Rain Wang's POV (Present Day)
I almost turned around.
Twice.
Once at the dorm stairwell. And once right outside the lecture hall door, where the voices inside spilled out like a current I didn't want to be caught in.
But I told myself this was medicine. Not war.
I was wrong.
The minute I stepped inside, I felt it. Like a shift in gravity. The room didn't go quiet—but it changed. The hum of low voices, the shuffle of pages, the chairs creaking as students leaned in to whisper.
"She's back…""That's the girl…""Didn't Ashford—""He beat up Leo for her, right?""No, because she smiled at someone else.""Seriously, who does she think she is?"
I kept my head down, hands tight on the strap of my bag. My hair was down again, but it didn't feel like a curtain today. It felt like weight. Like punishment. I wanted to cut it off just so I'd stop hearing it described like something he admired.
The class was shared today—first and second years together. Of course it was.
I spotted him before I meant to.Sebastian Ashford.
Leaning back in his seat like he owned the room. Broad shoulders, black shirt, sharp jaw. The usual.
But something was wrong.
His eyes—those sharp, cold things that always looked at me like I was dirt—weren't mocking.
They were searching.
Like he hadn't expected me to walk in. Like he wasn't sure I was real.
I walked past him like I didn't know his name. Like I didn't remember every single thing he's said to me.
"Is that the same girl?""She looks like she's been crying for days.""Yeah, well, Ashford's got that effect."
I sat in the back. My usual spot. Safe. Invisible.
Except I wasn't.
I could feel him. Watching me. Like a storm held in too long.
He didn't say a word. Didn't smirk or scoff. Just looked.
And for some reason, that scared me more.