My Dream, My Destiny:The heiress's second chance

Chapter 3

The morning sunlight was doing that thing I loved pouring through the tall glass windows in long golden sheets, warming everything it touched.

I kissed Dad on the cheek first, then Mom, before sliding into my seat at the dining table. Leah appeared almost immediately, setting down a plate of brie and a steaming mug of hot chocolate with quiet efficiency. I made a mental note to thank her properly later.

"Is my princess ready for school?" Dad asked, stirring cream into his coffee with that unhurried, deliberate patience that was so uniquely him.

"Yes, Dad." I took a small bite of the brie. "Where's Nanny?"

"Resting in her room."

"And Jürgen?"

"He'll be here soon." Dad set his spoon down. "So tell me what are you planning to do in school today?"

I sipped my hot chocolate and shrugged. "Nothing much. As always… reading my books."

He gave me that look the one that said he knew I was understating things dramatically but was choosing not to push it.

I slid my mug toward Leah and stood up.

"Dad, Mom — I'll be leaving now. Please tell Jürgen to hurry."

"Yes, ma'am," Leah said softly as she moved to clear the table.

"Wait, my princess."

I turned. Dad was smiling — that particular smile he only wore when he was pleased with himself about something.

"I have a surprise for you."

"Surprise?" I turned back slowly.

"Close your eyes." He paused. "And hold out your hands."

I obeyed immediately. I heard him stand, heard the soft clink of something small, and then felt the cool weight of metal drop into my palm.

"Now open your eyes."

I opened them.

And screamed.

"No way!" The sound that came out of me was completely undignified and I did not care even slightly. "The key to my Lamborghini Veneno!"

I launched myself at him. He caught me, laughing.

"I thought you weren't going to give it back!"

"Why wouldn't I?" He patted my back warmly. "You're my princess after all."

"Thank you, Daddy." I hugged him one more time for good measure, then spun on my heel and bolted for the door before he could change his mind which I know he won't.

Jürgen was already standing outside the gate when I burst through it, key in hand, probably still grinning like an i***t.

"Jürgen! Let's go we're taking my car!"

He saw the key and his eyes went wide. "Wait you got your car back?"

"Hop in."

He didn't need telling twice.

The engine roared to life beneath me and I felt that familiar rush the one that came with speed and open road and finally, finally, being back somewhere that felt like mine.

We made it to Dulwich in record time.

I pulled up to the large iron gates and stopped.

Stepped out slowly.

Tilted my head back.

SEOUL HIGH — DULWICH COLLEGE SEOUL

The letters stood in bold across the entrance, exactly as I remembered them. Proud. Imposing. Familiar in a way that hit somewhere behind my ribs.

"Cam, come on — other cars are behind us," Jürgen called from the passenger seat. Horns were already starting.

I smiled faintly to myself.

Welcome back to Seoul High.

I got back in and drove toward the parking lot, scanning the campus as we moved through it. Students everywhere, noise everywhere, the particular organized chaos of a school morning.

"As crowded as ever," I muttered.

Then two figures came sprinting toward me the moment I stepped out of the car.

"We can't believe you're back!"

"This school hasn't changed at all!"

Arlene and Carlene hit me like a small hurricane, both talking at once, both grabbing my arms. I laughed despite myself.

Before I could get a word in, a voice cut through the morning noise calm, authoritative, echoing from every speaker mounted around campus.

"All students should gather in the hall right now."

The hall was full by the time we got there, the hum of a hundred conversations bouncing off the high ceiling. I stood near the back with Jürgen while the principal stepped up to the stage.

"I'm sorry for calling everyone this morning," he began, "but I have a very important announcement."

The whispers started immediately.

He raised one hand and the room settled.

"We would like to welcome one of our former students back to school. She studied here from first grade but traveled abroad mid-year. Now she has returned."

A pause.

"Please welcome — Camilla Diego."

The applause started before I'd even taken a step.

I walked toward the stage calmly, chin level, back straight. Seven years away hadn't changed the way I carried myself. If anything, Ukraine had sharpened it.

The whispers rippled through the crowd as I passed.

"She's the daughter of George Diego."

"Wait the richest company owner in Seoul and beyond?"

"Oh wow… She's beautiful. Look at her lips — red like cherries."

A sharp slap followed that last one, and I heard the boy yelp. I kept my expression neutral with great effort.

"Camilla Diego," the principal said warmly as I stepped onto the stage. "Welcome back to Seoul High."

"Thank you so much, sir." I smiled and gave a small wave to the crowd.

This was familiar too, in its own way. The attention. The eyes. I'd grown up under them here as the cheerleading captain, as George Diego's daughter, as the girl everyone either wanted to befriend or wanted to beat.

Not everyone in that hall was smiling, though.

I didn't see her then. But somewhere in that crowd, I would later learn, Lynda was standing with her group Kyle, Charlotte, Sheila, Claudia — lips pressed thin, foot stamping against the floor.

Oh great. She's back.

I didn't know about any of that yet.

I was too busy smiling.

Mr. Scott — I remembered him, barely, from years ago walked me to his office afterward and handed me my timetable.

"Miss Camilla, enjoy your day," he said kindly.

"Thank you, sir."

I looked down at the paper as I walked out into the corridor.

History first. Wonderful.

I was still reading the timetable when Carlene materialized directly in front of me out of thin air.

"ARRGH!"

The timetable flew. My books hit the floor. My heart relocated briefly to my throat.

"I'm so sorry!" Carlene was already crouching, gathering pages, laughing.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Okay, okay sorry," she said, still laughing. She handed back my timetable and glanced at it. "So what's your locker number?

"Thirty-seven," I said, smoothing my hair back.

Carlene went very still.

"Thirty-seven?" Her voice dropped an entire octave. "No way."

"Why are you whispering? Just take me there."

She hesitated.

"Your locker… is next to Ricardo Salvador's. And his group."

I stared at her. "Who?"

"You'll understand when you see him."

When we reached the lockers, Carlene was moving like we were crossing enemy territory quick, nervous, eyes darting.

"Hurry," she murmured. "Nobody usually comes near this section."

"Why not? It's my locker." I opened number thirty-seven and started stacking my books inside.

"Listen lockers thirty through thirty-six all belong to the most popu—"

"Hey."

The voice came from behind us. Cold. Flat. The kind of voice that expected the room to rearrange itself accordingly.

We both turned.

I understood immediately why Carlene had gone quiet.

Ricardo Salvador was exactly the kind of person who filled a space without trying — tall, sharp-jawed, the sort of effortlessly commanding presence that certain boys developed when they'd never once been told no.

He was looking at us the way someone looks at an inconvenience they haven't decided how to remove yet.

"What are you doing here?" he said.

Carlene whispered his name beside me like a warning.

I looked at him for a moment. Then:

"Oh… so you're Ricardo?" I asked. Folded my arms. Kept my voice completely even.

Something shifted in his expression. His eyes darkened.

"How dare you talk to me like that?"

"What did I do? I only greeted you."

"How can you speak to me in that manner?"

I took one step closer and looked straight up into his face.

"You may be rude to other people," I said, "but not to me. Show some respect when you speak to me. Understood?"

Carlene's fingers found my sleeve and pulled.

"Cam… please. He will definitely deal with you."

"Like I care," I said, and turned and walked away.

The corridor had gone completely silent. I could feel every eye following me.

Behind me, I heard Ricardo's voice low, controlled, sharp as a blade.

"I will deal with you, Camilla Diego."

I kept walking.

I didn't think that Ricardo could do anything to me but I should have known that he had a lot of things planned out for me.