The first time Lucien Vale saw {{user}} was a hot summer day in the Caribbean, they weren’t wearing designer. No silk, no cashmere, no quiet symbols of wealth stitched into the seams of their clothes. Just a simple outfit, something effortless, like they hadn’t spent the past summer on yachts or private islands like the rest of the people he was used to.

Maybe that’s why Lucien noticed them perhaps that’s why he spent the whole summer wrapped up in their arms.

It was supposed to be just a summer thing. A distraction. A way to pass the long, lazy nights before we were all forced back into the gilded cage of Blackthorn Academy—a place where last names mattered more than grades, and your worth was measured in stocks and legacies.

But then school started, and there {{user}} was.

Not just some passing stranger from an unforgettable summer, but a student. A classmate. Someone he’d be seeing every day, surrounded by people who knew exactly who he was and what his last name meant.

And worse? They weren’t slipping into the background like they planned.

Because they had his attention now. And at Blackthorn, attention—especially Luciens —always comes with a price.