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2024-10-29 19:42:56The three ladies who are ranked the most beautiful in Evertrise College are always called the beautiful three, with time it took an Italian variation, Bellissimi tre. And since last semester till now, the current Bellissimi tre were all from Sebastian’s class – Cecile, Zzemona and Anna.
As Cecile walked to sit beside Sebastian, the grumbles got louder and the voice of the lecturer was heard once more,
“Gentlemen and ladies, one more peep and the class will go in for it, especially the rich” No one made another sound after that.
Cecile’s expression was indifferent, she was the kind of person that did not stand out too much yet was never hidden. In contrast to the heiresses in the hall, you could say she goes unnoticed, yet, she still draws attention, like a mysterious shadow that is always present but somehow blends in.
She was the talk of the school when she enrolled just last semester which was very rare. The school hardly accepted such special students, given that she would graduate with Sebastian’s set, which was less than two years of study for a four-year course!
That semester alone, she ranked as the second best in the entire major, coming second only to Sebastian, kicking up another wave of discussion about her.
Some rumoured she was the heiress of the richest family in another country because she looked foreign.
Some rumoured she was the secret wife of a top CEO in Country A and couldn’t reveal her identity yet for fear of being mocked and pestered.
Some even rumoured she was the child of a Mafia boss who was here to learn how to control and balance the corporate world of Country A, just like the fearsome mysterious man surnamed Trivulezo-Conti.
To add the icing to the cake, she somehow managed to become the single most beautiful girl in the entire school! Her beauty was so stunning, it was otherworldly yet somehow, she maintained her mysterious persona and low profile. She earned herself a new name in addition to being one of the Bellissimi tre, ‘Ombra Solare’ meaning Shadow sun – because she shone so brightly yet was so hidden, it was antithetical!
The lecturer’s voice rang out again.
“The highest scoring pair in this project will get a fully funded contract along with contractor’s pay to execute the project. A government representative along with stakeholder companies will be here to witness your presentation. I’m certain I do not need to emphasise why you should give your best to this project. The grading will be on teamwork, the innovativeness of the idea and the practicality of implementation.”
“No way! I did not expect a project of this calibre so soon”
“I know right? Anyone who comes first will not only gain immeasurable reward, influence and connection, but this will help in solidifying one’s position as an heir or heiress in their family!”
“This is a big deal. I kind of wish I was paired with Sebastian. If I am paired with him, I am sure of a fighting chance!”
“Hmph! Who needs to be paired with a murderer like him? We can just order him to do our projects for us. A poor rat like him will dance in the face of a few red notes, he’ll need it for bail”
“You’re right! We can get him to do this project for us the way he always our other assignments. And this time he cannot refuse because of his crimes!”
“Won’t it be too much? This project is different from our other assignments”
“Who cares? I did not ask him to be poor and a genius, we can force him to do it. It makes my blood boil that he’s smarter than me. Besides, a murderer has no choice”
“Yeah! And if he refuses, we’ll beat him to a pulp and hand him over to the police.”
“Exactly!”
After the lecturer finished speaking, he recorded the pairs and dismissed the class. As he walked away, his gaze lingered on the Sebastian-Cecile pair and Leonard-Anna pair (Anna had the miraculous luck of picking Leonard); he sensed trouble brewing and smiled as he walked away.
Once the lecturer left, the class tore apart like a volcano just erupted!
“Sebastian you piece of shit, you murderer, who do you think you are?!”
“I will never understand why the option of scholarship is available for the poor to study with us. They dirty our halls and sully our images!”
“Sebastian is the biggest stain of them all. Somehow, he singlehandedly managed to be worse than all the poor rats combined. If I were him, I wouldn’t be existing right now because of shame”
“Wow, after everything that happened in the Parking lot, you still have the nerve to show up here, you murderer! I hope your crimes catch up with you!”
When he heard that last statement, that was when he understood why everyone was unusually sinister to him. Leonard had done something terrible to his reputation.
“Call in sick and give our goddess back to us! Or should we cripple you ourselves? I wish you died that day! Poor trash like you does not deserve to breathe the same air she does!”
