Chapter 1: The Girl With a Secret

The iron gates of Vermont Hill Academy stood taller than the city’s skyline—regal, ruthless, and unapologetically elite.

Ava Verma, dressed in a second-hand blazer and scuffed Oxfords, stepped out of the black car, her grip tightening on the worn-out leather duffel bag. She wasn’t supposed to be here. Not with her secret. Not with that last name.

But here she was—on scholarship, surrounded by the sons and daughters of billionaires who thought Gucci was a basic necessity and private jets were weekend rides.

“New blood?” someone muttered behind her.

Ava didn’t turn. She kept her gaze fixed ahead, on the glass entrance of the main building that reflected her nervous eyes.

She wasn’t just hiding her background.
She was hiding an empire.
The Verma Pharmaceuticals fortune.

Her mother’s death had changed everything. No one here knew that the girl in the $20 shoes owned 51% of one of the largest pharma companies in the world.

And Ava planned to keep it that way.

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Inside the grand hallway, the air smelled like cinnamon and secrets.

“Heads up,” came a sharp voice, right before someone crashed into her, knocking her bag from her hand.

She stumbled, looked up, and froze.

Dev Aryan Singh.

Golden hair kissed his collar, and his grey eyes screamed danger. He had that slow, arrogant smirk that could ruin lives, and a diamond earring he wasn’t allowed to wear—but did anyway, just to prove he could.

The walking definition of privilege.

He looked her up and down.

“You're not from around here,” he said, voice silky but laced with contempt.

Ava snatched her bag from the floor. “Neither is decency, apparently.”

His brows lifted, amused. “Feisty. Let me guess—scholarship kid?”

Ava tilted her head, smile tight. “Let me guess—trust fund baby with too much entitlement and not enough brains?”

The hallway fell silent around them. Students turned to stare.

Dev’s smile disappeared.

For a moment, there was war in the air.

And then, he leaned closer, whispering just loud enough:
“You’re going to regret speaking to me like that.”

Ava stepped closer too. “Good. I collect regrets like rich boys collect scandals.”

Dev’s gaze locked with hers—unreadable, but dangerous.

She had no idea that this moment would ignite a chain of events that would shatter hearts, expose generations of betrayal, and unravel a truth far bigger than both of them.

Let the chaos begin.

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Author:

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