Chapter 5
Aaliyah stumbled back to her room and collapsed on the bed, burying her face deep in the covers.
She thought she was all cried out, but tears still silently soaked her pillow.
She curled up like a shrimp, even breathing hurt.
She lay there in a daze for the entire day. It wasn’t until the next day that she finally dragged herself up, mechanically ate something, and drank some water.
Her phone suddenly buzzed with a message from her college group chat:
[Tonight at 7 PM, Crown Hotel reunion! Everyone who can make it, come!]
She stared at the screen blankly.
She was leaving soon anyway, and she’d probably never see these classmates again… just treat it as her final farewell.
The Crown Hotel was blazing with lights. Aaliyah put on light makeup to cover her swollen eyes and chose the simplest white dress she had.
“Aaliyah!” Her college roommate Emma waved her over. “Over here!”
A few old classmates sat around the table, chattering about catching up.
Emma made exaggerated expressions and nudged her. “You were so crazy about that campus prince Claude back in the day. Did you catch him?”
The other classmates looked over curiously.
Aaliyah’s fingers paused slightly.
Back then, her pursuit of Claude had been so dramatic that the whole school knew about it. But Claude only agreed to date her after graduation, so few people knew they’d actually gotten together.
Not to mention Claude thought weddings were a hassle and didn’t even have a ceremony.
“No, I didn’t.” She said softly, forcing a faint smile.
If she could do it all over again, she’d rather have never met Claude at all.
“Holy shit! Even someone as gorgeous as you couldn’t land him?” The classmates were shocked. “Claude’s standards are way too high!”
“Hey, don’t feel bad about it,” Emma pulled out her phone. “I’ve got some quality guys here. Let me set you up!”
“Set her up with what?”
A low, cold voice came from behind them.
Aaliyah’s whole body tensed. She turned to see Claude standing not far away with Caroline.
He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, the diamond pin on his tie sparkling under the lights.
“Claude?!” The classmates were stunned.
Caroline clung to Claude’s arm in a stunning red dress.
The moment they appeared, they became the center of attention.
“Is this your… girlfriend?” someone asked carefully.
Caroline shyly lowered her head, and Claude didn’t deny it.
Immediately, wolf whistles and teasing calls filled the room.
“Of course the campus prince gets the beauty! They’re perfect together!”
Aaliyah kept her head down, drinking water, pretending not to hear.
Chapter 3
Claude’s gaze stayed locked on her like a knife.
The atmosphere in the private room heated up again as classmates gathered in small groups to catch up.
Someone suggested playing truth or dare. After the bottle spun a few times, it landed squarely on Caroline.
“I choose dare!” Caroline said sweetly, but her eyes flicked toward Claude,
“Kiss someone of the opposite sex in this room for ten seconds!”
After the punishment was announced, the room exploded with cheers.
Caroline blushed, fidgeting with her dress, but walked straight toward Claude without hesitation.
Claude lounged casually on the sofa, but his gaze traveled over the crowd to land on Aaliyah in the corner.
She was looking down at her phone, completely unaffected by the scene.
Claude’s expression turned ice-cold.
“Claude…” Caroline was already standing in front of him, biting her lip shyly.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Claude suddenly grabbed the back of Caroline’s head and kissed her aggressively.
“Wo0000-”
The screams nearly blew the roof off.
This kiss went on way longer than ten seconds, and Claude even made deliberate wet sounds.
Aaliyah finally looked up, but just glanced over calmly before going back to her phone.
Claude’s face got even uglier.