“Yes! Only Leonard does, give her to Leonard!”
“Give her to Leonard” Soon it turned into a chant, “Give her to Leonard!!!”
Anna’s jealousy burned with every chant the crowd gave. She hated the pleased look on Leonard’s face as the chants roared, she despised Cecile for picking Sebastian and most of all, she absolutely resented Sebastian for being poor! The girl was nuts.
“Ei, eii, stop everyone. Do you all want to draw the lecturer back here?” Leonard stepped in, not doing any real thing to stop them, revelling in the attention.
“Who cares if he comes back? Our goddess must not be with him!” and everyone chorused, “Yes!”
“Funny you didn’t say that when lecturer Grizzalo was still here, even though he clearly gave you room to express your resentment.” Cecile’s voice cut through the chants, resounding like a beautiful melody. She relaxed in her seat beside Sebastian and didn’t move to stand, even when there was pure chaos in the room.
“Glad I caught it on record and I’m sure the school’s voice recognition system can identify who owns which voice. I can help make your *strong resentment on the pairing known to the lecturer right now.” Cecile finished with a chill in her voice as her piercing eyes swept the room.
“But Goddess…”
“Who is your Goddess? I don’t deserve to be the goddess of such lofty and mighty people! Give the title to someone who actually cares about it!” Her tone was laced with pure sarcasm.
“People with the intelligence of a bird do not deserve to be in Evertrise. You accused Seb of murder, right? Where is your evidence? I never knew hearsay was such solid evidence. Since that’s the case, everyone here is an accessory to the murder of the gateman!” Silence swept the room.
“If you want to spew nonsense, do not associate my name with it. Good luck explaining this recording to Lecturer Grizzalo.” With that, Cecile stood up and walked away, the crisp sound of her heel retreating after her.
Everyone’s mouth widened in shock; did the goddess just speak up for Sebastian?
Leonard’s face was twisted with embarrassment, shame and anger. He had shamelessly made his minions tell everyone that he and Cecile were the perfect couple, to him, Cecile was just too beautiful to belong to any other man. Some students agreed with the pairing and even set up coincidental encounters often between them but Cecile always managed to avoid them and thwart their plans.
Of course, no one had the liver to approach Cecile and tell her anything to her face, but their looks and gestures said it all! Today’s chants were the manifestations of months of failed hard work and pent-up frustration.
Cecile had never said anything on the matter before, she just ignored everyone and focused on her studies, avoiding Leonard so some people took it that she just needed time to come around. Therefore, her words today came as a rude slap of awakening to Leonard and everyone.
“Did she just call Sebastian, Seb? Do they know each other?”
“Was she referring to Leonard when she said not to associate her name with nonsense?”
“Did she just firmly reject Leonard and defend Sebastian? No way right?”
“It’s because they’re project pairs. We’re reading too much into it. Of course, she has to save Sebastian’s face, if he loses face, she will also lose face!”
“Do not drag our goddess down to the level of that trash, she will never lose face because of him, no matter what he does, tueh.”
“Yes, that’s right!”
“But, what she said makes sense, there was no solid evidence that the murder was done by Sebastian, in fact, everything is suspicious, the old gateman treats Sebastian as a son and Sebastian didn’t come to school yesterday. He never misses school even if there’s a lightning warning!”
“Yeah, Sebastian also looks drabber than normal, his eyes are dark and a bit bloodshot with barely combed crazed hair. That’s a first.”
“Damn! I never noticed Sebastian always took care of his appearance and posture despite being poor. If not for this event, we never would have known.”
“Yeah, he almost has the bearing of an Emperor”
“Shushhhhhhh, do you want to land yourself in trouble with your words? Let’s leave here now. You don’t want to be there when Leonard is angry”
With that, everyone gradually emptied the room. As they walked away in a blur, Sebastian’s eyes were fixed on the door Cecile walked out from, his thoughts drifting.
“That’s true, Cecile had always stood up for me in tough situations, though this time, she was very obvious about it, usually she pulled strings from behind the scenes. What changed?” Sebastian muttered to himself
He remembered when he first noticed someone was watching him…
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THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 8. I will make you pay for killing Gramps!
