Chapter 1 The girl who didn't look at him

Yes! it was the first day in University!

The first thing Aria Bennett noticed about Westbridge University wasn't the size

It was the silence. Loud silence.

Not actual silence - there were students everywhere, laughter, heels clicking on marble floors, luxury cars lining the campus road,designer bags and shoes everywhere,- but there was a different kind of silence.

The kind that says: You don't belong here. You are not supposed to be here.

Aria adjusted the strap of her worn leather bag and kept walking.

She didn't care.

Scholarship.

That word was both a blessing and a spotlight.

Inside the lecture hall, whispers started before she even sat down.

"New girl?

"Wow.. she's gorgeous."

"She's pretty."

"She doesn't look rich..."

"But she looks beautiful anyway...."

Aria ignored them.

She never cares about words from people.

She chose a seat near the middle - not too front, not too back,not so middle, just near.

Then he walked in.

Leonardo Moretti.

The room shifted.

Not dramatically. Not loudly.

But noticeably.

Attention shifted.

Girls straightened. Boys nodded. Even the professor paused for a second.

Leo moved like he owned gravity.

Like he own the school

Black shirt. Watch,Shoe worth more than Aria's entire house. Calm expression.

And beside him - Vanessa Hartwell.

Leo's girl,they don't have a relationship filled with love, it's just an agreement to warm his bed and he spoils her silly in return.

Not a romantic relationship.

Vanessa wanted more,but agreement is agreement.

And there was absolutely nothing she could do.

Since she enjoys the fame,the thought of being his girl,seems perfect to her.

Perfect hair. Perfect smile. Perfect image.

She loves the attention that comes with it.

Vanessa leaned in close, whispering something in his ear.

Always playing the perfect girlfriend.

He didn't smile.

But he let her.

Aria noticed everything. Every single thing.

And then she looked away.

Because she wasn't here for rich boys.

She was here to survive.

She's going to face the scholarship that brought here.

No time for drama.

-

The first class begins.

The professor asked a complex economics question halfway through class.

Silence.

No one answered.

Maybe no one knew the answer.

Not until Aria calmly raised her hand.

She stood, voice steady, and explained the answer step by step.

No error.

The professor blinked.

Then smiled.

"That's brilliant!"

"Excellent analysis."

Murmurs filled the room.

Surprised.

Leo looked at her for the first time.

Not because she was pretty to him.

But because she wasn't trying to impress anyone.

And she didn't look at him back.

-

When classes ended, Aria packed her things quietly.

Vanessa's eyes followed her.

Leo's eyes followed her too.

She left campus alone.

No drama. She wasn't there to make one.

-

Her home was two bus rides away.

Small apartment. Peeling paint. But clean. Very clean

Her little brother, Noah, ran to the door.

"ARI!"

She dropped her bag and hugged him tight.

"How was school?!" he asked.

She smiled.

"Big. Loud. Fancy."

Her mother stepped out of the kitchen, tired but warm.

"You ate?" her mother asked first.

Aria lied smoothly.

"Yes."

She hadn't.

That night, she helped Noah with homework.

Cooked simple rice.

Sat by the window doing her assignments under dim light.

But for one moment...

She remembered the way Leo had looked at her.

Not with arrogance.

With curiosity.

She shook her head.

Dangerous thoughts.

-

Across the city.

Leo stepped out of his black car at his private penthouse apartment.

Vanessa was still talking.

"...and then Chloe said she wishes she had your attention like I do."

"Those girls wants to have everything I have,they want to have you but they can't, hahahaha."

He barely listened.

His mind replayed something else.

The way the new girl answered confidently.

The way she didn't react to him.

The way she walked alone.

No female student ever did that.

"Leo?" Vanessa snapped her fingers.

He blinked.

"What?"

She frowned slightly.

"You're distracted."

"I'm tired."

"Go home"

"But I wanna spend time with you."

"No,Vannessa. No, just go home."

That night, as the city lights glowed outside his window...

Leo found himself thinking about a girl who didn't care that he existed.

A girl who didn't even see him.

And for the first time in a long time...

He wanted someone who didn't want him.

Someone who didn't look at him.

Who didn't care about his existence.

Is he going crazy?

-

The next day at school.

He watched her again.

Stared so much at her and wished she could just look his way but she didn't.

What kind of a girl is this?,he thought.

Vanessa noticed. Furious.

And the hate began.

-