Spencer’s voice, smooth and languid as ever, cut through the tension like a blade through silk.
All heads snapped toward the entrance, where he stood casually against the doorfra, one hand shoved into the pocket of his uniform slacks, the other carelessly holding a book.
His dark hair fell just ssily enough over his forehead to seem effortlessly charming, and his eyes — that impossibly deep shade of grey — were fixed on Diana with a glint that could only be described as cold amusent.
The class went utterly still. It was as if soone had pressed pause on reality itself.
Diana blinked, visibly thrown off, but recovered with a brittle laugh.
"Spencer," she said, her voice high and falsely sweet, "we were just sorting out so... minor seating issues."
Spencer pushed off the doorfra with the easy grace of a predator at rest, his strides asured and deliberate as he made his way through the stunned classroom.
When he reached Aurora’s desk, he stopped, letting his gaze settle on her for a long mont — sothing unreadable flickering behind his eyes — before he turned his attention to Diana.
"I don’t rember having a fiancé. Not to ntion, I don’t like you, Diana. You are a friend tp . Nothing more...nothing less."
"But Spencer," Diana protested, the confident tilt of her chin faltering, "you sit beside every year. People expect it. It’s... tradition."
Spencer arched a brow, his lips curling into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
"Tradition?" he echoed, almost lazily. "I don’t recall signing a contract."
Several students stifled gasps behind their hands.
Diana stood frozen, clearly struggling to maintain her composure.
It was obvious to everyone that, for the first ti in perhaps forever, she had been publicly rebuffed — and by none other than the boy she had claid as her future.
Aurora, for her part, watched the scene unfold with detached amusent.
She hadn’t asked for Spencer’s intervention, nor did she particularly want it, but she wasn’t foolish enough to deny that his presence had tilted the balance of power sharply in her favor.
"Anyway," Spencer said, turning back to Aurora, his tone softening, "if anyone’s bothering you, just let know."
Aurora regarded him coolly, a faint smile playing at the corners of her lips.
"I can handle it," she said, her voice calm, almost bored. "I don’t need anyone’s fiancé’s help."
"I am not her fiancé." Spencer emphasized.
"She could be mine!" A mischievous voice sounded.
When everyone turned around, they saw a young man with red hair walking in the room with confident strides as if he owned the area.
"Is that Aiden? Aiden Strom?"
"Man! Today must be a big day! First Diana, then Spencer, and now Aiden! We are only missing Nash at this point!"
"Exactly!"
"Hey, the hocoming is going to be held, of course, their group will be attending."
Aurora frowned, hearing their strange words as well as seeing strange people.
Sensing her confusion, Mia leaned near her ear and explained,
"You might not know this since you are always so busy, but Aiden, Spencer, Nash, and Diana are the Four Crowns of this elite high school."
Aurora arched an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Four Crowns?"
Mia nodded gravely, as if speaking of ancient monarchs rather than a clique of students. "Basically, they’re the elites of the elites.
Top of the food chain. Perfect grades, killer looks, absurd family connections, you na it. They’re untouchable.
Diana is the queen bee, leader of the cheerleading squad, and her hold on fashion is amazing to the point that it is unbelievable. Have you heard of Star Icon?"
Aurora nodded.
It was the top makeup brand in the entire country! At the point in her life, her sister had sat on her just for a lip gloss from that brand.
"Diana’s family owns it." Mia dropped the bomb. "Not only that...do you know VJ rings? It’s Diana’s own brand!"
Auroraa: "..." Wow!
Though she was a millionaire herself, the dark reality was that when compared to brands like VJ and Star Icon, whose worth was in billions, she was nothing in front of Diana.
Mia went ahead and continued,
"Spencer is the academic genius, the star football player, and the crush of 90% girls out there. He has a separate fan base.
Do you know the Grand Orchid Hotel? It belongs to Spencer’s family. Not to ntion, they own 15 gold mines, 10 diamond mines, hundreds of restaurants, thousands of estates, etc.
The list is long, and I couldn’t even stop once I started."
Aurora was shaken.
"Nash," Mia continued, her voice dropping even lower, "is the wild card."
Aurora leaned in slightly, despite herself, drawn by the weight of Mia’s words.
"He’s the heir to the Nightingale Corporation," Mia said, almost reverently.
"You know, the tech empire that basically builds half the country’s satellites and defense systems?"
Aurora’s eyes widened fractionally.
Of course, she had heard of Nightingale Corp — it was a household na, a titan of innovation and secrecy alike. Their founder was practically a living myth.
"Nash is... different," Mia said, chewing her lip.
"He’s brilliant, but in that scary, unpredictable way. Like he’s two steps ahead of everyone else, but never bothers to explain.
Rumor has it he almost got expelled twice, but no one touches him because, well — Nightingale Corp practically funds half of this school’s facilities."
Aurora absorbed this silently, her gaze flickering briefly to Aiden, who had now slung an arm around Spencer’s shoulders in a show of exaggerated camaraderie, and then back to Diana, who looked ready to combust.
"And Aiden?" Aurora asked, more out of politeness than genuine interest.
Mia grinned.
"Aiden’s the charr. Old money, lots of it. His family owns Strom Industries — they deal in luxury cars, private jets, all that billionaire lifestyle stuff you see in magazines.
He’s rich enough to be arrogant, but sohow, he makes it seem like a joke, so you can’t even hate him for it."
"So in other words," she said dryly, "I should tread carefully."
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