Chapter 18 Her New Desk Mate
The room, just 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, the homeroom teacher prompted softly.
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The boy lifted his gaze just a little. His dark eyes caught the light from above–deep black, speckled like starlight in ink.
“My name’s Asher. Nice to meet you.”
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 front of her, was none other than the younger version of the story’s central heartthrob.
Jean thought hard, flipping through the storyline in her head.
Asher was originally the illegitimate son of the wealthy Lawson family. His mom had gotten pregnant by accident 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 a regular, no–name school until he crushed a national academic competition, took gold, and got personally scouted by the principal of Stellarford Academy.
That was how he ended up transferring into the elite school.
Stellarford might’ve been packed with trust fund kids, but it was still the most elite private academy out there. And like any top–tier institution, they had numbers to hit.
So whenever a true genius showed up, Stellarford made room–and handed out scholarships like gold–plated invitations.
For someone like Asher, who didn’t come from money, that scholarship offer was inpossible to walk away from.
Which meant right now, this was exactly the part of the story when he made the jump into Stellarford.
Once Asher enrolled at Stellarford Academy, he was going to level up fast–and 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, just a few days ago, tried to set his sister up with Dominic. He was all flash, no substance. A classic bootlicker. Later in the plot, once Asher reclaimed his place in the Lawson family, he absolutely wrecked Thomas and took over.
And it didn’s stop there.
Eventually, the Ginger family would fall. And the Lawsons–who were currently several steps below them–would rive under Asher’s rule and take their place as the new power family of Blairford.
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 more come on that made things even messier
He was originally engaged to the original jean
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Chapter 18 Her New Desk Mate
An invisible heiress and a scandal–born heir. Lovely match.
And that’s how this weird, completely out–of–nowhere engagement came to be.
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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 become the one standing above everyone else….
So after coming back, Sarah made sure to steal the engagement for herself and marry Asher in the original Jean’s place.
Jean gave a little nod, completely at peace with it.
So yeah. That engagement? Had absolutely nothing to do with her anymore.
The male lead belonged to the female lead.
And 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 to see Asher moving his desk right next to hers, sliding it into place-
Hold up. Something’s off
“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 glanced 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 place,
Too late.
Asher was already sitting beside her.
He stacked his books neatly, everything placed 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 glance in Jean’s direction,
Jran didn’t feel like talking to him. At all.
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. And
hard to be friendly with people who, down the line, would help wreck your entire life and ship hospital
1- you off to a psych
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Chapter 18 Her New Desk Mate
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After school.
Asher packed his bag without a word and left the room right on time.
Jean moved slowly, flipping through her books, when she caught Lacey’s voice cutting through the air from the back of the
classroom.
“Wait, what? The gym’s under repair?”
“Yeah. So we can’t rehearse there today… Lacey, what 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!
She shut it down immediately. Her face had gone pale, and across from her, the other girl frowned.
“Lacey, why are you so freaked out about the arts building?”
Jean caught every word.
And it triggered a memory.
Sofia had mentioned something weird. She’d told Jean that Lacey and Deon ran into something seriously unsettling over in the arts building not long ago.
Deon hadn’t been back to school since. Considering the way Dorninic had crushed the Mills family recently, it wasn’t too surprising he’d vanished from class.
The way Lacey absolutely 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 place…?
The school hadn’t sealed the building off or labeled it dangerous, As far as Stellarford Academy was concerned, whatever happened to Lacey and Deon had been chalked up as a fluke.
But Lacey was clearly still traumatized. Whatever it was, it had gotten under her skin.
And for reasons she couldn’t explain, Jean was suddenly interested.
What’s really going on in that building?
“But we don’t have any other place to rehearse,” one of the students prepping for the Clory of Hope Cup said, trying to reason.
with her.
“We could use my house, 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 even find the words–likej
unking about it sent her spiraling
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