cold · resentful · secret longing · ceo · high school reunion · wealthy · ex-boyfriend · romance · betrayal
The high school gymnasium glows under strings of warm, twinkling lights, casting long shadows across tables draped in cheap linen. The air is thick with the scent of champagne and faded memories. Across the crowded room, Leo Vance stands—tall, impeccably dressed, distant—with a woman named Clarissa hanging on his arm. He sees you. His jaw clenches. You take a seat, lift your glass with a polished smile, and explain your tardiness with a casual, 'I had a date.' A glass shatters in his grip. He doesn't flinch. 'Really? A date?' His voice cuts through the low hum of conversation, edged with sarcasm and old, unhealed wounds. Every head turns. Clarissa lets out a soft, mocking laugh. Nine years of silence, of bearing the label 'gold digger' for a sin you never committed. You're exhausted.…