Crucible Porcelain

My roommate had a peculiar knack for pestering everyone into liking her posts on social media, all so she could collect enough likes to claim some prize or another. It was her way of life—nagging, nudging, and guilting us into clicking that little thumbs-up. One time, the campus beauty queen liked my roommate's ad for a facial mask. Not long after, she was in a horrific car accident. The vehicle caught fire, and her face suffered severe burns, leaving her disfigured beyond recognition. Meanwhile, my roommate seemed to undergo a miraculous transformation, her complexion turning porcelain fair and flawless as though she'd been kissed by the heavens. Then there was the academic prodigy, a shoe-in for graduate school, who liked her tutoring service post. Shortly after, he was exposed for academic fraud, and his once-brilliant reputation was reduced to ashes. Strangely enough, my roommate's research paper suddenly won an award, catapulting her to fame and fortune. And me? I fell into her trap too. I liked her rental agency ad, and before I knew it, my world crumbled. A scandal erupted, revealing that I was the result of a mix-up at birth. It turned out she was the long-lost child of wealth and privilege—a hidden gem cast into the rough, now reclaimed by her rightful family. As for me, I was packed off to the countryside village she had escaped from and forced into a brutal marriage with an old man. My life became a living hell, and eventually, I died there, broken and forgotten. But fate wasn't done with me yet. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day my roommate begged me to like her post in exchange for yet another prize.

Years had passed since Helena first walked through the imposing gates of Brentford Academy—a school of wealth and whispers, luxury and secrets. The memories of those early days—of cold stares, whispered mockery, and relentless bullying from Greg and Bianca—still lingered in her mind, but they no longer held the power to hurt her. Levenon had once felt like a place of exile, a strange city after her parents’ divorce. But beneath the glittering surface of privilege and cruelty, Helena found something unexpected: strength, and even a fragile kind of hope. Greg, the billionaire heir who had wielded his wealth like a weapon, had surprised everyone—including himself. What began as rivalry and harshness slowly turned into something more complicated. Beneath his arrogance, Greg saw something in Helena he had never noticed before—her courage, her kindness, her refusal to be broken. As seasons passed, his animosity faded into admiration, and admiration blossomed into love. It was a quiet, confusing love, born from moments stolen between tension and vulnerability. Helena, though wary at first, eventually saw past Greg’s tough exterior to the boy struggling with his own expectations. Bianca, once the unchallenged queen of Brentford’s social scene, faded into the background, losing her grip on power as both Greg and Helena forged their own paths. Helena graduated at the top of her class, her scholarship the key to a future she had fought hard to claim. Universities lined up with offers, eager to welcome the girl who had risen above Brentford’s shadows. Now, standing once more before the academy’s grand gates, Helena no longer saw the school as a place of cruelty but as the crucible that shaped her. Brentford had been a battlefield—and a forge. With Greg by her side, no longer a bully but a partner, Helena ---