Chapter 2 – When Our Worlds Collided
1039 Words
Chapter 2 – When Our Worlds Collided
****Lara’s POV****
If someone had told me years ago that I’d fall for a man like Ethan Montrose, I would’ve laughed.
Back then, I was just another face in the crowded halls of Southcrest University — juggling part-time work, sleepless nights, and a heart full of dreams I wasn’t sure I could reach. My life revolved around deadlines, scholarship requirements, and the tiny café near the west gate where I served coffee to rich students I could never be friends with.
And then, one ordinary afternoon, he walked in.
It wasn’t dramatic. No music, no spotlight — just a tall guy in a crisp white shirt, his sleeves rolled up, eyes scanning the menu like he had no idea how normal people ordered drinks.
“Uh…” he murmured, glancing at the chalkboard. “What’s a caramel macchiato again?”
I smiled despite myself. “It’s espresso with steamed milk and caramel drizzle.”
He looked at me then — and it was like being caught in the sun after too long in the shade. His gaze was sharp, curious, but there was something else there. A flicker of surprise, maybe, that someone had answered him without flattery or fear.
“I’ll have one,” he said finally. “Make it two, actually.”
“For you and your friend?”
He gave a faint smirk. “No. One for now, one just in case I like it.”
That was how it started. A small, ridiculous thing — a second coffee he never drank.
He came back the next day. And the day after that. And somehow, every time, he’d find a reason to linger.
Sometimes he’d bring his laptop and pretend to study. Sometimes he’d ask about my classes, my dreams, my favorite books. He never told me who he really was — that he was the Montrose heir, that his father owned half the companies in the city. To me, he was just Ethan, the quiet boy with the unreadable smile who liked caramel macchiatos too much.
Until the day I found out.
---
****Ethan’s POV****
I didn’t mean to go back there every day.
At first, the café was just a quiet place where no one whispered my name like a title. Where people didn’t care about my last name, or how much money my family had. Then I met her — the girl behind the counter with eyes that made everything else fade.
Lara Dela Vega.
She wasn’t like anyone I knew. She didn’t look at me with greed or awe — she just looked. And for the first time, I wasn’t Montrose’s son. I was just a man ordering coffee.
I liked that feeling more than I should’ve.
The more we talked, the harder it became to stay away. She had this calm energy, a quiet strength beneath her modest smile. She talked about her family back in the province, her mother’s health, the way she wanted to build a better life. Every word made me realize how small my world was compared to hers — and how badly I wanted to be part of hers.
So I kept my secret. I didn’t tell her who I was. I wanted her to know me, not my family name.
But secrets have a way of unraveling.
One night, my friends dragged me to a charity ball hosted by my father. Cameras flashing, luxury everywhere — the kind of world I hated. I was ready to leave when I heard her voice behind the catering table.
“Ethan?”
Her eyes widened as she saw me — the heir to Montrose Industries — standing in a tuxedo, surrounded by people who’d never step into her café.
Her smile fell.
And for the first time since I met her, I didn’t know what to say.
---
Lara’s POV
It was like watching two worlds collide — mine and his.
He looked so different that night — confident, distant, every inch the man I never thought he was. The whispers from the guests confirmed it: That’s Ethan Montrose. The Montrose heir.
And me? I was just the girl carrying a tray of champagne.
Our eyes met across the room. For a moment, it felt like the air vanished. I saw him take a step toward me, but then a woman in a silver dress clung to his arm — tall, elegant, everything I wasn’t.
I turned away before he could reach me.
Later that night, he found me behind the service hall, away from the noise and lights.
“Lara, wait—”
“Don’t,” I said quietly. “You should’ve told me.”
“I wanted to,” he said, breathless. “But I didn’t want you to treat me differently.”
“I wouldn’t have,” I whispered. “But now… I don’t even know who you are.”
He reached out, his voice soft. “I’m still me.”
But even then, I could feel it — the invisible wall between us. The one built by money, status, and a world that would never let us belong together.
And yet, despite it all, I couldn’t stop falling for him.
---
Ethan’s POV
She stopped looking at me the same way after that night.
But she didn’t walk away either.
We spent weeks dancing between words we couldn’t say. I’d visit her after class, walk her home when it rained. Sometimes, she’d laugh again — that small, quiet laugh that made everything else worth it.
Then one evening, under the amber glow of the campus lights, I told her what I’d been holding back.
“I don’t care what anyone says, Lara,” I said. “I want you.”
Her eyes searched mine, uncertain. “Ethan, your family—”
“They don’t decide who I love.”
It was the first time I said it out loud. And it felt like the most dangerous truth of all.
She didn’t answer right away. But when she finally reached for my hand, I knew she felt it too — that whatever this was between us, it was real.
Even if the world tried to tear it apart.
- Writer
