DAMIAN I dive straight into work when I get back to the office from the restaurant, immersing myself completely in it for hours, trying to distract myself but the unease refused to leave my chest and Scarlett refused to let my mind be. I had just wrapped up my last meeting of the day when I got a call from Gerard, a reminder that my old man wanted me to join him for dinner. I swear if he mentions getting married and settling down one more time to me at this dinner, I am going to flip. Apparently our blockhead shareholders think that as the CEO of a multibillion dollar conglomerate, I should be married with a wife and kids to give the public the perception that I am responsible. They didn’t think so when my elder brother mismanaged the company’s funds and almost dragged them into debt but for my timely intervention. They were literally begging me to come and handle things and now, after my team and I have set everything on a positive trajectory, they suddenly remember that I’m not m

SCARLETT Damian frowns at me, dipping his hands into his pocket which only makes his arm muscle stretch, leaving me wondering how it would feel to be in those strong arms again, how much his soft plump lips left hickeys on me the next morning, how he- “Do you have something to say?” Damian says in a stoic tone but he has that arrogant smirk on his face. “Maybe,” I reply, rolling my eyes at him. He scoffs and makes a face. “What do you want? I was perfectly okay with pretending we’re strangers.” “Let’s start with an apology, we can move on from there,” I reply, keeping my face passive. He scoffs before his expression turns serious. “You are a lot of things but a slut is not one of them,” he replies, curling his hands around my waist which only makes my heart pound ten times faster as he walks us to a seat in the middle aisle. “That’s not a proper apology,” I say, scowling at him when we sit down. “Don’t push it,” he says, switching to his cold tone. Jerk. He’s lucky I have to

SCARLETT Everyone seems to be treating me a little bit better since the day I had the youngest billionaire in the state as a guest on our school talk show. People now look at me differently, almost like they used to in the past, they looked at me with more respect and some in awe. I won’t lie, it brought back the feeling of being someone important but I know better than to be carried away by it. It didn’t help that the event photographer caught me and Damian in extra close proximity that day, with my finger on his chest and our eyes lost in one another’s. A silly student blog even released an article, speculating about my relationship with Damian. The title alone is hilarious. ‘QUEEN OF VBU WITH THE KING OF THE CITY?: THE SECRET DATING LIFE OF VALLEYVIEW MOST ELITE.’ And if there’s one person who wouldn’t rest until I gave her all the details of what went down between me and Damian, it’s my new best friend. Yes, BEST FRIEND. Not only is Delia the reason why I currently have a

I’m on my way to the restaurant Professor August asked me to join him, wearing a black denim trouser with a black long sleeve shirt and a pair of white sneakers, a white band wrapped around my hair and a tiny pearl bracelet on my wrist, the same build as my earrings. I cannot lie, my stomach feels empty and full at the same time from the nervousness of knowing what he wants, I hope this isn’t about Damian again. The restaurant he picked wasn’t in the highbrow areas of the city but it wasn’t exactly bad at all. The Fab Restaurant was one of those restaurants that catered to the needs of everyone, the rich, the poor and those in between. There was something in their menu that every pay grade could afford, which made it very popular. I’ve been here once before with dad when it newly opened but it wasn’t planned or anything, we just got hungry on the road and The Fab was the closest restaurant. I walk into the cozy restaurant late in the afternoon and the soft lighting and comfortable

TREVOR “I don’t owe you shit anymore Chloe, get the fuck out my face,” I say to Chloe, my eyes fixed on the horse that I’ve just placed a ten thousand dollar bet on, sitting at the horse racing track. “I’m not saying you owe me anything and I’m not going to try to blackmail you either. I just want you to hear me out.” I scoff. “You can fucking try that and see what becomes of you.” “Stop it Trevor! Just fucking listen to me,” she yells in frustration but I really do not have time to deal with her. The adrenal rush I get from watching these horses gallop past each other knowing I’m either going to make or lose money has sort of become my new addiction, a suitable distraction that I need to get my mind off Scarlett. I’m slowly beginning to accept that I’m never going to be a part of her life again. Anytime I try to make things okay, she overreacts, things blow out of proportion and I’m always left there standing like the guy who’s to blame for everything. Fuck her. She doesn’t con