جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 50

JACE'S POVI slammed my locker door shut so hard the metal rattled through the entire athletic complex, the sound echoing off the wet tile floor like a gunshot.Zero sleep. No phone. A flatlined bank account. And the icy, suffocating rage of my dad’s threat burning a hole through my chest."Whoa, easy there, captain," Malik said, leaning against the bench with his arms crossed, throwing me a cautious, sideways look. "You look like you're ready to put someone through a wall. What happened to you last night? You missed the six AM call, and Coach said you had a 'family emergency.'""I'm fine," I gritted out, pulling my damp swim cap off and shoving it into my bag."Yeah, you look totally fine," Malik sarcastically replied, dropping his voice as the rest of the guys on the team wandered toward the showers. "Word on campus is your dad pulled up to the quad in his suit last night and loaded your stuff into his trunk. Gossip page is saying you got kicked out of the mansion. Is it true?"I pu

izel's pov"Jace, stop!" I hissed into the pouring rain, leaning as far over the wet stone ledge as I dared without slipping. "It’s raining! You’re going to fall and break your neck!"He didn't even slow down. His rain-soaked sneakers found a solid footing on the thick wooden lattice, his large hands gripping the wet oak branches like he was back in a high-stakes athletic drill. In five second flat, he hauled himself over the wrought-iron railing of my second-story balcony, landing silently on the stone floor like a shadowy cat.He stood there breathing heavy, dripping water all over the terrace, his dark eyes glowing in the faint yellow light from my bedroom lamp."You're insane," I whimpered, my hands flying up to cover my mouth as I pulled him quickly through the open glass doors, shutting out the storm behind us. "Your heart, Jace! The doctor literally said light physical activity!""Climbing up to see you is therapeutic," he rasped, a wicked, breathtaking grin pulling at his lips

IZEL'S POVI woke up at 1:15 AM to the faint, terrified sound of hushed whispers coming from the dark hallway outside my bedroom door.My eyes snapped open instantly. I slipped out of bed, creeping barefoot across the cold hardwood, pressing my ear flat against the heavy oak paneling."...I told you, I’m sending the wire transfer tomorrow morning!" my mom’s frantic, trembling voice floated through the crack. She was practically hyperventilating. "He cannot find out about this. If Richard sees those credit card statements, he’ll lose his mind... Yes, I'll meet you at the Grand Sovereign Hotel parking lot at ten AM during Jace's board hearing. Just keep him quiet!"My blood went completely ice cold.What on earth?I cracked the door open half an inch. My mom was standing near the grand hallway console in her silk robe, clutching her phone to her ear with shaking hands. Right on the marble table next to her was a sleek, black designer shopping bag from an ultra-exclusive Italian menswear

IZEL'S POVIf you had told me a month ago that my personal life would be broadcasted across Pacific Coast University like a pay-per-view catastrophe, I would have thrown a jar of wet clay at your head.Welcome to my current reality: surviving the mother of all board meeting ambushes, watching my mom legally castrate a billionaire in broad daylight, and now, dodging digital execution by student-body gossip hounds. I was knee-deep in Studio B, staring blankly at a charcoal portrait that was supposed to be a human face but was currently giving strong "depressed owl" energy. My phone was vibrating a hole through my workbench. Malik’s group-chat warning flashed on the screen: Open PCU Confessions right now. May God have mercy on your filthy step-sibling souls.My stomach plummeted straight into my sneakers. Before I could even swipe to unlock my digital death sentence, the heavy wooden door of the studio swung open.And in walked Noah Bennett.Noah. My three-year, highly idealized, agonizi

IZEL'S POVI kept walking, my boots crunching against the gravel pathway, trying very hard to pretend my nervous system wasn't currently melting down.Noah Bennett was still right beside me, his shoulder brushing mine with every step, talking about some upcoming architecture project like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on my entire emotional stability by being sweet.“Seriously, Izel, you shouldn't have to deal with all that campus noise alone,” Noah murmured, his blue eyes softening as he looked down at me. He stopped walking, gently catching my wrist to turn me toward him under the shade of the tall oak trees near the campus greenhouses. His touch wasn't rough or demanding; it was warm, careful, and filled with three years of unspoken longing. “If you need a place to crash, or just someone normal to talk to who isn't wrapped up in billionaire family drama... my door is always open. You know that, right?”My heart did a heavy, confused thud. Part of me—the younger, simpler version of m