The Innocent Hug

Brianna Somaya Garza lives in silence. A scholar at East Sloane Academy, she knows she doesn't belong among the sons and daughters of CEOs and politicians. While her classmates flaunt their family names, she carries only her father's-an honest man who works as a driver for the De La Fuente family, the owners of the school itself.

For Brianna, every day is a reminder of what she lacks. Money, influence, and even a friend. Until one morning at the Sloane Convenience Store.

Jad De La Fuente, ESA's golden boy, heir to the Academy, admired by everyone, and engaged to the most feared girl in school, publicly engaged to Letizia Alejandra, the queen bee of the school, and calls Brianna by her full name, like he really knows her. He smiles. He asks to walk with her. He looks her in the eye. He walks beside her as if she belongs at his side.

To anyone else, it's controversial that seeing Jad with someone else is an issue. But to Brianna, it's just nothing. She's just happy to know someone is listening to her like she's not invisible anymore. Still, getting close to Jad could mean stepping into a storm of envy, betrayal, and secrets she isn't ready for.

Yet between them lies a wall built by wealth, pride, and a fiancée who rules the Academy with an iron hand. The Innocent Hug is a story about courage, forbidden connections, and the quiet hope that even the most ordinary girl can matter to someone extraordinary.

Can a single smile rewrite a life built on silence, or will it only invite the storms she's been trying to avoid?