The wind roared across the rooftop like a warning from the gods. Ivy stood frozen, Bianca's words echoing in her ears like a haunting song.
"Sisters…?"
Bianca nodded, a cruel smile twitching on her lips. Her eyes were sharp, hungry—for justice, or maybe vengeance. Maybe both.
"You think Ochieng's love is pure?" she said, stepping closer. "You're just a placeholder, Ivy. A distraction before he returns to his real inheritance."
"What inheritance?"
"The kind soaked in blood."
---
A quiet family. A company built on solar tech. The Wekesa family made an offer to buy them out. They refused.
Two months later, a mysterious fire leveled their research lab. Their patents? Stolen. The family? Broken.
Only two daughters survived.
Bianca and Sylvia.
And the man who orchestrated it all?
Ochieng's father.
---
Back in the present, Ivy struggled to breathe.
"No… Ochieng isn't like that."
Bianca sneered. "You don't get it. This isn't just about campus parties and student elections. This is power, Ivy. Families rise and fall in these games. You're just a piece on the board."
Ivy turned to leave—but Bianca caught her wrist.
"He's going to propose soon," Bianca said softly. "He'll make you believe he's everything. But one day, you'll wake up married to a ghost, a liar, and a legacy you never signed up for."
---
Elsewhere:
Ochieng, 25
CEO of WekesaTech, part-time lecturer.
Attitude: Calm under pressure, intense when pushed.
Flaws: Buries truth. Can be emotionally distant. Hates showing weakness.
Appearance: Tall, chocolate complexion, eyes that hold unspoken storms. Always in tailored suits—his armor against a chaotic world.
Background: Inherited the company at 22 after his father's mysterious death. Raised by a mother who taught him how to win wars without bullets.
---
Ochieng stormed into the private lounge of The Horizon Club. Lucien sat there, legs crossed, sipping aged whiskey.
"Ivy was on that rooftop," Ochieng said coldly. "What did you do?"
Lucien smirked. "Truth. I gave her truth. Something you seem allergic to."
Ochieng's fist slammed the table.
"I will end you."
Lucien stood, toe-to-toe with him.
"She deserves better," he whispered. "Someone not molded from shadows."
---
Back in campus, the Spring Union Festival was underway. Students gathered. Bright lights. Music. Laughter. But Ivy wandered like a ghost through the crowd.
She saw couples kiss, friends laugh, professors dance.
And all she could think about…
Was whether she'd been in love with a lie.
---
Bianca – 26, fiery, calculating, a secret tech genius. Works underground but moves freely in elite circles.
Lucien Moretti – Billionaire rogue. Ochieng's rival. Has a devilish charm and a master plan.
Zahra Kimathi – 24, Ochieng's childhood friend and CFO. Fiercely loyal, secretly in love with him.
Ivy – 23, student leader. Bright, bold, but drowning in secrets she never asked for.
---