He was practising his Judo in the evening, after school when he was sure most of the school had gone home or to their various engagements. Even if anyone was lingering behind, his practising what everyone thought was loose punches would not make any difference to them or raise suspicion.Suddenly, he felt he was being watched but ignored it. It could have been anyone and it didn’t matter what their intentions were since they did not approach him, or so he thought.From that day forward, he kept feeling that peculiar gaze. The person was highly skilled because they managed to conceal themselves well from him. One day, he was finally able to use a detour to identify the stalker and it turned out to be the new student, Cecile!He ignored her initially, when her curiosity of his poor condition waned, she would naturally stop following him but she never stopped. He had to readjust his routine because of her to avoid mistakenly revealing his proficiency with Judo and martial arts.Despite ch
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 9. Sorry Seb, my application has already been accepted.
“I will never understand why you choose to bear their unjust treatment all the time without reporting it.” The lady asked, scanning him from head to toe, seemingly searching for another injury.Sebastian wiped his blood-stained mouth and asked, “Do you want a polite answer or the truth?”The lady glared at him, “What do you mean?”“Nothing Doyenne.” He bowed“Speak”“If you cared about the scholarship students, you would not turn a blind eye to their suffering despite knowing about it with the excuse of it not being reported. I dare not tell you how to run your school but if you insist on mixing high society with commoners, you have to be ready to bear the consequences that come with it, including death.” Sebastian kept his head low“Excellent! One of my best students is actually so ruthless with his words! If it were not for me, you wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn from the crème de la crème! What would your genius mind amount to in the face of sub-standard education?”“With al
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 10. Tampering with someone’s sleep is just plain evil
“Dear Guerriero Numero Uno, your side quest is to bring the leader of the Red Rats gang to the headquarters tonight. He must be delivered alive. Goodluck”“Alessandro, I just got a message, what is up with the side quest? Haven’t we been given a task already?” Sebastian had barely arrived home before he got the message.“Oh, I forgot to tell you, other than the main tasks for the trials, you will be assigned side quests at random. The side quests are different per contestant but the main task is to be completed by all the contestants.” Alessandro answered nonchalantly over the phone, the sound of a punch landing on a sandbag audible over the speaker.“What other important information have you forgotten to tell me, Ales?” Sebastian asked, his tone a bit annoyed.“What’s the rush, you will eventually know all with time, let’s just hope you don’t find them out late.” He chuckled.“For a Consigliere, you sure are careless and grossly undisciplined!”“Judging a book by its cover now, are we
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 11. All that was heard was the sound of breaking bones...
Lorenzo planned to completely sabotage the mission and alert the police, completely ruining the quest and making Sebastian look incompetent before the family.Sebastian was taken aback by Lorenzo’s actions and seeing the recent turn of events, he didn’t take action. He observed the battleground for a bit before he ran out of the den. After some time, he returned to the den where the battle was still intense but instead of joining the fight, he sat back on a wall, crossed his legs and relaxed, watching the fight and eating some nuts he found on a nearby tree.From the looks of the fight, the Red Rats gang and the men assigned to him did not have arms on them. It was understandable why the Red Rats gang would not have arms, they looked like a small gang and arms were crazy expensive but it did not make sense why the men assigned to him only held weak knives, not one decent weapon.Lorenzo looked up amidst a fierce battle to see Sebastian lounging on the wall without a care in the world.
