Icebound Vows

CHAPTER 3 – The Ice King's Shame

POV: Ryker Voss

The new ballet slippers were sitting on the floor of the basement when I walked past the stairs early this morning, but I didn't say anything to anyone about them, and by the time we reached the campus of Blackridge Elite University, the news about my mysterious fake fiancée had already spread to every single student. The moment my sports car pulled into the main parking lot, people stopped walking to stare at the black university uniform Elara was wearing, and within seconds, several girls from the cheer squad pulled out their phones to record her as she walked toward the main entrance with her head down. I grabbed my hockey gear bag from the trunk and slammed it shut, refusing to walk anywhere near her, because the entire campus was already whispering about the sudden scandal that happened at our penthouse last night.

"Look at her, she actually showed up after yesterday," Lila laughed, walking up next to me with her rich friends, all of them wearing expensive designer jewelry over their school blazers while they watched Elara struggle to find her classroom. "Hey, everyone, look over here at our brand-new family project, because this girl claims she's my brother's long-lost betrothed, but she's really just a broke impostor my mother took in for charity."

"Are you serious, Lila?" one of her friends asked, laughing loudly as they stepped right into Elara's path, forcing her to stop on the concrete steps while more students gathered around to watch the drama unfold. "She looks like she bought that bag from a thrift store, so she's definitely just a gold digger trying to get a piece of the Voss family fortune before she gets exposed as a fake heiress."

"Leave her alone, Lila, we need to get to class," Elara said, her voice quiet but steady as she tried to step around the group, though her fingers were gripping the straps of her backpack so tight that her knuckles turned completely white.

"Don't tell me what to do in my own school, you little maid," Lila snapped, giving her a hard shove that made Elara stumble backward against the brick wall, while the crowd of surrounding students burst into loud chuckles and started whispering even more insults.

I watched the whole thing from twenty feet away, my jaw tight as I slung my heavy sports bag over my shoulder, but instead of stepping in to stop my sister, I turned around and walked straight toward the athletic complex because I wanted absolutely nothing to do with this girl's problems.

By lunchtime, the rumors had completely taken over the entire university, and when I walked into the crowded campus cafeteria with Marcus, every single table was talking about the fake fiancée who was currently sitting all by herself at a small table in the very back of the room. I grabbed my tray and sat down with the rest of the hockey team at our usual central table, trying to focus on my upcoming game, but Lila and her clique immediately marched over to Elara's corner with malicious smiles on their faces.

"I told you yesterday that you don't belong here, and you clearly didn't listen," Lila said, her voice echoing loudly across the sudden silence of the cafeteria as she picked up an entire cup of dark soda from a nearby tray and stood directly in front of Elara.

"Lila, please don't do this here," Elara said, looking up with genuine fear in her eyes as she tried to slide out of her chair, but Lila's friends quickly blocked her exit.

"Maybe servants shouldn't eat with us," Lila yelled, and without a single second of hesitation, she poured the entire cup of sticky soda right over Elara's head, letting the dark liquid soak through her hair, her face, and the front of her clean white school shirt.

The entire cafeteria erupted into massive, roaring laughter, with several guys from the football team clapping and pounding their fists on the tables while Elara sat there completely frozen, the soda dripping off her chin onto her ruined uniform. I kept my eyes fixed on my plate, forcing myself to take another bite of my food and acting like I didn't see the humiliation happening across the room, because she brought this entire mess on herself by coming to our house.

Covered in soda and absolute shame, Elara finally stood up and pushed past the laughing crowd without saying a single word to anyone, her eyes fixed on the floor as she bolted through the double doors and disappeared into the hallway.

"You could've stopped that, Ryker," Marcus said, leaning across our table and staring at me with a serious expression, his hand stopping near his water glass as the noise in the cafeteria finally started to return to normal. "Your sister is taking this way too far, and everyone knows you run this campus, so one word from you would make them leave the girl alone."

"It's not my problem, Marcus," I answered coldly, pushing my half-empty tray away and wiping my mouth with a napkin as I stood up from the table, my voice completely flat so my teammates wouldn't think I cared about her. "She chose to play this game with my mother, so she can handle the consequences herself, and I am not going to ruin my reputation protecting some random fraud who doesn't belong in our world."

"If you say so, man, but you look a lot angrier than usual for someone who doesn't care," Marcus muttered, shaking his head as he stood up to follow me out of the lunchroom.

We walked out into the main corridor, heading toward our afternoon sports meeting, but as Elara's small, sticky figure completely disappeared down the long hallway toward the locker rooms, I caught myself slowing my pace and watching her slide out of sight, my chest tightening with a strange feeling that lingered

long after she was completely gone