Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Adrian Sterling had always treated the new financial-aid student differently.
When I publicly accused her of stealing from the class activity fund, she felt humiliated. She ran off in tears, only to tumble down the stairs and injure her leg.
To avenge her, Adrian locked me outside the Sterling Estate in the middle of a torrential storm.
He looked down at me, his voice edged with contempt.
“What gives you the right to humiliate Maya?”
“If it weren’t for your family’s arrangement with mine, do you really think a country girl like you would ever have been brought here to live under my family’s guardianship?”
I stood in the rain all night and spent the next three days sick with fever.
To make it up to me, Victoria Sterling proposed that Adrian and I formalize our engagement as soon as we graduated.
This time, before Adrian could object, I turned her down myself.
He froze.
What he didn’t know was that the first thing I had done after waking from my fever was submit a school transfer application.
The rain fell harder and harder.
I stood at the gates of the Sterling Estate, soaked to the skin.
Margaret Collins looked at me with guilt written across her face.
“I’m sorry, Chloe…”
“If I let you inside, they’ll fire me…”
I wiped the rainwater from my face. “It’s all right, Margaret.”
“Could you at least bring me my cell phone?”
Once I had it, I could call a cab and find somewhere to shelter from the storm.
Margaret didn’t move. She only lowered her voice and repeated, “I’m sorry…”
I paused, then stopped pressing her.
It was nearly midnight, and the rain showed no sign of letting up.
With nowhere else to go, I pressed myself against the wall and prayed the overhang would shield me from at least some of the wind and rain.
Adrian Sterling had gotten what he wanted.
I had no idea how long I stood there. By the time my arms had gone white with cold, Adrian appeared in the doorway with Lena Reed beside him.
Lena blinked at me, her face full of surprise, but said nothing.
Adrian looked down at me.
“Are you still refusing to apologize?”
Two hours ago, I would have stood my ground. I might even have argued with him, furious at the injustice of it all.
If Lena hadn’t accused me of stealing the class activity fund in front of everyone, I never would have exposed her in front of the entire class.
Unable to bear the way our classmates looked at her afterward, she had run out and fallen, injuring her leg.
Adrian blamed me for it.
Chapter 2
Now, the instinct to survive crushed what remained of my pride. I was so cold I could barely think.
I opened my mouth, and rainwater spilled between my lips.
“I’m sorry, Lena.”
Dragging my heavy body forward, I bowed my head to her.
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
Lena edged behind Adrian. “But I don’t want to forgive her…”
Adrian tightened his hand around hers and murmured, “It’s okay.”
Then he regarded me in silence, his expression indifferent.
After a long moment, he said, “Too late.”
I swayed, barely able to stay on my feet.
Rain hammered down on me, each drop seeming to drag me farther toward the ground.
Adrian Sterling looked down at me from the doorway.
“You know perfectly well you accused Maya in front of everyone just to humiliate her.”
A faint, humorless smile touched his lips.
“But what gives you the right to humiliate her?”
“If it weren’t for our families’ arrangement, do you think you could have left that rural town and come live under my family’s guardianship?” His gaze turned colder. “Do you honestly think you’re some kind of princess?”
Lena Reed coughed twice before speaking softly. “I’m so cold. Adrian, can we please go inside?”
Adrian’s eyes dropped to the hem of her dress. The rain had splashed it, leaving faint damp marks across the fabric.
His brow tightened. Without another glance at me, he drew Lena close and shut the door.
“Be careful. You don’t want to catch another cold.”
The last sliver of light vanished.
My eyelids felt unbearably heavy. Maybe I was simply too tired.
I crouched beside the door, wrapped my arms around my knees, and let exhaustion pull me under.
Surely…
Once I fell asleep, I wouldn’t feel cold anymore.
The dream was warm.
Adrian Sterling had been five years old then, but he was much the same as he was now: quiet, aloof, and never one for words.
His parents had come to take him back to the city.
Adrian ignored them. He turned away, showing them only the round back of his little head, then walked over to me and took my hand.
“I don’t want to leave Chloe.”
It was my first time tasting Ferrero Rocher, and I was beside myself with happiness. I bounced around excitedly, barely paying attention to what he was saying.
In the end, our families agreed that I would go to the city too. I would live under the Sterling family’s guardianship and have access to a better education.
Adrian crouched in front of me, his chubby cheeks puffed out.
“Chloe, come with me.”
I was reluctant. “But I don’t like the city…”
Adrian’s face fell. He snatched the chocolate from my hand.
“Then you can’t have this.”
“And you’ll never get another one.”
For the sake of the chocolate, I gave in at once and reached for it in a panic.
“I’ll go with you! Adrian Sterling, give it back!”
“Adrian! Adrian!”
I must have murmured his name aloud, because the sound pulled me out of the dream.
Chapter 3
Instead of a cold, hard wall, I was resting against a soft down comforter.
It took me several seconds to understand where I was.
My own bedroom.
“Chloe, you’re finally awake!” Margaret Collins exclaimed with relief. “Thank goodness. You’ve had a fever for three days.”
“I’ll go make you some oatmeal.”
Margaret left the room. Adrian Sterling, who had been standing silently beside my bed, waited a long moment before asking quietly, “What were you dreaming about?”
Then he added, “You said my name in your sleep.”
I didn’t want to drag up the past or turn it into some sentimental confession, so I said, “I don’t remember.”
My voice came out so hoarse that even I was startled.
Adrian didn’t press me. He handed me a glass of water.
I took it. “Thank you.”
He paused, one eyebrow lifting slightly.
“You’re being polite with me now?”
“I can’t remember the last time you thanked me.”
Adrian sounded so calm, as though nothing had happened at all.
I didn’t know what to say. I stared blankly at the comforter.
It felt as though every emotion I had ever attached to Adrian was gone.
I didn’t want to demand an explanation for why he had so blatantly taken Lena Reed’s side.
I wasn’t jealous anymore. I wasn’t anxious or afraid.
And his sudden concern no longer made me feel wronged, nor did it soften my heart.
That storm seemed to have washed away every last hope I had for Adrian Sterling.
I didn’t love him anymore.
That evening, I went downstairs for dinner.
Lena Reed was still at the Sterling Estate. She sat beside Adrian as though it were the most natural thing in the world, no longer awkward and self-conscious like she’d been on her first day there.
I chose a seat well away from them and quietly lowered my head over my bowl of porridge.
Adrian’s gaze lingered on me for two seconds, but he said nothing.
Lena greeted me as though nothing had happened. Her round eyes looked utterly sincere as she asked with concern, “Chloe, are you feeling any better?”
“Can I feel your forehead and see if you still have a fever?”
When she reached across the table, it took every ounce of self-control I had not to flinch away.
That night in the storm had made Lena’s place in Adrian’s heart painfully clear. Making Lena angry meant making Adrian angry, and the terror of being left in the rain again had conditioned me into obedience.
Lena withdrew her hand and nodded. “You’re fine now. The fever’s gone.”
She propped her chin on one hand, her expression turning somber.
“Chloe, I’m sorry. Even though you received the punishment you deserved, I still can’t forgive you.”
“What you did caused damage that can never be undone.”
My fingers tightened nervously around my spoon as I looked at Adrian.