ADELINA'S POV Mikhail was probably having an important meeting when Asher and I crashed it. I wanted him gone so badly, that I dragged Mikhail into this A part of me was scared this cold-hearted man would throw me off, but the moment he called me Mishka, my heart melted. It was the cutest thing ever. A smile bloomed on my face; I reached out for his cheeks to place a peck on them. Honestly being drunk was making me act too brazen for my own good that I was going to regret this so badly that I would never be able to face Mikhail in the future. "I love you so much, Mikey." I chirped sweetly after my lips pressed against his cheeks. Sparks flew then I rested my head against his shoulders, giving Asher a challenging smirk. Asher was too stunned to even react as he stared back at me stupefied. "What else do you want, Asher, a special invitation?" My brow was arched at him, his lips parted then closed. Mikhail sighed his gaze travelling to Asher "Kindly leave
ADELINA'S POV The fury in me kept on boiling. I was beyond disgusted. My jaw clenched, and my boy acted on his own; I jabbed him in the ball. "You fucking bitch." He screamed, grabbing his balls. Using the slight opportunity left I bolted out of the toilet. I could still hear his voice. I glanced behind to make sure he wasn't coming after me while I still ran, this ended up leading to me bumping into someone. Jeez, why do men have to have such tough bodies? My body was thrown backwards before I could hit the floor, the culprit was nice enough to grab my arm. "Why are you running around Addy? Is something wrong?" Asher asked, worried, about his hand on my arm. "I am fine," I snapped at him, irritated, yanking my hand from his hold. "Are you sure? Something seems off." He kept pushing. "Asher enough please, let's just stop. Stop acting like you care or there is anything special when there isn't. When you chose Kim years ago, you knew I had a crush on you; altho
ADELINA'S POV My eyes darted to Petra immediately. She could read my mind from my expression. "It wasn't me I swear." She answered then looked away. How was I going to enjoy the night when Asher was here? I didn't care what his intentions were but nothing changed the fact it was his girlfriend that was hunting me. What if Kim misunderstands again? Asher Rossi, with no drama, was literally the beau of campus. There were a lot of rich heirs at my school but none came close to Asher. He was not only the smartest boy in the class but also the most good-looking. We were friends while growing up because we always competed from grade, and he never got the top spot from me. It wasn't because I was smarter than him, that wasn't the case. Asher didn't put in much effort and, with minimal effort, was at the top. He was an absolute genius, and deep down, I knew he was always better but busy being popular. He was charming and charismatic. He became popular among the girls
ADELINA'S POV I didn't feel like leaving my room the entire night; I stayed buried in my sheets, eating chips and watching a movie. It was the only way to free up my mind. The door creaked open followed by footsteps. I didn't bother to check who it was, Petra was the only one in this house with me. She walked up to my bedside and unceremoniously pulled off the covers over me. I groaned at her, “Give back the covers.” I requested not having the slightest intention to leave the bed, I knew that was her intentions "No way, Adel, I know today was shitty, but you can't hide in here forever.” She started, my eyes narrowed at her. “I am not hiding, I just need a break,” I argued back at her. I crawled to the end of the bed and then stretched out, trying to grab the covers from her. Petra moved away from my reach. “Why didn't you go to work today?” She asked me with a firm expression. “I didn't feel like it; please, can you give me the covers? I am begging. It is cold
ADELINA'S POV Sometimes, I wonder if Professor Perkins ever smiles; he always has an ever-present frown on his forehead. "I am very disappointed at what you did, Miss Marino. You embarrassed the entire department in front of so many distinguished guests.” He started reprimanding me. I was innocent. His eyes then darted around us, settling on me; I knew he was blaming me for everything. “What do you have to say for yourselves? Not only did you do such a shameful thing, you went ahead to cause a scene and injured a lecturer.” I flinched at his sharp tone. My nails were digging into my palms trying to keep my emotions in check. His eyes said it all, I was more than certain he had concluded this was all on me. “I didn't do anything, Kimberly stole my report and swapped it. “ I immediately defended myself. “She is right. I had worked on the report with Adel, and I am more than certain that the report Kimberly presented is Adel's.” Petra immediately chirped in my defenc
ADELINA'S POV How was that possible? What was going on? My brain couldn't process everything properly; a part of me didn't want to believe it, but I watched it; every single detail was exactly how I remembered. "Isn't that your presentation?" Petra gasped, her face twisting up in anger. She had helped me work on it so she had an idea what it was about. I didn't answer her but she quickly got a gist of it. Petra jolted on her feet, "that scheming bitch." She cursed, her hands clutched into a tight fist. I didn't need a genius to know that Kimberly had deliberately embarrassed me in front of everyone including Mikhail. I understood why. She did it because of Asher. I was so tired and frustrated about everything. There was no way I could get back at her, she came from an elite family and must have used her connections to tamper with my project. "Are you going to just sit here and let that bitch steal your show?" Petra asked me, her voice was tired and frustrated. Her eyes g
ADELINA'S POV The spotlight shone on me, "You can do this!!" I heard Petra scream from the exit, cheering me; Asher stood there also watching. The auditorium was packed to the brim, just like how Venessa described. They were right I can do this, "THE NEXT PARTICIPANT FROM THE FINAL YEAR, ADELINA MARINO." The officiator announced, from the sound system. There was a soft round of applause welcoming me on stage. "Come on Adelina, blow their minds." I heard Mr Simon urge me from the earbuds I had in my ear. I adjusted the mic pinned on my collar then my mouth parted "Good morning, distinguished guests and honourable...." My voice trailed as I started the address; I felt the tension oozing off as I spoke with confidence. After introducing myself and greeting the audience, I moved on to introduce my topic, but the words got lost from my mouth for a bit; a group that seemed pretty important was entering the auditorium unceremoniously. It was someone pretty powerf
ADELINA'S POV Asher had insisted on reporting to the police; I rejected the idea, knowing it would only reveal my ties with Grand Ale's nightclub. I didn't want that to ever resurface; it was a memory that I rather forget. I kept on tossing in my sleep, I could not sleep because of the feeling of being watched. Someone was watching me, it was part of my anxiety for a while now. It felt like someone was close and was about to touch me. My eyes shot open, sweat dripping off my skin; I quickly sat up, my eyes darting around the dark room. The bed lamp clicked on, its dim lights illuminating the room. Some corners were dark, and there didn't seem to be anyone there, but I still asked. "Is anyone there?" My voice was barely a whisper. My heart thudded against my chest so hard that every other sound faded. Including fast breathing, I placed my arm on my chest, which was rising rapidly. "Relax, Adel, there is no one here," I told myself but the words were not even
ADELINA'S POV Mikhail left me in a mess as I could not understand why my body reacted the way it did. After leaving the company building, I took a short walk to the nearest bus stop to save on transportation costs. The entire ride, a soft smile hung on my lips and my cheeks as I ran the entire situation in my mind. I didn't know when a giggle left my lips. Something was definitely wrong with my head and it was his fault. I should not be acting like a love-struck teenager when I had a lot going on in my life, but it wasn't that easy to forget how gentle his touch felt. I wondered if we ever did it, would he be gentle or rip me apart? For crying out loud, why were my thoughts straying? There was something about him I could not understand from the day I saw him after running from the party. He was dangerous, he was arrogant, and he never hid that part, yet there was something around him that made me feel safe. I didn't understand why, but his cologne and signatur