Chapter 18 Her New Desk Mate

The broom/bb, /bbjust /ba 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, bthe /bhomeroom teacher prompted softly.

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The boy lifted his gaze just a little. His dark eyes caught the light from above–deep ck, speckled like starlight bin /bink.

“My name’s Asher. Nice to meet byou/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 bfront /bof her, was none other than the younger version of the story’s central heartthrob.

Jean thought bhard/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 ba /bregr, 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 bwas /bstill the most elite private academy out there. bAnd /blike any top–tier institution, they had numbers to hit.

So whenever a true genius bshowed /bup, Sterford made broom/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, bthis /bwas exactly the bpart /bof the story when he made the bjump /bbinto /bSterford.

Once Asher enrolled at bSterford /bbAcademy/b, he was bgoing /bto level up bfast/bb–/bband /balong 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, bjust /ba few bdays /bago, tried to set his sister up with Dominic. He was all bsh/bb, /bbno /bsubstance. A ssic bootlicker. Later in the plot, once bAsher /breimed his bce /bin the Lawson bfamily/b, he absolutely wrecked bThomas /band took over.

And it didn’s stop there.

Eventually, the Ginger bfamily /bbwould /bfall. bAnd /bthe Lawsons–who were currently several steps below them–would rive under Asher’s rule and take their ce bas /bthe 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

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Chapter 18 Her New Desk Mate

An invisible heiress and a scandal–born heir. Lovely match.

And bthat’s /bhow this weird,pletely 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 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 bce/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.

bAnd /bshe, 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 bto /bsee Asher moving his desk right next to hers, sliding it into ce-

Hold up. Something’s boff /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 ceb, /b

bToo /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 bnce /bin Jean’s direction,

Jran didn’t feel like talking to bhim/b. At ball/bb. /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 surviveb. /bbAnd /b

bhard /bto be friendly with people who, down the line, would help wreck byour /bentire 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.

bJean /bmoved slowly, bflipping /bthrough 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 bcan’t /brehearse there today… bLacey/b, bwhat /babout 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!

bShe /bbshut /bit down immediately. Her bface /bhad gone pale, and across from her, the other girl bfrowned/b.

“Lacey, why are you so freaked out about the arts building?”

bJean /bcaught every word.

And it triggered ba /bmemory.

Sofia bhad /bmentioned something weird. She’d told Jean that Lacey and Deon ran into something seriously unsettling over in the arts building not long bago/b.

Deon hadn’t been back to school sinceb. /bConsidering the way bDorninic /bbhad /bcrushed the Mills family recently, it wasn’t too surprising he’d vanished from ss.

The way Lacey babsolutely /brefused 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.

bBut /bLacey was clearly still traumatized. Whatever it was, it had gotten under bher /bskin.

And for reasons she couldn’t exin, Jean bwas /bbsuddenly /binterested.

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 bhouse/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 beven /bfind the words–likej

unking about it sent her spiraling

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