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 12. She flung her heels into the Incinerator
A helicopter came to pick up Mike and the wounded men from Sebastian’s team to deliver to the Guerriero headquarters. The police stormed the Red Rat’s gang after Sebastian had left. It was later discovered that why the police took so long to arrive was because a fire had been started nearby and the city square was in chaos because such a thing had never happened before. Between people causing commotion, and quenching the fire, the police had their hands full, thus, they could only arrive at the Red Rat’s base after all was done. *** Same Night in a luxurious restaurant in Country A “Principessa, you called?” A man dressed in a sophisticated forest green suit bowed to a lady dressed in a silk off-shoulder blue evening gown, a matching veiled mask covering her nose and mouth, flowing beautifully. “Any progress on the investigation?” He smiled at the enchanting ring of her voice. He sat back on his seat with crossed legs, exuding an air of arrogant confidence, “I’m curious abo
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 13. A Generation of Business Managers
There was silence on the other end for five seconds before a deep voice responded“Do you not know how to clean up after your mess?”“I apologize for my incompetence father but the Doyenne got involved and she handed the case over to the Federal Ministry of Justice...”“I’m not in the mood to listen to excuses from a whimpering child this night. Only fools apologize for their incompetence, the strong give results, no matter how it is obtained. Your cousin never makes excuses like you do, I almost wonder if you both were exchanged at birth.”“Father…”“I will not clean up after you again. If you cannot handle a mere poor Church rat, would it be two-faced scheming elites with power that you can handle?”Leonard stayed silent on the other end.“I will delay the Minister’s trip to Evertrise, and I will invite the Doyenne away as well. During the period of her absence, find a way to get that vermin expelled! I do not want to hear this case mentioned ever again!” His tone was stone-cold and
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 14. An Unexpected Visitor
With folded hands, she taunted him, “Do you really think Zzemona cares about you? She’s just using you to make her image as a goddess more profound.”“I’m happy to be used if she’s the one using me. At least it shows I’m not as worthless as you lot claim.” He stepped to the side to avoid her but she moved and still stood in his way.Then he stopped, putting his hands in his pocket, he stared at her, waiting for her next move. It was not beyond Anna to scream ‘rape’ in the hallway for no good reason.Anna smirked and stepped closer to him, “why do I have a feeling you are hiding many secrets?” She wrinkled her nose to make the next statement, “If only you did not reek of poverty relief for the less privileged, you would have had a bright future with me.”Sebastian laughed lightly.“I hope you maintain the same energy when I become rich because I won’t let you near my shadow when that time comes.” With that, he turned and went back the way he came leaving behind a fuming Anna. She could
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 15. Guerriero Numero Due
Cecile quickly covered her face with her black hair, tousling it naturally with the fierce wind kicked up by the helicopter, and letting it frame her face, effectively hiding underneath the black curtain of her hair without rousing suspicion from their surprise guests. She was not called the most beautiful of the Belisimi Tre for no reason. She was well aware of her own charm and her instincts as a spy in that instant told her she had to hide away.From all indications, the man who stepped out from that helicopter did not come for her, she was not going to be unfortunate enough to get caught up in something that was not targeted at her, or something that had a foreboding feeling to it when she still had a mission to complete.Sebastian was also taken aback by the surprise intrusion and the manner in which they intruded but kept calm, watching their actions.The handsome young man who first stepped out from the helicopter was dressed to the nines in limited edition wear. One look at him
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30. I would Never let you win Leonard, Never!
Expatriate Wilson held Sebastian’s angry gaze with his own, there was a mini-starring contest between the two as he considered all the possibilities.Brushing off the situation was not an option as news of what happened would still reach Country B. And if they knew he was here and did nothing about the situation, there would be a pound of flesh to pay.Secondly, if he used Sebastian as a scapegoat, the possibility of Cecile intervening was very high, judging from her disposition.If he used any other person, apart from Alexo as a scapegoat, he had a feeling Sebastian would do something to make the situation escalate even further. The only option was to do as Sebastian wanted. The boy weaved the trap perfectly and he could only dance to his tune as a pawn in his plan.With what just happened, if he had doubts before about Sebastian’s academic standing as he had heard, or even doubted his capabilities from the drama that was happening with his project, all the doubts evaporated with Seb
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29. Drag her out of the stage!
“How is it not the same thing? The scale model of Sebastian’s project is exactly the same as that of Leonard!”“Yeah!”“If it weren’t the same project, how is it possible that it has the same features as that of Leonard?”“Exactly!” There were mixed reactions among the students in the crowd.“I guess we’ll find out after my presentation if the two projects are truly similar or not.” Cecile gave a charming smile that sent millions of hearts melting, male and female. All their attention was fully on her now and the room was still.Everyone was paying rapt attention to hear what she would say, and how she would turn this project, which was a replica of Leonard’s own into something different.“I would like to point out a few things about Elemour. Just like Leonard rightly mentioned, it is indeed a hilly and mountainous terrain. One so scary-looking, it was written off as a waste land, laying bare for any constructor who would be daring enough to make something of it.”“However, the mounta
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28. Who said our Projects are similar?
