* TRIGGERS * Gun violence, descriptions of death and injury, mentions of suicide, and disturbing descriptions.
The school band competition is a week away, though the music club's chances of making it are slimmed when two troubled boys enter the school armed, committed to taking the lives of their peers. Jake Sterling, Hailey Austin, Zander Wickham, Luke Peterson, Milly Brooks, and Sean Everett's world crash to pieces when the traumatic event tears their friendship apart, forever fracturing the bond they once had.
Credits to RosyClozy on YouTube for all the mentioned characters.
Tracing and/or theft will not be permitted. (Cover art)
* DISCLAIMER * All ships listed in the hashtags are absent in this story. Their use is to promote the story to a larger audience.
Quick Mention: I put a lot of time into researching events similar to those written in the story. I've made sure to look deep into how people react to situations like this, how they feel during such disasters, and the trauma and PTSD afterward based on the person. If there is anything misinterpreted or false, let me know in the comments of the chapter you found it in and I'll try my best to fix it.
Henley agrees to pretend to date millionaire Bennett Calloway for a fee, falling in love as she wonders - how is he involved in her brother's false conviction?
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Henley Linden's brother is in jail for a crime he didn't commit, and she'll take any job to raise the money needed to free him. Soon, she's agreed to pretend to date millionaire Bennett Calloway for ten thousand dollars, so his mother will ease up the pressure on him to find a wife. But once Henley is enmeshed in Bennett's world, he falls for her, and she starts to have feelings for him as well. Despite her romance with Bennett, as she grows closer to the Calloways, Henley realizes they are somehow involved in her brother's conviction. Journeying deeper into a world of wealth and conspiracies, Henley is forced to rely on Bennett, though doing so could cost her everything.
[[word count: 200,000-250,000 words]]