All Chapters of Losing the School Belle's Favor: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

I'd just finished sorting out my paperwork to leave the country when Vivian Saunders, the school belle, came walking straight toward me.She glanced at the passport and visa on the desk and paused for a moment."Why didn't you wait for me?"It took me a few seconds to realize she meant the trip abroad we'd once planned to take together. Too bad. This wasn't a tourist visa.I gathered up the documents on the desk and shook my head without a word.She saw my reaction and softened her voice, coaxing, "I haven't forgotten. It's just that Leon's injury hasn't healed yet. Can we wait until he's fully recovered before we go?"Leon Kallen, the transfer student, had broken his leg after Vivian shoved him out of harm's way, and he still had a few weeks left before his cast came off."No need, Vivian. Where I'm going has nothing to do with you."Her smile faded. "Mike, I know you're upset with me, but I already told you, I just didn't want to owe him anything."And it's been months. You

Chapter 2

But long before that, it was my dad who'd built the Saunders family up from nothing.What Vivian had just done tore the last shred of goodwill between our two families to pieces.I forced down my anger and demanded, "Vivian, do you have any idea what the elders in both our families would think if they saw what you just did?"She didn't so much as blink. "Why worry? It's not like your family would starve. Marry me. I'll take care of you."My expression must have turned uglier by the second.She seemed to have forgotten that if there was one thing I'd always hated, it was the old rumors painting me as nothing more than the school belle's tagalong.Ignoring my mood entirely, Vivian reached out and brushed a hand along my eyebrows, gently smoothing out the furrow in my forehead."Don't be angry," she murmured. "It's not a good look on you."Her tone was light and easy, so much like the way she used to be, back before Leon ever showed up. There hadn't been a single crack between us

Chapter 3

The moment I stepped out of the hall, Vivian caught up with me.Her expression turned serious. "Mike, you went too far. I want you to apologize to Leon in front of everyone, right now."I said flatly, "I just told him not to go around exposing your private business. Is that really wrong of me?" I glanced at the mark on her collarbone.She looked stunned. "You found out?"Vivian stared at me like she couldn't believe it. "Why aren't you angry?"Of course she couldn't believe it. She'd always assumed I would follow her forever, no matter what. My apparent indifference only gave her more confidence, not less."I get it now," she said. "You're just trying to get my attention this way."I stepped back, putting distance between us. Seeing that, she softened her whole posture and leaned in close, draping her arms around my neck."Come on, Mike, don't be mad..."Those marks were right there in front of my eyes, her parted red lips moving along with them. My head suddenly swam, and I

Chapter 4

"I only mentioned to Vivian that the punch you gave me was still sore, and she couldn't wait to hand me your weak spot," Leon said.Vivian walked into the classroom right then. She saw me pinned down and only asked Leon, with obvious concern, "How's that? Feel a little better now?"Veins stood out along my clenched jaw as I bit out a warning. "Vivian!"She looked at me, her eyes cold. "You hit him in front of everyone at the party. Wasn't that the same as hitting me?"Your dad will only lose a leg. Leon lost his face."Leon looked at me with open satisfaction, the corner of his mouth curling up, then spoke into the phone. "Do it.""No!"I threw everything I had into breaking free, knocking them off balance and snatching the phone away, only to see something I'd never be able to forget.The man on the other end raised an iron bar and brought it down on my dad's leg without a moment's hesitation.A scream of agony and the crack of splintering bone hit my ears at the same time.

Chapter 5

After a burst of screaming, silence fell over the room.On the floor, all that remained was Leon, bleeding and battered, blood pooling around him.A few steps away, Vivian stood frozen, a hand over her mouth, watching everything unfold."Mike, you've lost your mind! Don't forget, in Cantor City, there's no one who can protect you except me."I narrowed my eyes, utterly unafraid. "Is that so? Then I guess we'll see."For a moment, she seemed to see the boy I used to be as a kid, the one who'd never known fear even when he had nothing to back him up, long before she'd ever come along to save him."You lunatic! Hold him down. I'm going to teach him a lesson about pushing his luck!"There was nothing left in Vivian's eyes but fury and defiance.I'd never once imagined she could turn on me like this. And now here she was, hurting me for someone else's sake.Vivian never got her own hands dirty. She always had people to handle things for her. But today, for the first time, she raise

