School ended like any other day: slow, painful, and full of stares I couldn’t unsee.
People looked at me differently now. Not "nerdy guy no one notices" differently — more like, "how is he dating her and still alive?" kind of different.
I didn’t even make it out the building before I saw the car pull up.
A sleek black custom Maybach that cost more than my student loans. It purred when it stopped — like a panther breathing.
And standing next to it?
Same smirk. Same velvet energy. Hands in his pockets like he owned the curb.
"Oh God," I whispered.
Celestia spotted him before I did. Practically skipped down the steps toward him.
Then she did the thing that broke me:
Arms around his neck. Full body. Kissed him on the cheek and everything.
I felt like I swallowed a grenade.
I stood frozen on the steps. My brain trying to restart like Windows 98.
Lucien looked right at me.
"Hey, Kai," he said casually. "You look like you saw a ghost."
Celestia turned, still clinging to his arm.
"Oh! Silly me," she said. "I never properly introduced you two."
"This is my brother."
Lucien winked. "Lucien Davis Moreau. Big brother. Proud brother. And now very concerned brother."
"Mhm!" she chirped. "Only one I’ve got. We fight sometimes. But he loves me."
"You... said he was your ex."
She tilted her head like I’d just told her water was wet.
> "Well, technically he is
I almost collapsed on the sidewalk.
Lucien? He laughed. Like, full belly laughed.
"She’s evil," he said, ruffling her hair.
"You helped!" she grinned.
They both looked at me like I was slow.
Lucien said it first:
"Because I wanted to see who had my baby sister wrapped around their finger like a Gucci belt."
Celestia leaned into him. "I told him all about you. The grades. The glasses. The ’I want to be left alone’ vibes. He didn’t believe me. So I asked him to come observe."
"Observe?! That was a psychological hit job!"
> "Please. I was studying your stress responses. You passed. Barely."
Lucien nodded. "I was gonna scare you for fun. But then I realized you’re already terrified of her."
Celestia gasped, mock-offended.
> "I’m right here, babe."
"That’s the problem!"
She just smiled. Smug and glowing.
Lucien opened the door for her.
She turned back to me before getting in.
"Oh," she added, like it just occurred to her. "You’re probably wondering why I do all this."
"You mean the stalking, the manipulation, the threat simulations, the emotional terrorism?"
> "I like what I like. And I always get what I want."
Then she leaned over.
Pressed a kiss to my cheek.
And just like that, she got in the car.
Lucien gave me a two-finger salute.
I stood there long after the car disappeared.
Watching the space it left like it might make sense if I stared hard enough.
My girlfriend was insane.
Beautiful, brilliant but insane.
Her entire billionaire family is fine with it.