Chapter 4
Luciana’s breath caught in her throat. She didn’t have the strength to look at Thiago’s face. Instead, she fixed her eyes on the white T–shirt he was wearing. The fabric was thin, almost sheer, outlining the solid lines of his chest.
As her gaze drifted downward, the faint lines of his abs and pelvis came into view. His physique was teasingly visible under his shirt.
Thiago tilted his head, a roguish smile playing on his lips. “Why do you keep avoiding my eyes, Luciana?”
She finally lifted her head, her shimmering, clear eyes meeting his gaze head–on.
“I’m not,” she said softly, but it was sweet enough to stir the heart. “It’s been a while, Thiago. Great to see you again.”
The man Luciana had been dreaming of night after night was standing right before her eyes, and her heart had long since lost its rhythm.
She was just a young woman who had to work part–time to scrape together her tuition, yet she was foolish enough to harbor her feelings for someone like Thiago, who stood at the very top of the pyramid.
He was far too good for her. There was no way he would reciprocate her feelings. She was simply out of his league.
Thiago’s expression remained calm, but something unreadable seemed to flicker deep in his eyes. The air around him was sharp, almost commanding.
“Do I not get a ‘thank you“?”
“Thank you,” Luciana said softly.
“Good girl.” He smiled subtly, then turned and walked toward their table. “Let’s go.”
An hour later, Luciana returned to her rental apartment in Ember Lane.
Vivian was still fast asleep on the bed, curled under the covers. Luciana tiptoed to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and changed into a clean set of loungewear.
As she folded Thiago’s light blue button–up, her gaze unintentionally drifted to the label stitched into the collar. Curious, she picked up her phone and searched the brand online. A second later, she gasped sharply at the average price of their products. “Three thousand dollars?”
The convenience store her parents ran back in Januview probably wouldn’t make that much in a month. What others earned from more than a month of hard work was, to Thiago, just another casual piece of clothing.
Luciana steadied her emotions, carefully folding the light blue button–up and placing it on the couch. She made a mental note to take it to the dry cleaners later.
Then, she sat at her desk, pulled open a drawer, and reached into the farthest corner. From it, she retrieved a soft pink envelope. Inside was a bracelet she had beaded by hand.
It was a love letter, one she had written to Thiago back in their senior year of high school, but she never had the courage to give him. Since then, it had stayed sealed and untouched, buried deep away.
Every time she so much as looked at the envelope, it reminded her of how foolish she had been.
In an instant, her memory drifted back to that day early in their senior year, right after the new semester had started.
Silverlake High School was one of the most prestigious high schools in Jaxwell, a place reserved for the children of the elite. Everyone who walked those halls came from wealth or power–everyone except Luciana.
She earned her spot with a full scholarship that was offered only to top–performing students across the region. She was just a girl from a modest home in Januview trying to survive among heirs and heiresses.
Luciana lived on campus for all three years of high school, and during that entire period, she remained on the fringes of every social circle. She never made any real friends.
That moming, just outside the gates of Silverlake High, a boy on a bicycle brushed past her, nearly knocking her over. He had the kind of looks that turned heads. He appeared sharp, striking, and untouchable.
There was a quiet arrogance in his gaze and a chill in the arch of his brow, the kind that warned people to keep their distance. But it was exactly that careless, untamed air that made him impossible to ignore. Just like that, Luciana fell hard for him.
Perhaps he was just like her, she thought. A special admit, one of the few who wasn’t born into privilege.
“Hey… Your bike looks kind of light. You should be careful, though. Maybe switch to something a little sturdier?”
Thiago hadn’t entertained her at that time.
Later, Luciana found out that the lightweight mountain bike was worth over lifty thousand dollars. Every time he rode it to school, a convoy of
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luxury cars would follow closely behind, escorting him.
As for why none of the other students at school seemed to know Thiago, it was because he was the only son of Lawrence Langston, the richest man in Jaxwell, who had Thiago in his 40s.
The Langston family had always shielded him from the public eye, only allowing him to appear in the media when he turned 20.
