Chapter 1: Good Morning

"Dad!"

Jade almost stopped breathing as soon as she saw his face. 

Standing in front of her was the father she knew from the day she was born. He was wearing a perfectly ironed suit with his coat hanging on his arms, wearing a pair of shiny black shoes, and his neatly combed hair. 

‘Is this really my father?’ 

Her father looked at her indifferently, a frown visible on his forehead. Jade also gazed back at her father, who was strangely dressed. 

As far as she can remember, her father is not fond of wearing these luxurious things. It was mainly because their family had debts to pay so they don’t have the money to buy luxurious and branded clothes like this. Anyway, they could find decent clothes in thrift shops and still look like they were wearing branded clothes. Even she, the youngest, didn’t even have the chance to experience wearing such high-end shirts. 

Jade breathed a relieved sigh after seeing her father, although he looked a bit strange with that serious expression on his face and wearing a suit. She started acting cute, her ultimate weapon whenever she wants something. 

Jade put her petite hands below her chin making a V shape, pouting her lips, then blinking her big eyes.

"Da~ddy."

"Get out of the way."

Jade was speechless. Her father would never say that. She remembered that he would give her a hug every time she does this. So what is he playing now?

“Are you not going to school? Why are you still dilly dallying?” 

“School…?”

Her father turned to the row of ladies and roared, “What are you still doing? Take her to get ready for school. Now!” 

Jade shivered at her father’s indifferent attitude and stared at him with wide eyes. She then felt two pairs of strong hands holding each of her arms. She tried to remove her arms from their hold, but it only proved how strong they are despite their age. 

Jade resigned to her fate and let the maids drag her to her room. After enduring a good half hour, she was finally finished and walked down the spiral stairs while rolling her eyes and stomping her feet. There was also an ugly scowl on her face. 

Descending the stairs, she saw her two older brothers looking up at her. The oldest, Clepe, sneered at her and proceeded to walk outside the front door. The second oldest, Keab, threw her a disgusted look and walked out just like Clepe. 

‘Unbelievable! They ignored me? Really? They must have forgotten that Mom is always on my side. Hmph!’ 

Jade was boiling in anger but had to swallow it down when she saw the strange stares the nannies threw at her. 

"Fine, fine, fine! I'm going, I’m going. Okay?"

She grumpily walked out of the door. But at the very least, she had a good breakfast even though it was a quick bite and she had no time to savor it. Even that quick bite was luxurious. If it had been their usual life, she wouldn’t be able to afford it. 

Outside, there was a black car waiting for her. Jade rolled her eyes at the nannies, who  bowed their heads at her, and got in the car. Unexpectedly, there was already a young man sitting inside the car. Jade took a quick glance at him before looking away and closing the door. She wasn’t in the mood to admire his beauty. 

Jade breathed in and out, calming herself. After a few moments, she turned her head sideways to look at the guy sitting beside her, who was calmly reading a book. Ever since she got in the car, he did not give her so much as a glance. 

The guy had straight, chestnut hair, with his bangs casting a light shadow on his eyes. He had curly long eyelashes and a decently pointed nose. Jade squinted her eyes. 

‘Is that book so interesting that he did not even spare me a single glance? This face is so beautiful though.’ 

Jade pouted and looked out of the window. She only remembered now how living here makes it feel almost as if she was in a completely different world. She has many questions to which she doesn’t have any answer, but hopefully, she can find those answers once in school. 

Jade crossed her arms on her chest and turned her attention to the scenery outside the window as the car drove along the highway. 

‘It’s really different when you live in the city than in the province… Haa…. These tall buildings are making me dizzy.’

As they arrived at the school gate, she could see how it was swarmed with students getting down from their own cars. When it was their turn, she took her bag and was about to open the door when she heard a masculine voice behind her. 

"Wait."

She felt the guy open the door on the other side and went to open the door on her side. She was momentarily confused at his actions but decided to go along with it. After all, how many times in her life could she experience such a gentlemanly behavior? Moreover, a gorgeous guy opening the door for her? That’s probably not gonna happen again (to which she was wrong). 

As soon as she stepped out of the car, she heard the earth-shattering screams of the girls not too far away. 

"Jean Pierre Morris! Be mine!"

"Heather Jade Aczen! How can you be so beautiful?!"

"You're really a match made in heaven!"

"How to be you, Heather Jade Aczen! Gimme your fiancé!"

Jade was startled for a moment and felt like her eardrums were about to explode. Disliking the noise the crowd made, she rolled her eyes and impatiently glanced at the girls shouting at the top of their lungs. 

Almost immediately, the girls went silent and made way for them. When she saw this happen, Jade was surprised and made an ‘O’ shape of her mouth. 

‘This must be because I’m too beautiful to ignore, right?’ Jade thought and laughed inwardly.

She casually walked through the crowd with her arms crossed, not until a girl with the same blonde hair as hers fell to the ground. 

"Ah!"

Jade looked down at the girl. She had quite a pretty face paired with her white complexion. The most eye-catching thing about her was her beautiful, long legs. Jade thought of helping her up, but remembering that she didn’t know this pretty girl and there were many other people to help her, she walked past her. 

She is the type of person that won’t lend any help, unless it was someone she personally knew. That was why she had few friends. 

Jade took a step forward but the girl who fell on the ground opened her mouth and spoke. 

"Why did you push me?"

Jade stopped walking and raised her eyebrows. Is she talking to me? Because I was the only one who walked past her?

Baffled, Jade turned her head and looked at the blonde haired girl. She did not say anything and only stared at the girl on the ground. The girl was stupefied under Jade’s piercing eyes and stood up from her awkward position. 

When she saw that the girl already stood up, Jade walked away not sparing her another look. There were muffled mutters around, but Jade ignored it and walked past them. 

'Now, where am I?'

Jade continued walking until she was in front of a room on the third floor of a building. There was a plate on the side of the door that read ‘Business Administration’. Jade opened the door and walked in. The people inside looked at her for a second and turned away after. 

'These people are weird.'

Sitting on the chair near the window, Jade started to seriously ponder about her situation. This wasn’t a normal occurrence in her life – should I even consider this as normal? It feels like she is in a beautiful dream right now.