Chapter 5

The music transitioned into a slow, elegant waltz.

Without a second thought, I placed my hand in Asher’s.

His fingers were long and firm, his touch cool and reassuring. He placed his other hand lightly on my waist, guiding me smoothly onto the center of the dance floor.

Behind us, the sharp sound of glass shattering echoed through the hall.

Without even looking, I knew Blake was throwing a tantrum.

On the dance floor, countless eyes were locked onto us.

"You don't seem surprised at all," I whispered, keeping pace with Asher's steps.

"Surprised by what?"

"The way I look now."

Asher paused his step for a fraction of a second, then drew me slightly closer.

"I watched you spend three straight months pulling all-nighters in the library to write that physics paper that won the State Championship. I already knew how brilliant you were."

His voice was quiet, but it cut through the music clearly. "Stella, your worth was never defined by a number on a scale."

My heart skipped a beat.

Right at that moment, the lights in the entire hall suddenly went out.

The music stopped abruptly, followed by a collective gasp from the students.

The massive projector screen at the front of the hall flared to life, casting a harsh, blinding white light over the crowd.

Tonight, this screen was supposed to play a heartwarming senior year recap video.

Instead, a grainy, secretly recorded video began to play.

On the screen was the old me, wearing an oversized gray hoodie. My face was heavy, and I was sitting in a fast-food joint, shoving a double cheeseburger into my mouth, grease smeared over my lips.

The audio playing over the video was a private Discord call between Blake and me.

"Blake... do you think I'm annoying?" my past voice asked, sounding incredibly small and desperate.

"If I always do what you say, will you promise to never leave me?"

Back then, I had crawled in the dirt just to keep him.

Then came Blake’s voice, filled with utter contempt and amusement:

"Sure. As long as you remain a good, obedient girl, I might consider taking you out on a real date."

The entire hall fell into a suffocating silence.

A spotlight suddenly snapped on, illuminating the second-floor DJ booth.

Blake stood there, holding a microphone, looking down at me on the dance floor.

"Take a good look, everyone! This is the 'perfect goddess' you were all drooling over just a second ago," Blake’s voice boomed through the speakers, echoing in every corner of the room.

"Stella, did you really think that shedding a layer of skin would erase the days when you acted like my dog?"

A cruel, twisted grin spread across his face.

"Now, crawl up here right now and beg for my forgiveness."