That was something Luciana later saw on TV.
Luciana tucked the pink envelope back into her drawer and gave herself a bitter smile. She had long known that she should give up, but loving someone had made her like a moth drawn to a flame. Despite knowing full well it was a fiery trap, she still plunged in without hesitation.
For the past three years, she had been quietly crushing on Thiago while wiping away her tears in secret. It was exhausting, and her heart ached deeply.
Suddenly, a new Instagram follow request popped up on her phone. The person had a vast blue ocean as their profile photo, with the name Thiago Langston“.
Luciana was stunned for a few seconds before quickly accepting it and following him. Then, she immediately clicked on Thiago’s profile feed. His account was public, but it was filled only with posts related to biomedical research.
For some reason, just seeing those posts made her heart race faster. Realizing her emotions were getting out of control, she down her phone and buried her face deep into her arm.
This couldn’t go on. She had to move on!
immediately put
He was like the bright moon reflected in the water; he was not meant to be grasped. If she tried, she would only fall into the water and drown.
A hand gently tapped her shoulder at that moment.
Luciana looked up and found Vivian smiling brightly at her. “Vivian, you’re up.”
Vivian gently cupped Luciana’s face, “What’s wrong? Did someone or something upset you? Why do you look so down?”
Luciana smiled, two cute dimples appearing on her soft, fair cheeks–one shallow, one deep.
“I’m not upset. Just feeling tired on the first day of my period,”
Vivian pulled over a chair and sat down beside her. “Oh my gosh, what a coincidence! It’s my first day too!”
She continued, her voice helpless, “Can you believe it? Of all days, it had to come on the day of my cheerleading competition! When I was doing the splits, I felt like I was going to crack in half!”
Vivian was the captain of Jorendale University’s cheerleading team and also the belle of their department. But with her carefree way of speaking, she didn’t quite fit that title. In her words, Luciana was the beauty while she was the sidekick.
“So, how are you feeling now? Want me to make you some chamomile tea?”
Vivian pinched Luciana’s cheek. “Look at you–so pretty and loving. Whoever marries you will be the luckiest bastard in the world.”
Luciana held her hand. “I don’t want to marry anyone. I just want to be with you.”
“Okay, Once I get married, you’ll sleep between me and Nigel. Cool?”
“Not cool I’ll take the spot under the bed instead.”
The two women happily chatted for a while longer.
Vivian glanced at the time and realized it was getting late. She needed to head back to the dorm, Suddenly, her eyes were drawn to the light blue button–up lying on the couch.
She quickly dashed over and picked it up. “Luci? Why do you have men’s clothing lying in your apartment?”
Luciana blushed. “A senior lent it to me. I’m taking it to the dry cleaner’s before returning it.”
Vivian checked the button–up and gasped. “It’s from Dovich? This is a limited edition piece from their latest collection! This must cost at least ten thousand dollars! Who’s that rich senior of yours?”
Luciana was stunned in her spot. Ten thousand dollars? She had thought a simple button–up like that had come from a diffusion line!
She explained, “He’s a graduate student in the biomedical science department, Thiago Langston. Nigel knows him too.”
“What? Thiago Langston?” Vivian exclaimed.
“Vivian, can you not freak out like that?” Luciana’s heart was pounding from Vivian’s sudden excitement. “You know him too?”
Vivian put down the button–up “How can I not know someone as legendary as him? I heard from Nigel that he originally went to high school in Ubrurg, but he didn’t really focus on school there. Instead, he was always messing around with biology experiments, In the end, he blew up the school lab. So, his dad brought him back to the country to finish his senior year.”
“I
Chapter 4
Luciana’s mouth was agape as though she had been enlightened. So that was way Thago suddenly cresteredd corriak ettir School se couldn’t help but laugh at herself for thinking he was just an ordinary scholarship student bacistern.
Suddenly, Vivian’s eyes sparkled mischievously as she raised an eyebrow a Luciana.” Sayyyyy woulddTaggo indyo mapema é have a thing for you?”
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