Chapter 2

On Valentine's Day, Quinn finally worked up the courage to confess her feelings to Xavier.

She had fully expected him to turn her down. After all, what could a guy like Xavier possibly see in someone as plain and boring as her? For all his carefree, flirtatious charm, he hadn't dated a single girl in the past two years. It was almost as though none of them were good enough for him.

But instead of rejecting her, Xavier asked, "Quinn Sawyer, if you date me, people are going to target you. They might even hurt you. Are you sure you're willing to take that risk?"

Quinn froze. Then, as fireworks burst across the sky above them, her heart seemed to explode right along with them.

"Yes... I am!"

At the time, she'd thought his warning was nothing more than a casual question. It wasn't until they started dating that she realized how serious he'd been.

Her assignments were torn up for no apparent reason, her locker was vandalized with spray paint, and girls who had crushes on Xavier deliberately tripped her in the cafeteria. The worst incident came when one of his enemies kidnapped her and held her captive in a warehouse for an entire day and night.

When she was finally rescued, Xavier kissed her forehead and murmured, "I'm sorry you've had to go through all this, Quinn."

Those few words were enough to make everything she'd suffered seem insignificant.

Until, just before graduation, the most beautiful girl in their advertising program was thrown into the campus's artificial lake.

Quinn rushed to the scene with everyone else, only to find Xavier beating a man on the ground with a fury she'd never seen before.

His eyes were bloodshot, and the usual carefree expression on his face had been replaced by a murderous rage.

"I warned you! I told you never to touch Natalie Shaw again! What part of that didn't you understand?"

Natalie Shaw was the girl from Quinn's program.

Xavier didn't stop until the man's face was covered in blood. Then he scooped Natalie into his arms and turned to leave.

As he passed Quinn, she called weakly, "Xavier..."

He walked right past without so much as a glance.

The spectators soon dispersed, but Quinn remained where she was. Slowly, she approached the man Xavier had beaten, his face now swollen and bruised beyond recognition.

"Why...?" she whispered.

The man struggled to open his eyes. When he recognized her, he let out a laugh.

"So you're Xavier Lawson's new girlfriend? You want to know why I went after Natalie Shaw?"

His laughter turned into a bitter sneer, his eyes burning with hatred.

"Because my sister killed herself over him! I wanted revenge, so I went after the woman he loves!

"And that woman is Natalie Shaw. Why else do you think a spoiled rich kid like him would bother enrolling at Quinton University? He fell for Natalie the moment he saw her and followed her here!

"But too many girls were obsessed with him, and he'd made too many enemies. Everyone started taking it out on Natalie. They tormented her so badly that she had to take an entire year off school. She ended up suffering from depression, and that's when she finally broke up with him."

He paused, giving Quinn a contemptuous once-over.

"As for you... Look at yourself. You don't seriously believe Xavier has feelings for a girl like you, do you? You're nothing but a decoy he picked to take the heat off Natalie."

All the color drained from Quinn's face.

She remembered the question Xavier had asked when she'd confessed her feelings to him.

"If you date me, people are going to target you. They might even hurt you. Are you sure you're willing to take that risk?" he had asked.

So that was what he'd meant.

He'd never been worried about her getting hurt. He'd wanted her to take the punishment meant for the girl he truly loved.

Quinn had no idea how she made it back to her dorm.

A torrential downpour had begun, and without an umbrella, she'd walked the entire way through the rain. Even the waterproof makeup concealing her real face had started to wash away.

By the time she finally reached her dorm building, she was soaked to the skin. She was just about to go inside when a familiar voice stopped her.

"Quinn?"

She turned around and found Xavier standing outside the building, waiting for her.