2026-08-26 12:09:15"Step away now," Caius used the same tone, "or everyone of you will regret it!"
The Cafeteria was as silent as a grave yard. No single cutleries clanged, no table screeched. Just dead silence. At exactly five seconds, a spoon clattered to the floor.
Instinctively, the crowd parted to the Young woman at the centre. Even she raised her head, the confusion or surprise on her face veiled by the hair scattered over her face.
Caius walked through to her, his footsteps barely audible on the ground. He stopped in her front and crouched before her. The entire cafeteria watched in the silence.
Disregarding the juice sticking in her hair, he gently threw her hair to the back to see her face. His chest hammered.
It was really her.
The girl in her dream. His destiny partner sitting in ruin surrounded by predators.
Her thick black hair, her small attractive eyes and face that was sketched on his phone. It was her perfect resemblance. The only difference was that she was looking messy— tears filled her eyes, food crumbs patted to her face. Caius's heart tightened.
He leaned closer and did the most shocking thing. His arms went under her and he lifted her gently into his arm.
The Cafeteria gasped.
The young woman, Arabella Kingsley gasped softly in his arm but she didn't struggle. Her face flushed.
Comments flooded the air. Phone were out, snapping and recording the entire thing that could be tagged 'ROMANTIC."
"Who is that? Is he a student here?"
"Did he know he before?"
"Awwn..this looks romantic." One girl giggled.
Caius rose to his feet and turned to face the crowd. His expression was hard. Arabella was in his arms curled up like a baby.
"Listen you all." His voice carried across with a commanding authority. "Whoever among you should lay a hand on her again will be in serious trouble. And I mean it. Very serious trouble."
He finished and turned walking out of the ruin with his queen in his arm.
The cafeteria exploded with comments, the school media— KingswellMed was on fire— The video of Caius lifting Arabella up circulated fast, comments exploding under it.
"Damn! Is that Dirty Arabella?!"
She was called dirty because Arabella is the poorest girl in the school and they even hate her more because she top the class.
"Aww...this is Epic Romance."
"Miserable Hero and the Dirty Ara. How matching."
Meanwhile, inside a quiet Classroom, Caius gently set her down on her feet, staring at her.
Arabella didn't look up. Her finger twisted the front of her skirt, her knuckles whitening. The silence stretched between them.
"W— ho are you? W— hat do you want from me?" Her shoulder shuddered. Her head remained down.
Caius took one step closer and Arabella step backward in fear.
"Please don't harm me. Please. I'll do anything you say. Please."
Caius's heart tightened, understanding her situation.
"I didn't take you from them to harm you. I won't." He said, his voice gentle.
Arabella shook her head frantically. "No..no..you don't know what you're doing. Everyone hate me. They bully me. I.." Her voice cracked. "..they take advantage of me. Tell me what do you want?"
Caius's heart ached merely hearing her voice breaking.
"I don't want..."
Arabella suddenly turned, sprinting to the door in fear.
"Please please..Let me go." Her footsteps echoed in the empty Hall.
"You can't keep running, Arabella. You need to stand up and fight for yourself for once." Caius said louder without running after her.
Arabella didn't stop.
"I know you have been bullied. I know everyone hate you. They look down on you but I don't. I can't— "
She didn't stop yet. Tears streamed down her face as she continued running.
"— I can't because I want you to be my girlfriend, Arabella."
And so, She finally froze at the door.
Chapter 4 ii : Don't Stop Running
Caius's statement hung in the air.
Arabella stopped. Her heart drummed in her ear.
Then, slowly, she turned to him, her hair still scattered over her face.
"W— what did you just say?" Her voice cracked through the silence.
Caius took one step forward to close the long distance that suddenly felt too small.
"I said," his voice came confidently. "Be my girlfriend." He repeated.
Silence stretched.
And again it felt as though Arabella had Heard him wrongly.
She was called dirty Arabella, male students in the school stay away from her because she was the poorest student on the campus— scholarship got her in, her fellow genders dispise her, said she was out of their league. But in the actual sense— they were only bittered because she was brilliant, but in a school like Kingswell, brain is like filth when you have an empty pocket.
"Why..why did you say that?" She toned. "If you want to bully— just do it. Spill me milk, let me eat crumb, slap me in the face.."
"I am not here to do any of that," Caius's voice was firmer.
Silence.
"I don't know how to love."
The confession hit the air than a physical punch.
"I am not asking you to," Caius was gradually closing the gap. His voice was firm yet it wasn't desperate in a way that made Arabella slightly relaxed.
Another heavy silence. Caius could hear her breathing in the Hall.
"Will you take me away from here. Somewhere safer if I say YES?"
"Are you making this transactional?
"I just want to be safe. I don't want to be bullied anymore."
"You'll be safe. You don't need to walk away." He was getting closer to her. "You need to show them the woman you're about to become."
"Promise."
"I do."
Regardless whether she mentioned it, Caius had swore he's going to make everyone who laid on her pay.
Anabella's knee buckled. Her weight crumbled to meet the floor but Caius was Swift to catch her.
"Anabella. Wake up! Wake up!" He tapped her cheek but she was slowly loosing consciousness.
Caius grabbed his phone with the other hand and barked order in it.
"Young Mast—"
"Get a car to Kingswell! Now!!"
The phone snapped.
The black Aston Martins pulled over with urgency at the gate. Caius sprinted across the Quad with Arabella in her arms, her hair flopped down, swinging mid-air. Some students stared, whispers passing among them.
Butler Alfred opened the back door without asking questions and Caius laid her inside and jumped in beside her.
"Drive! Fast!! To the hospital."
The car weaved through the afternoon road madness without regard for regulation because his queen was slipping deep into consciousness.
