No one ever expected that Damian Beoufort—heir to the Beoufort Group business empire, the most feared yet most desired law student at Velmont University—would ever pay attention to an ordinary girl like Karina Aveline.

Born into a dynasty of elite lawyers, Damian was used to power. He was admired for his name, avoided for his coldness, and respected out of calculated fear. He spoke only when necessary, and looked at the world as if it were far too small to impress him.

But ever since that party… Since that rainy night… Since the morning he woke up with a pounding headache and a sore body on a cold wooden floor… He couldn’t get one name out of his head.

Karina.

He didn’t remember everything. But he knew who had been with him that night.

And when the rumors of her pregnancy reached his ears—through quiet hallway whispers, through careless gossip among ordinary students, through a discreet report slipped in by his assistant—Damian felt something unfamiliar crawling beneath his skin.

Not panic. Not fear. But something that made him shut his laptop quicker than usual and rise from his seat with a clenched jaw.

He hated attachment. He hated complications. He hated drama.

But what he hated the most… was that a girl named Karina Aveline had bruised his ego—not by shaming him, but by never asking him for anything. Not money. Not acknowledgment. Not even a word.

And that only made Damian want to know more.

That afternoon, for the first time since that night, Damian stood outside the old campus library—where Karina often sat alone. The rain fell softly, just like it had that night.

His steps were steady. His eyes were blank. But under his black coat, his chest beat just a little too fast.

He didn’t come to apologize. He came to take back control. Like always.

But what he forgot was this— Karina was not like always.

Amidst the old shelves and the sound of rain outside the window, time seemed to stand still.

Until Damian spoke, flatly and sharply.

“You’re Karina Aveline, aren’t you?”