Chapter 3: The Heiress nobody wanted
1058 Words
Hansung Academy was less like a school and more like a luxury fashion show disguised as an institution.
The gates were taller than Ariella’s childhood house. Uniforms weren’t simple plaid skirts and button-downs they were tailored blazers with gold-trimmed logos and designer loafers. Students arrived in sleek black cars or private drivers. The parking lot had more Audis and BMWs than a dealership.
Ariella stepped out of the Han family’s luxury car, painfully aware of how stiff she felt in the uniform. It fit perfectly of course it did. Everything in this world was tailored to perfection.
Except her.
She wasn’t meant to be here.
The whispers started before she made it past the gates.
“Is that her?”
“The Han secret love child?”
“She doesn’t even look Korean.”
“She’s half-American, right? Total scandal.”
Ariella tried to tune it out, gripping the strap of her bag tighter. Her heart pounded. Her throat was dry. But her feet kept moving forward.
“Hey!”
She turned, expecting more questions or judgment.
Instead, Jae Min was leaning casually against the stone wall just past the entrance, school blazer slung over one shoulder, tie loose, a devil-may-care smirk playing on his lips.
“Didn’t expect you to show,” he said.
“I didn’t have a choice,” she replied flatly.
He fell into step beside her. “That’s the Han family motto. ‘No choice, just consequences.’”
“I thought you didn’t like me.”
“I don’t. But I like chaos.” He glanced at her sideways. “And you bring just enough of it to keep things interesting.”
Ariella sighed. “Is there anyone here who doesn’t see me as entertainment?”
“Hmm…” Jae Min pretended to think. “Probably not.”
---
Her first class was a blur of unfamiliar faces, unreadable glances, and too many questions left unspoken. People stared without shame. Whispers flew like paper airplanes around her.
It wasn’t just that she was new.
It was that she was different.
Wrong uniform shoes. Wrong posture. Wrong everything.
She wasn’t born for this world, but now she was expected to play by its rules.
When the teacher asked her to introduce herself, Ariella stood awkwardly.
“I’m Ariella… Han.” The name tasted foreign on her tongue. “I just moved here.”
Someone snorted in the back.
“Where from?” a girl with glossy black hair asked sweetly.
“Maple Hollow. It’s a small town.”
The class looked confused.
“Is that in America?” someone whispered.
“She’s the illegitimate one, right?” another said under their breath.
Ariella felt heat crawl up her neck, but she didn’t flinch. She sat down silently and let the whispers continue. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her c***k.
---
By lunch, she realized she had no idea where to go. The campus was massive sprawling buildings, sculpture gardens, koi ponds, and more surveillance than a government facility.
She stood frozen for a moment, clutching her tray when a familiar voice drawled behind her.
“Lost again, Maple Hollow?”
She turned. Jae Min stood with his hands in his pockets, looking amused.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re standing in front of the boys’ locker room.”
She looked at the sign and turned red. “Whatever.”
He jerked his head toward a side path. “Come on. You’ll get eaten alive in the cafeteria.”
She hesitated. “Why are you helping me?”
He shrugged. “I like to see how long you last.”
“That’s not help. That’s observation.”
He gave her a lazy grin. “Same thing.”
---
They ended up on the rooftop windy but private. He sat cross-legged on the bench like he owned it. Ariella sat across from him, pushing her untouched food around.
“You’re not eating,” he said.
“Not hungry."
“You will be. Surviving this place burns calories.”
She didn’t respond.
He tilted his head, observing her like she was a puzzle. “You really didn’t know, did you?”
“Know what?”
“About your father. This world. Everything.”
She looked at him. “No. My mom hid all of it.”
He nodded slowly. “Smart woman.”
Ariella sighed. “You don’t seem like the rest of them.”
“That’s because I’m not.” He leaned back, resting his arm behind her on the bench. “My parents are in Dubai ninety percent of the time. They send money, not love.”
“That seems to be a pattern in this world.”
He smiled without humor. “Welcome to the circle of privilege. We have cookies. And abandonment issues.”
She laughed unexpectedly. And it surprised them both.
---
When Ariella returned home that evening, Hyejin was waiting at the staircase like a perfectly dressed vulture.
“How was school, scholarship princess?”
Ariella brushed past her. “Fine. Want a report card?”
“Don’t flatter yourself. People are already talking. You embarrassed the family.”
“For existing?”
“For dragging us into the gutter with you.”
Ariella turned, slowly. “Say that again.”
Hyejin raised a perfectly arched brow. “I said”
“I heard what you said,” Ariella cut in. “And next time you say it, say it to my face. Not with your little followers whispering behind your lip-glossed back.”
Hyejin blinked, stunned.
Then she smiled, sweet and dangerous. “This is going to be fun.”
---
That night, Ariella stared at the ceiling in her cavernous room, unable to sleep.
Her world had changed overnight.
She had a family that barely acknowledged her. A father who treated her like a business deal. A half-sister who wanted her gone. A half-brother who ignored her. A school full of sharks.
And one boy who confused her more than anything else.
Jae Min.
He wasn’t kind, exactly. But he was real and that made him feel more human than anyone she’d met in this new world.
Still, she couldn’t afford to trust him. Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
But one thing was certain.
This wasn’t the end of her story.
It was only the beginning.
- Writer
