The buzz around campus was deafening.
Posters for the upcoming Annual Charity Masquerade Ball covered every notice board, every hallway, and every heart that still believed in fairy tales. But beneath the velvet masks and sparkling chandeliers, no one would leave untouched—not by love, not by lust, and certainly not by betrayal.
Ochieng, 25, now known as "the untouchable," had become a figure of myth at Elites University. Brilliant. Cunning. Devastatingly handsome. And impossibly complicated.
He walked into the Faculty Lounge like a man born of marble and storms—dark navy suit tailored to perfection, a faint scent of oud and danger trailing behind him. Conversations paused, and glances lingered a little longer than necessary.
Seated near the corner was Professor Seraphina Kane, 32—an art history professor, divorced, sarcastic, with cascading auburn curls and a reputation for both brilliance and scandal. Her lips curved as Ochieng approached.
"You missed my lecture," she purred, sipping wine despite it being 10 AM.
"I was busy causing emotional damage elsewhere," he replied smoothly.
"You always are."
She didn't need to say it, but the memory of their drunken kiss last semester hung in the air like perfume—sweet, reckless, and entirely forbidden.
---
Across campus, Tesslyn held a secret meeting with Kassie Monroe, 21—an exchange student from Switzerland with flawless skin, rich parents, and eyes that had seen far more than her age suggested.
Kassie had recently dated Zed—the tech prodigy Tesslyn betrayed.
Now, she was dating… no one.
But kissing everyone.
"I want in," Kassie said, eyes gleaming. "On the plan to take down Ochieng. I want revenge, too."
Tesslyn raised a brow. "What did he do to you?"
Kassie smiled wickedly. "Nothing yet. But I want him to beg for something he can't have."
---
Meanwhile, Alyssa attended a quiet brunch hosted by the Trillionaire Elite Daughters Society. Most of them had never used a stove, paid rent, or been heartbroken. They were untouchable in their own way.
But Alyssa was different.
She had been broken before.
And tonight, she planned to break someone else.
---
Night fell, and the Masquerade Ball began.
Girls shimmered in silk. Men sharpened in tuxedos. The chandelier dripped with crystal tears as violinists played haunting notes.
Ochieng arrived last—masked in black, tailored like a god, moving like sin. Gasps followed his entrance.
He made his way to the bar, only to be joined by Seraphina in a backless emerald gown that hugged her curves like a secret. Next to her appeared Linda, in silver, with a cold smile that said: "I remember everything."
Then Alyssa, in blood red.
And Tesslyn, in black lace.
All four women. One man. One dance.
The music changed.
Each woman claimed a turn with him on the floor. Each tried to draw him back into a past he'd left, or into a future they envisioned.
But Ochieng was dancing to a tune only he could hear.
---
Hours later, he stood on the balcony, moonlight brushing his jawline. Behind him came a new presence—Delilah Mendez, 26, an undercover journalist posing as a law student. Fierce. Fox-like. Five languages. No loyalty. And lips that never told the truth.
She leaned in close. "You don't know me yet, Ochieng. But by the end of this game, you'll either love me… or destroy me."
He didn't blink. "Why not both?"
She smirked.
And in the ballroom behind them, a scream tore through the night.
Someone had collapsed.
Blood on their glove.
A secret revealed too soon.
And the masks?
They were only just starting to fall.