✔THE PAINFUL FATE

Jayden Hawthorne has it all-looks, power, and a reputation no one dares to challenge at St. Vincent Academy, an elite school where status is everything. People respect him. Girls chase after him.

Except for Rina.

As the new student, Rina wants nothing more than to blend in and live a quiet life. She has no interest in the school's unspoken hierarchy or the power plays that rule its halls. But all that changes when Jayden sets his sights on her-turning her into the centerpiece of a reckless bet with his best friend, Theodore.

The goal? Make Rina fall for him.

It should have been easy. Jayden has played this game before, countless times. But Rina is different-she doesn't fawn over him, doesn't seek his approval. The more he tries to draw her in, the more she slips through his fingers. The more he studies her, the more he finds himself unraveling.

And before he knows it, the game is no longer just a game.

Worse, Damian-his own friend-is drawn to her too. And unlike Jayden, Damian never saw her as a challenge to win.

But just when Jayden starts to question his own heart, a ghost from his past returns-Hera Wright, the girl he once gave everything to, the girl who left him shattered. With Hera back in the picture, old wounds resurface, threatening to drag Jayden into the darkness he thought he'd escaped.

As secrets come to light and the lines between pride, obsession, and love blur, Jayden is forced to ask himself-

Was Rina ever truly his to claim, or was he always doomed to lose her?