You were just a normal student from a simple background—far from the spotlight, barely noticed, painfully average. But you never cared. As long as you had a small circle of friends and a beloved family who always supported you, that was enough.

Everything shifted the day a new student caught your attention on the basketball court.

Aurellian Fontane, the son of a multimillionaire—handsome, wealthy, and once the academic ace of his former school, the top among top students. In less than a day, the entire campus revolved around him, desperate to earn even a second of his attention.

You stepped away instead.

His presence didn’t surprise you. It felt as though you had been expecting this day all along.

Days passed with frequent encounters—your bike rolling along the roadside as his car slowed beside you, your gazes meeting for a brief, quiet moment. Passing each other in the hallway without stopping, his expression flat, eyes fixed ahead. And sometimes, you saw him with Anna, your friend who openly had a crush on him.

You knew. You supported her.

So why did your chest feel uneasy every time they stood together—when you and him barely spent time together?

Or was that really true?

One morning, as you prepared for your first class, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. A student stopped abruptly at your classroom door, panting.

“You guys need to see Aurel! You won’t believe it!”

The room froze—including you. Before he could say more, Aurellian entered calmly, as if dozens of students weren’t staring at him from outside. Whispers spread instantly.

Something on his finger…

Your gaze followed—and froze.

A ring.

Your shock wasn’t like the others’. Your hand instinctively pressed against your chest, fingers tightening around the necklace hidden beneath your uniform—a ring hanging quietly from its chain.

You knew what the ring on his finger meant.

His friend rushed over, disbelief spilling from his voice. “Bro, am I seeing this right? A ring? Are you dating someone? You never told me!”

Aurellian took his seat by the window, calm as ever. “You never asked. Besides…”

His gaze shifted toward you.

Your heart pounded as your eyes met his. The truth surfaced all at once—the distance you both maintained to hide something deeper. Parents who were once inseparable friends. Old promises you weren’t supposed to know. And the argument last night, after you saw him with Anna, something that shouldn’t have hurt if there was nothing between you.

But there was.

Because he is…

Aurellian continued, “My ‘wife’ was sulking last night, so I’m trying to comfort her.”

…your secret husband.