In three minutes, the Car arrived at Grandview medical hospital.
Caius was already out with Arabella, placed carefully in his arms in the same position, moving with speed that made people move away from the hospital corridor. Butler Alfred matched his pace behind.
"Get me Dr. Chad. Now! Prepare the Premium unit!"
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Chapter 13 : The Morning After
For a few seconds, Arabella didn’t know where she was.The ceiling was wrong. The bed was too soft, too wide, the sheets smelling faintly of something clean and unfamiliar instead of the thin detergent Margaret bought in bulk. Her body tensed on instinct, the way it always did when something didn’t match what she expected — and then it came back to her in pieces. Margaret’s voice. The photograph. Caius’s hand around hers in the stairwell.She sat up slowly, pulling the blanket to her chest like she needed to justify taking up the space at all.The room was simple compared to what she imagined a place like this could be — no gold trim, no absurd chandelier — but everything in it was quietly, unmistakably expensive. The kind of expensive that didn’t need to announce itself. She ran her thumb along the edge of the blanket and felt a small stab of guilt she couldn’t fully explain.She wasn’t supposed to be somewhere like this.When she came out, Caius was already up, standing near the win
Chapter 12 : The Hings She Never Knew
“What did you mean by that?”Arabella hadn’t moved from the doorway. The words had come out of her before she’d decided to say them, steadier than she felt.Margaret’s face closed like a shop at the end of a bad day. “I didn’t mean anything. Don’t stand there making a scene out of nothing.”“You said my mother left something behind. You’ve told me for ten years she left nothing. Debts, you said. A funeral I couldn’t even afford to attend properly. Which is it, Margaret?”“Don’t take that tone with me in my own house.”“Then answer the question.”Margaret’s eyes flicked toward Caius, standing quiet by the door, and something in his stillness seemed to unsettle her more than Arabella’s voice had. “You’re upset. You’re not thinking clearly. Go on, then, run off with your little rescuer and see how far that gets you. See who’s still here when he gets bored of playing hero.”“That’s not an answer either.”For a moment Margaret said nothing, and in that silence Arabella felt something shift
Chapter 11 : The Door He Shouldn't Have Opened
Caius was halfway across the cracked pavement when he heard it — a woman’s voice, sharp and clipped, cutting through a window left open despite the evening chill.He stopped walking.It wasn’t shouting. That was the strange part. It was worse than shouting, the kind of voice that had rehearsed its own cruelty so many times it no longer needed volume.“Do you think I don’t know where you were?”He couldn’t make out Arabella’s answer. Her voice, when it came, was too low, too careful, the voice of someone choosing each word like it might cost her something.Caius’s jaw tightened. He glanced back at the taxi still idling at the curb, then at the apartment building — three floors of peeling paint and a stairwell light that flickered like it was considering giving up entirely. He climbed the steps two at a time and stopped outside a door with a number hanging by one screw.He didn’t knock. Not yet. He stood there, hand hovering an inch from the wood, and made himself listen.“I asked you a
Chapter 10: The List
"And you," Her finger snapped at Ryan. "we're done with this relationship! We're done!!" Diane stumbled out of the restaurant in rage, her face humiliated and makeup smudged across her face with a slap from her lover she never expected.On her way out , she spun around expecting Ryan to rush after her, but she was even more angry and bittered seeing him still groveling at her step sister's feet like an insect."How disgusting! This is over!!" She hissed, strutting out again. She nearly lost her footing on the marble just before she made it to the door.Inside the restroom, Caius held Arabella's wrist and gently pulled her away from Ryan. He looked down at him then to Marcus Williams who was skill shaking at the side in panic and whispering apology."You know what to do, Marcus," his voice was ice wrapped in silk— no shout— just quiet command. "Someone like him isn't fitting to be in the Cross family business. Using the Cross name to brag, to threat common people. Do you think it woul
Chapter 9: On His Kneels
***A man dressed in an impeccable suit walked in through the door, his loafers clicking against the marble swiftly.Ryan Brook turned to Caius."You're dead! Completely dead. You don't know who you just messed with." He boasted.Marcus Williams the CFO walked into the scene, looking at Ryan first."What is going on here?" He asked, his voice smooth and rich.Ryan snapped his finger at Caius in justified false accusation."Here he is, Sir. He insulted my girlfriend. He wanted to slap her in the face if I hadn't stepped in. I don't want to take actions on him yet so I had to quickly inform you." He spin the whole thing to make it justified and anger the CFO.Marcus Williams turned his look at the person, following the line of his hand. "Who is that pers—"The rest of the words caught in his throat. His eyes widened. His body tembled violently like an electric pulse had just slammed into him."Sir...Sir..." Without even asking. The CFO crumbled at Caius's feet with a sharp crack echoi
Chapter 8: The Cross Firm
Caius looked at her intently."What was that? An accusation? Or Is this a police station where you report your stolen stuff." His voice was quiet and firm."Who the heck are you to speak to me like that?" Diane's voice cracked through the air like a gunshot making heads turned immediately."You're loud, young woman," Caius simply said, "you're shouting on my girlfriend." Diane tossed her hair to the back, diamond necklace catching the illuminants on her neck. She let out a laughter that echoed off the roof like shattering glass."Girlfriend? Huh? Perfect. Just perfect.." She spun to Arabella who was panicking across the table, muttering something no one heard that could be a plea."So this is what you do, Huh? You hook up with some trash and tell them to spit nonsense at me?"Caius's inside boiled but he didn't move. His expression was perfectly impossibly composed."Diane..no.. that's not true. Caius is my boyfriend. Yes. But were were just hanging out.." "Hanging out?" Diane's l
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