fast as I walked toward the central hall. There he stood near stone columns surrounded instantly by friends and admirers. He laughed easily, relaxed yet powerful. I straightened my uniform and stepped closer… ready to speak openly at last.

But the moment his eyes met mine, his smile vanished. His face turned hard and cold like stone. He spoke loud enough for everyone nearby to hear clearly sharp and cruel on purpose.

“Look who comes again Cassandra Hale,” he announced slowly. “Always following, always showing up wherever I go. Haven’t you learned yet? I never liked you. I never will. You are nothing but a pest annoying and useless.

I froze on the shiny floor, burning red with shame. My fingers squeezed the box until knuckles turned white.

“Alexus… I only wanted” I tried, voice shaking.

“Wanted what?” He stepped closer, towering over me. His gaze swept from head to toe with mockery. “To remind everyone how you chase me like a lost puppy? You look pathetic. Like you think you belong beside me… but let me tell you plainly: you never did, and you never will.”

Whispers spread fast. Students turned to watch some giggling, some whispering cruel words. I felt shrinking smaller and smaller.

“Every gift, every note, every sweet act you do,” Alexus went on coldly, “is just foolishness. Love isn’t forcing yourself on someone who never asked. It’s tiresome… and honestly, disgusting.”

With one careless move, he tapped my box. It slipped, fell open, and everything scattered across marble notebook, pen, folded pages sliding far away.

“See?” He didn’t even glance down. “Just like you meaningless trash.”

Laughter broke out loud. It hurt deeper than any blow. I knelt shivering to gather my things while feet stepped close around me. “Still crawling after him… hopeless… doesn’t she know her place…”

When I stood again clutching my broken treasures tight, Alexus walked away proudly as if I never existed.

From that day on, life became worse. Everywhere I went, cold jokes and sharp remarks followed. But what I learned weeks later… cut deepest of all.

Late afternoon, nearly empty corridors. I came quietly near the archive office and heard voices clearly through a half‑open door.

Alexus spoke calm and calculating.

“…find a girl beautiful, smart, good at acting. Pay her whatever she wants. She will pretend to be my girlfriend publicly.”

“Very well,” answered a stranger’s voice. “But why go so far?”

Then came words that broke my heart completely.

“Because I want Cassandra Hale crushed,” Alexus said without feeling. “She still dreams there is hope. I will hire someone to act perfectly loving holding hands, dancing, kissing in full view. I want her watching every moment. I want her hearing everyone say what a perfect couple… while she understands she never meant even one tiny thing to me. Break her spirit until she leaves me alone forever.”

And here came the twist I never expected:

“Also,” he added lower, “remind her quietly… that her own family’s business contract actually depends on my father’s approval. If she keeps annoying me… her precious parents lose everything too.”

My blood ran cold. It wasn’t just pride or dislike he held my whole family’s future as a weapon against me.

Ten days later, Lila arrived elegant, glamorous, confident. Everyone knew instantly she was hired. Alexus played his role masterfully: always arm‑in‑arm, always tender, always searching the crowd… until his eyes locked on mine.

Lila added poison too sweet smiles filled with triumph, little comments meant only for me:

“Don’t look so sad, Cassandra… some people shine… and some were born only to stand behind.”

Weeks passed like a long nightmare. I grew thin and quiet, sleeping poorly, eating little. Even at home no one guessed my parents busy and blind to everything but success.

But deep inside pain, something strong grew instead.

I started working secretly. I researched schools far away places for arts, design, media and storytelling things I truly loved. I built my portfolio, studied harder than ever, applied without telling anyone.

When acceptance letter came from one of Europe’s finest academies in Paris tears fell again, but different tears now: mixed with relief… and a dangerous new plan forming in my mind.

Another twist no one saw coming:

While gathering documents, I accidentally found something hidden in old files:

Alexus’s family fortune was not built entirely honestly. Long ago, my grandfather helped build their empire… but his name was erased from history. And the “contracts” Alexus claimed to control? They actually contained clauses that gave our family the true right to expose everything if I chose to use them.

I kept that secret locked tight inside.

On the morning I left, I walked through Saint Clare’s iron gates for the last time no longer the girl who followed shadows.

At the airport, I stood tall and calm. I looked back toward everything I left behind: cruel words, public shame, fake romance… and the truth I carried quietly now.

I stepped onto the plane toward Paris eighteen years old, free, and fully changed.

Alexus thought he had me.But he only forged something far stronger.

And one day… I would return.