Billionaire Villainess (Unedited) 18+

Annoyance (Edited 11/14/24)

Gabriel's POV

"Gabe! Gabe! Wait for me!" A voice, shrill and persistent, rings out behind him, grating like nails on a chalkboard.

Gabriel stops abruptly, his shoulders tensing. He closes his eyes for a moment, irritation prickling at his temples as he takes a deep breath. Of course, it would be her.

Judith Wellester, his fiancée.

"What now?" he mutters under his breath, turning slowly to face the approaching figure. His expression hardens, but Judith's face is bright, beaming as she closes the distance between them.

"Oh! I finally caught up with you!" she says cheerfully, her voice far too loud for the quiet hallway. She latches onto his arm, nearly knocking him off balance with her enthusiastic glomp, her perfume overpowering his senses. Gabriel's jaw clenches, a fresh wave of annoyance washing over him.

"Judith, get off me! You're ruining my uniform," he snaps, shrugging his shoulder in an attempt to dislodge her. "And maybe you should give me some space. We might not even have the same classes."

Her sugary-sweet smile doesn't waver as she laughs, tilting her head at him. "Oh, Gabriel, don't be silly! Of course we have the same classes. My father made sure of it." She gives him a little wink that only deepens his frustration. "After all, we're both majoring in Business, aren't we?"

Gabriel suppresses a sigh, glancing around at the students and teachers who have begun to murmur and stare. To them, they must look like the perfect couple—the two wealthiest heirs in Rockeford University, destined to be together. "The IT couple," as people loved to call them. He wants to push her away, tell her to leave him alone, but he can feel all the eyes on him, waiting for his reaction. He's always conscious of his reputation, the constant expectations.

Instead, he grits his teeth and forces himself to endure it. This is Judith's typical behavior, he tells himself. It's nothing new. But as she babbles on about the latest fashion trends and her plans for the weekend, he can feel his patience thinning.

His mind drifts to something far more interesting—a girl he'd noticed just minutes ago in the auditorium. She'd sat quietly on the far left, her face half-hidden by a book, her gaze wandering out the window. But then their eyes had met, just briefly, and in that fleeting moment, he'd felt his heart stutter, a strange, unfamiliar tug. She had an air of calm mystery, completely unlike Judith.

The girl had to be new to the university. He was certain he'd remember seeing her if she wasn't.

The memory of her brings a strange warmth, a curiosity he hasn't felt in a long time, and he finds himself tuning out Judith's high-pitched chatter, letting her words become background noise.

Judith's POV

Judith forces herself to smile as she clings to Gabriel's arm, inwardly wincing at how her own voice sounds—sickly sweet, painfully loud. She can feel Gabriel's irritation radiating off him like heat, but that's exactly the point. She's playing her part, after all, the role she's been forced to adopt in this world.

The original Judith Wellester was nothing more than a lovesick, spoiled heiress. And that's exactly who Judith must be if she wants to escape the plot that binds her. She glances at Gabriel's stony expression, her own mind wandering. A typical first male lead—the brooding, unapproachable type. But honestly, he's far from her type, if she even has one. All she wants is someone who would actually cherish her, someone who wouldn't see her as a pawn or a trophy.

Her ex, James, had taught her that much.

Yet here she is, putting up with Gabriel's coldness and annoyance, just to ensure her own survival. It's almost funny, in a twisted sort of way. If she can just endure this for two years—play her part flawlessly—she can finally be free. She pictures her life after graduation, a life where Gabriel will have broken their engagement to pursue his "true love," Verona, the heroine of this world. Judith will be free then, free to move abroad, and build her own empire away from everyone who ever tried to control her.

Just a couple of years, she tells herself.

All she has to do is keep Gabriel's attention just enough to ensure that he'll fall head over heels for Verona when the time is right.

Patience, Judith. It's just a matter of patience. She keeps repeating that to herself as Gabriel stares off into the distance, clearly not listening, his mind elsewhere. She wonders what he's thinking about, but it doesn't matter.

Soon enough, they'll both be exactly where they're supposed to be.