The city lights flickered beneath them like dying stars. The air at the top of Pearl Royale wasn't just thin—it was toxic, heavy with secrets, betrayal, and desires never meant to coexist.
Ochieng sat at the black marble table with Ivy to his right—visibly shaken, but now colder, stronger. Across from them were the new arrivals—Bianca, Jamal, and Tessy—all sipping rare scotch like royalty preparing for war.
"I didn't come here to play nice," Bianca began, crossing her legs in her signature blood-red heels. "Zahra's mess is bad for all of us. Your school? Your little gala? It's a cover. We have a bigger enemy."
Tessy flipped her phone around, showing them a message sent anonymously:
> "You think Zahra is dangerous? The one who controls the Union of Billionaire Youth controls the world."
Ochieng narrowed his eyes. "And who sent that?"
Jamal chuckled softly, his voice a sensual blend of arrogance and charm. "That's what we're here to find out. Someone's playing us all."
---
Zahra wasn't hiding.
She was rising.
Surrounded by seven shadowy figures—each the heir to billion-dollar dynasties—Zahra stood at the head of a glass roundtable.
Behind her, screens showed live feeds of campuses, corporations, security networks—even private dorm rooms of political students.
"Operation Divide begins tonight," she said coolly. "Ochieng will burn. Ivy will fold. Lena… will beg."
"But what about the Morettis?" one of them asked.
Zahra smiled. "Their son Elijah is already mine."
---
Prom posters were being put up across the university.
A seemingly innocent event.
But it wasn't.
This prom was funded by an anonymous donor—and came with a guest list curated by an underground system coded by a rogue AI team from Tasha's department.
Only 77 people were invited.
All targets.
And at the center of it all?
A wedding proposal.
Ochieng had no idea… someone was planning to use Ivy to end his reign of secrecy—forever.
---
Naomi Ambrose, 21 – A transfer student from Australia. Studying Law. Blonde with icy blue eyes, porcelain skin, and an angelic aura. Secretly part of the Ambrose dynasty, the trillionaire family that once bought out half of Europe's gold reserves. She's charming, soft-spoken… but deadly manipulative when love is involved. She arrives next chapter, disguised as a broke scholarship student.
Mr. Huxley, 44 – Dean of Student Affairs. Elegant, cold, calculating. Former military intelligence. Knows about the billionaire games and plays both sides. Rumored to have a hidden relationship with Bianca's late mother.
---
In the glass elevator, Ivy and Ochieng stood in silence.
"I don't know what's real anymore," Ivy whispered.
Ochieng didn't respond. He simply pulled something from his coat pocket.
A velvet box.
Inside: a ring.
But it wasn't for her.
---