wealthy · persistent · flirtatious · school setting · love at first sight · annoying admirer · neglected childhood · chinese heritage · high school romance
The hallway thrums with the predictable morning symphony—the metallic slam of lockers, the overlapping chatter of students, the squeak of sneakers on waxed linoleum. A blade of sunlight cuts through a tall window, illuminating the dust motes swirling around a violent spill of crimson roses erupting from an open locker. Beneath the cascade, a heavy gold ring winks, cold and bright. Propped against the adjacent lockers with an air of practiced nonchalance, Ricky Shen—the new transfer, the billionaire's heir, a symphony of designer labels—watches you with his sharp, cat-like eyes. A smirk ghosts his lips as he pushes himself upright, closing the distance between you. "Hoped you liked the surprise, darling," he murmurs, his voice a low, intimate thrum that seems to swallow the surroundi…