Chapter 6

That photograph of young me was the only keepsake my mother had left. At first, Kitty's interest in tracking me down after she came back to the country had been nothing more than sympathy. Not knowing quite how else to help, she'd simply reached out through anonymous emails."But by now, my attention toward you doesn't feel like it's just about helping your mom anymore."Kitty, who'd grown up abroad, said it plainly. "Somewhere along the way, I fell for you, Mike. Your kindness, your resilience, that's what got to me. Will you be my boyfriend?"It was the first time anyone had ever confessed to me like that. Even Vivian, back when things were good between us, had only ever treated my presence as something owed to her. She'd never once said it outright.I'd frozen up at the time. Seeing that, Kitty had simply reassured me gently. "You don't have to decide right away. I know it'll take you time to move past everything."Pulled out of the memory, I looked at Vivian, who now stood

Chapter 7

Leon's whole body went rigid.Walter shoved him back into the crowd and barked an order for everyone to seize me and Kitty.That was when a deafening roar tore through the sky.Everyone looked up to find dozens of helicopters circling overhead. Half of them bore the Mercer family's emblem. The other half carried the crest of the Vandells, the wealthiest family in the capital.One of Kitty's bodyguards bowed respectfully. "Miss, Mrs. Mercer and Ms. Vandell are both worried for your safety. They've sent the world's finest bodyguards to protect you both."They ask that you bring Ms. Vandell's son, Mike, home as soon as possible."For a moment, everyone went dead silent.Walter muttered under his breath, "That's not possible. That can't be possible..."Leon's jaw dropped. "The Mercers' eldest daughter? Kitty Mercer? She's actually with a piece of trash like him?"I frowned. "Hit him."The Vandell bodyguards, fresh off the helicopters, closed the distance in a few strides, hauled

Chapter 8

Every time Kitty and I went anywhere together, Vivian would appear out of nowhere and invent one excuse after another to talk to me.That wasn't all. Every morning when I got to the classroom, someone had already filled the cup on my desk with water. On cleaning duty days, Vivian volunteered to move my desk for me. Even at lunch, she'd show up with food made by the Saunders family's staff and insist on treating me.During gym class, when the sun beat down hard on the field, she pulled out sunscreen to put on me and held an umbrella over my head the whole time.The moment I so much as frowned, she'd immediately fall silent, not saying another word, as if terrified I might come to hate her.Within a single day, the news that the school belle had turned into my personal lapdog had spread across the entire campus.A few people didn't believe it, until that afternoon, when I went to the broadcast room to do the announcements and Vivian burst straight in.She didn't notice the microp

Chapter 9

"Of course."After a moment, Kitty added, "Actually, when I first came looking for you, it wasn't only because I was worried about your mom."There was another reason too. We've had a match arranged between our families since we were kids."But back then, I didn't want to marry someone I didn't even know, so I figured I'd find you myself first and pay you off to make the whole thing go away."I never expected things would spiral out of my control, feelings included."That was another blunt confession from Kitty, and it caught me completely off guard.She shrugged and dropped her gaze, looking a little down.Without thinking, I said, "You don't have to feel bad about it. I'll marry you."The second the words left my mouth, she lit right back up, her eyes going wide as she looked at me seriously."Really?""Of course. A promise is a promise," I told her. "Kitty, thank you for coming into my life. I like you too."…I'd known for a while that everything Vivian had been doing w

Chapter 10

Vivian looked at me and said, "Mike, for the sake of what we used to have, please help me."Leon is abusive. My arms and thighs are covered in cuts and bruises. I don't want to be with him anymore. Please, save me!"Leon clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her away, two long wet streaks trailing across the ground behind her.I watched it all happen with cold indifference and let him take her away.…Not long after, I finished wrapping everything up and arrived abroad.The moment I saw Judy Vandell, I recognized her as my mother.Years of illness had clearly taken their toll on her; there was a shadow behind her eyes that never quite lifted. But even so, it was easy to see she was a kind, loving mother at heart.The instant she saw me, Judy pressed a hand to her mouth, tears spilling over, and pulled me into her arms the very next second.For the first time in all these years, I finally felt it: a mother's love was real.Even with an ocean between us, she'd never once st

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