Chapter 18 Her New Desk Mate
The <b>room</b><b>, </b><b>just </b>a moment ago full of whispers, went totally silent.
Everyone automatically leaned in, eyes wide, locked on the quiet yet striking new student.
“Why don’t you introduce yourself, <b>the </b>homeroom teacher prompted softly.
+8 Pearls
The boy lifted his gaze just a little. His dark eyes caught the light from above–deep ck, speckled like starlight <b>in </b>ink.
“My name’s Asher. Nice to meet <b>you</b>.”
Short and simple. His voice was soft but sharp, like a chill breeze brushing past in the early morning–cool, clear, and a little detached.
Jean froze for a beat when she heard it. Her eyes flickered.
Asher Lawson?
Wait. Isn’t he the main male lead in the novel!
Right now, standing in <b>front </b>of her, was none other than the younger version of the story’s central heartthrob.
Jean thought <b>hard</b>, flipping through the storyline in her head.
Asher was originally the illegitimate son of the wealthy Lawson family. His mom had gotten pregnant by ident and raised. him all on her own, never knowing who his father was or where to even start looking.
Still, this was Asher–the male lead. His life started rough, but he was never meant to be ordinary.
He’d gone to <b>a </b>regr, no–name school until he crushed a national academicpetition, took gold, and got personally scouted by the principal of Sterford Academy.
That was how he ended up transferring into the elite school.
Sterford might’ve been packed with trust fund kids, but it <b>was </b>still the most elite private academy out there. <b>And </b>like any top–tier institution, they had numbers to hit.
So whenever a true genius <b>showed </b>up, Sterford made <b>room</b>–and handed out schrships like gold–ted invitations.
For someone like Asher, who didn’te from money, that schrship offer was inpossible to walk away from.
Which meant right now, <b>this </b>was exactly the <b>part </b>of the story when he made the <b>jump </b><b>into </b>Sterford.
Once Asher enrolled at <b>Sterford </b><b>Academy</b>, he was <b>going </b>to level up <b>fast</b><b>–</b><b>and </b>along the way, he’d start piecing together the truth about where he came from.
The current Hossman of the Lawson family was Thomas–the same Thomas who, <b>just </b>a few <b>days </b>ago, tried to set his sister up with Dominic. He was all <b>sh</b><b>, </b><b>no </b>substance. A ssic bootlicker. Later in the plot, once <b>Asher </b>reimed his <b>ce </b>in the Lawson <b>family</b>, he absolutely wrecked <b>Thomas </b>and took over.
And it didn’s stop there.
Eventually, the Ginger <b>family </b><b>would </b>fall. <b>And </b>the Lawsons–who were currently several steps below them–would rive under Asher’s rule and take their ce <b>as </b>the new power family of irford.
Jean gave a small shrug. My poor Ginger family. You don’t stand a chance. You were doomed from the very start
Naher had one moree on that made things even messier
He was originally engaged to the original jean
7:40 PM
Chapter 18 Her New Desk Mate
An invisible heiress and a scandal–born heir. Lovely match.
And <b>that’s </b>how this weird,pletely out–of–nowhere engagement came to be.
+8 Pear
Naturally, the reborn heroine–Sarah, the real heiress–already knew how the story would go. She knew Asher was going to rise to the top and be the one standing above everyone else….
So aftering back, Sarah made sure to steal the engagement for herself and marry Asher in the original Jean’s <b>ce</b>.
Jean gave a little nod,pletely at peace with it.
So yeah. That engagement? Had absolutely nothing to do with her anymore.
The male lead belonged to the female lead.
<b>And </b>she, jean, was headed for her five–star psych ward.
She was just a passerby. Someone who wandered through the world of the true main characters.
She was still mid–thought when the scrape of a desk broke through the air beside her.
Jean looked up on reflex, only <b>to </b>see Asher moving his desk right next to hers, sliding it into ce-
Hold up. Something’s <b>off </b>
“You’ll be sitting next to Jean from now on.”
The teacher’s cheerful voice floated across the room and hit Jean like a brick.
Her eyes flew open. She nced at the teacher, then at Asher, totally thrown off
“Wait–what? Why me?”
The teacher answered without hesitation.
“You’re the only one without a seat partner”
“Miss! I’d be totally fine switching with her!” someone called out, eyes shining with anticipation.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind either!” another added, practically bouncing in ce<b>, </b>
<b>Too </bte.
Asher was already sitting beside her.
He stacked his books neatly, everything ced just right. Then he pulled one out and opened it calmly, not rushing a single
His eyes stayed locked on the page. Not once did he <b>nce </b>in Jean’s direction,
Jran didn’t feel like talking to <b>him</b>. At <b>all</b><b>. </b>
Sure, she was usually a whirlwind of conversation–loud, fast–talking, and always able to keep a chat going. But that didn’t
she wanted to talk to just anyone.
Asher? He was the kind of person she had no desire to deal with.
In the back of her mind, jean already viewed Sarah as a threat. A ticking time bomb she’d eventually have to survive<b>. </b><b>And </b>
<b>hard </b>to be friendly with people who, down the line, would help wreck <b>your </b>entire life and ship hospital
1- you off to a psych
741 PM c
Chapter 18 Her New Desk Mate
+8 Pearls
After school.
Asher packed his bag without a word and left the room right on time.
<b>Jean </b>moved slowly, <b>flipping </b>through her books, when she caught Lacey’s voice cutting through the air from the back of the
ssroom.
“Wait, what? The gym’s under repair?”
“Yeah. So we <b>can’t </b>rehearse there today… <b>Lacey</b>, <b>what </b>about the arts building? It’s pretty open too.
The second she heard that, Lacey’s eyes flew wide like she’d just been hit with a jump scare. Her pupils visibly trembled.
“The arts building…No way. I’m not going!
<b>She </b><b>shut </b>it down immediately. Her <b>face </b>had gone pale, and across from her, the other girl <b>frowned</b>.
“Lacey, why are you so freaked out about the arts building?”
<b>Jean </b>caught every word.
And it triggered <b>a </b>memory.
Sofia <b>had </b>mentioned something weird. She’d told Jean that Lacey and Deon ran into something seriously unsettling over in the arts building not long <b>ago</b>.
Deon hadn’t been back to school since<b>. </b>Considering the way <b>Dorninic </b><b>had </b>crushed the Mills family recently, it wasn’t too surprising he’d vanished from ss.
The way Lacey <b>absolutely </b>refused to step foot in the arts building-
Jean couldn’t help it–her curiosity kicked in
What exactly did they run into in there? What’s hiding in that ce…?
The school hadn’t sealed the building off orbeled it dangerous, As far as Sterford Academy was concerned, whatever happened to Lacey and Deon had been chalked up as a fluke.
<b>But </b>Lacey was clearly still traumatized. Whatever it was, it had gotten under <b>her </b>skin.
And for reasons she couldn’t exin, Jean <b>was </b><b>suddenly </b>interested.
What’s really going on in that building?
“But we don’t have any other ce to rehearse,” one of the students prepping for the Clory of Hope Cup said, trying to reason.
with her.
“We could use my <b>house</b>, Lacey blurted, dead serious..
“That’s just not practical. Too much of a hassle,” someone replied without missing a beat.
“But the arty building ”
– just
Lacey’s mouth opened and closed. Her face had gone pale. She looked like she couldn’t <b>even </b>find the words–likej
unking about it sent her spiraling
Send Gifts