Born enemies, bound by something far more dangerous.
Maven is fire. Adrianna is ice. Their attraction was never meant to exist-and once it does, it refuses to fade.
Every choice costs them something. Every moment together risks everything.
They were...
Oops! Ang larawang ito ay hindi sumusunod sa aming mga alituntunin sa nilalaman. Upang magpatuloy sa pag-publish, subukan itong alisin o mag-upload ng bago.
It had only been three days since I found my mother curled in her old wedding gown, wine-soaked and tear-stained, clinging to a past that had long stopped clinging back. But here I was now, in crisp slacks and a navy blouse, stepping onto Ateneo Law's campus like nothing had happened.
I smiled at the guards. I waved at classmates. I even managed a half-hearted joke with Jerome about his latest memo looking like a ransom note.
But inside?
Inside I was brittle porcelain.
The kind you display on the highest shelf, pretty but liable to shatter if you breathed too hard near it.
My shoes clicked down the tiled hallway as I made my way to Fabregas's classroom. CrimLaw. A room full of sleep-deprived, caffeine-fueled overachievers—and me, clutching the codal like it could anchor me to the earth.
The moment I stepped in, the usual buzz quieted. I slid into my seat, third row from the front, and set my notes down. My fingers trembled slightly, so I tucked them under the desk.
Attorney Fabregas, or as we lovingly (and fearfully) called him, Hitler, strode in with the energy of someone who fed off the fear of twenty-somethings.
"Sobreviñas."
Of course.
I stood, spine straight, voice steady. "Yes, sir."
"Discuss People vs. Sandiganbayan, 458 SCRA 714. Start with the facts."
I inhaled. I spoke. I recited.
The case unspooled from my lips like I was built for this. Like I hadn't just bathed my mother like a child days ago. Like I didn't flinch every time my phone lit up with his name.
"Issue, ruling, and application."
I delivered each like a machine.
"Very well," Fabregas said, eyes squinting at me for a beat longer than necessary. "You may sit."
I did.
And only then did I realize my hands were clenched into fists.
After class, I stayed behind longer than usual. Slowly packing my things. Breathing.
That was when I saw him.
Maven, leaning against the doorframe.
His navy polo hugged his shoulders like a secret he wanted me to discover. But his face wasn't cocky. It was quiet. Searching.
"You ghosted me," he said, voice soft.
I looked down at my hands. At the pen I hadn't realized I was still holding.
