(Selene’s POV)
The soup had soaked through my blouse before I even registered what had happened. Warm liquid seeped down the front of my clothes, clinging uncomfortably to my skin. I stood frozen in the middle of the cafeteria, my tray somewhere on the floor, fruit scattered, and silence crashing like a wave all around me.
I expected laughter.
Snickers.
Whispers.
But instead, there was nothing—until he arrived.
Sebastian Ford.
His voice cut through the tension like a blade. When he told the girls to move, they did. Even Tiffany Lane—the self-crowned queen of petty theatrics—flinched and stepped aside.
His eyes fell on me. Sharp, unreadable, but… focused. He looked at the soup. At my shirt. My hands. Not in that hungry, arrogant way guys sometimes do. Just… assessing. Calculating.
“Are you okay?” he asked. There was steel in his voice, but something else too. A concern he didn’t bother to hide.
I nodded. I didn’t trust my voice not to tremble.
Then, he took my hand.
My hand.
Not a brush of fingers or a polite nudge. No. He took it and walked—right out of the cafeteria, through the stunned crowd, past professors and curious onlookers. I followed him, head high, chest pounding.
We reached the Hillwood Investment Club Headquarters, and he opened the door like it was the most natural thing in the world. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you cleaned up. We’ve got work to do.”
That’s when it hit me—I hadn’t brought any clothes to my room yet. My move-in was staggered, and laundry hadn’t even crossed my mind.
I must’ve hesitated, because he turned to look at me.
“You need clothes?” he asked.
I nodded.
He walked into one of the side rooms—the lounge that doubled as a locker space for the club leaders—and returned with a black T-shirt and a pair of loose gray joggers.
“They’re new,” he said. “Haven’t used them. You can keep them.”
I blinked. “I… really?”
“They won’t fit me anymore. I bulked up over break,” he added with a faint smirk, almost like he regretted mentioning it.
I took the clothes.
They smelled faintly of fresh laundry, no tags, but crisp and clearly untouched. The shirt hung over my frame like a dress, sleeves brushing past my elbows. The joggers sat low on my hips but cinched well at the ankle.
It wasn’t glamorous, but I looked clean, and I was on time for my next class.
I told myself it was a one-time act of decency.
But it wasn’t.
Days passed. Then weeks.
And Sebastian Ford kept showing up.
Not in flashy ways—no grand gestures or overt attention. But in the small, intentional things. A reminder that a club meeting had been rescheduled. A study resource emailed right before I needed it. Taking the seat beside me during seminars without a word.
I watched him carefully at first. Suspecting motives. Waiting for the catch. But he never asked for anything. Never hinted at favors. Never tried to bring up that day in the cafeteria again.
I started to notice how he treated the others. Not with softness, but respect. Even Lucas, with his constant jokes, got the occasional nod of approval when he presented a solid market analysis. Lana and Irene were equals, not accessories. Kairo challenged his opinions, and Sebastian listened.
It made me wonder.
Maybe I’d misjudged him, too.
He wasn’t just Hillwood’s king of control. He was its spine. And somehow, without admitting it, he’d made room for me.
Still, I kept my guard up. There’s always a price, even if it’s hidden in kindness.
But it got harder to resist the idea that maybe… just maybe… he believed I belonged here.
After all, it was my idea that secured the latest investment for the university’s green renovation fund. My proposal. My connections. My capital.
And for the first time, Sebastian didn’t just nod when it was approved.
He looked at me, and he smiled.
Not the smug smirk. Not the calculated tilt of his lips.
A real smile for the first time since she joined the club.
It was brief.
But I saw it.
So maybe, just maybe, he realized I wasn’t just some outsider who snuck her way in.
Maybe I was the storm that Hillwood never saw coming.
And Sebastian Ford?
He might be the only one who sensed it.
And that terrified