A Villain's POV - Chapter 17: finding Joel

WARNING! MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY!!***Casey is a top event planner, planning events for the most elites in the city. She's now tasked with the career-defining job of planning her best friend, Kira's, wedding. However, her life turned upside down when she found out she was falling in love with Jace, her Kira's fiance!Jace is the CEO of Chillz streaming platform, one of the biggest in the country. He's also one of the most dashing bachelors, always on the news and always being hounded by paparazzi. In a desperate move too expand his company, he opted to get married to KIra. But it all changed when he met her best friend, and suddenly, even the future of his company couldn't stop him from wanting to be with her.As passion burns hot and the embers of love is fanned, Jace and Casey try to fight their growing attraction to each other to respect Kira. But with such intense feelings, there is only so much they can do. Will they be able to stay away from each other regardless of the mounting temptations? Or will they throw caution to the winds, finding happiness in each other's arms even while everything they've built and worked hard for goes up in flames?

Qiao Shao, who worked hard to stay up all night and study, was first in class — if you count from the bottom.

Elaine Monroe never meant to fall in love with him. She never meant for her heart to betray her like this. But as she watches him stand beside another, hand resting on the waist of the woman he’s meant to be with, she wonders if she was always destined to be the outsider.“You knew,” she says, voice barely above a whisper. “You knew how I felt.”His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t deny it. He never does.“It wouldn’t have changed anything,” he finally says.She laughs bitterly. “I know.”Loving him was always impossible. He belonged to someone else. To his family’s expectations. To a future where Elaine had no place.“Forget whatever you think you feel,” he tells her, voice firm, but there’s something unspoken in his eyes—something that makes it hurt even more. “It will never happen.”And yet, his gaze lingers, just for a second too long.Then there’s her best friend—the one who stands beside her when the world turns its back. The one who sees her pain without asking.“You don’t have to do this to yourself,” he says, handing her his jacket on a cold night. “You deserve more than waiting for someone who will never be yours.”She wants to believe him. She wants to move forward. But some loves are impossible to forget. Some wounds never truly heal. And some desires, no matter how forbidden, refuse to die._____“loving him best decision i ever made” Elaine“you are my world”