The more Cecile thought about it, the stranger it was.Why would Leonard be so confident in presenting the stolen design without making any adjustments to it? The pairs were to be called up randomly, so how was he so certain that he would present before her and Sebastian?Her guess was, that Leonard didn’t just tamper with the timing of the presentation, he also tampered with Lecturer Grizzalo’s shuffling program. With that realization, she smiled as she wheeled up their prototype. It was covered with a white cloak.“Where is Sebastian?” One of Leonard’s minions shouted from the sidelines.“Yeah, it’s supposed to be a team presentation, not a solo presentation.” Yet another minion added.Cecile looked to Lecturer Grizzalo and he clarified, “Sebastian took an excuse from me this morning to get a report which he needs for this project. He mentioned he would be back before his partner was done so let’s wait and see, shall we? In the meantime, Cecile, please proceed. If he’s not back by th
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27. But they are not protecting you now either, are they? What’s the difference?
A distance away from Evertrise, Sebastian was running at full speed towards the location of the Ministries in Skymin City. It was located in the heart of the city but getting there required covering a considerable distance. And Skymin City was large.Sebastian’s speed, paired with his martial arts could surpass that of a horse at full speed, but even with that speed, it was nothing compared to the speed of a car which would have gotten him there in less than fifteen minutes. The distance he covered with his current speed felt like a drop in the ocean compared to the distance he still needed to cover. The city was just that large. He mentally laughed at himself upon recalling how he confidently told Cecile not to worry, and that he would be back on time.At this speed, if he made it back in time for lunch, then he was a living human rocket! Poverty wasn’t a good thing, and as Sebastian ran, the irritation of being poor gnawed away at him. In that moment, he began to consider the Guerri
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26. A Stolen Praise
“Leonard, what do you mean by you’re cutting all ties with me?” Anna asked, her anger and irritation from last night still simmering on her skin. She was physically recovered thanks to Wintore Hospital’s expert care, but the same could not be said about her mind.“Exactly what you heard. I have no use for a has-been, a violent one at that. You should be grateful I didn’t put you in jail for assault.” Leonard was still nursing the stinging pain on his bandaged right cheek from the injury Anna inflicted on him last night in Wintore Hospital.“You have no right to throw me out now!” Anna’s voice was rising in decibels, just outside the conference room to be used for the project presentation, “Not after everything you made me do for you! Now all of a sudden when I need you the most, you’re leaving me to hang dry?!!!” A mini crowd was gathering around them.Leonard dragged her away from prying eyes into a corner, he pinned her with his elbow at her neck to the wall, “Listen and listen caref
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25. Projects 3: The Plan
Silence descended on the lab, everyone was thinking.For Lecturer Grizzalo’s project, they still needed to do the scale modelling of their blueprint, and that was a lot of work considering it hadn’t been started already. For Gavriel’s project, between completing the prototype design and building the prototype, they still had a lot of work to do.“I’ll take care of the scale modelling Seb, you can concentrate on Gavriel’s project,” Cecile spoke up.“But…”“It’s a lot, I know. I’m not confident I’ll finish it before the time for the presentation but we never know until we try right? And I’m quick with my fingers.” She wriggled her finger at Sebastian as she smiled at him. There was no hesitation in her eyes, instead, there was a gleaming fire in her eyes, a fire borne from the challenge. If there was one thing Cecile enjoyed, it was taking on challenges and overcoming them! And she so loved this particular challenge.“That would be pushing yourself too much Cecile…” It wasn’t that Sebast
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24. Projects 2: The Wrench
Sebastian turned to Cecile who was on her phone and said, “Thank you for being here till this time and sorry for keeping you for long only for me to focus on another project.”“You sound like it was you who made me stay back; I chose to stay back to work on the project of my own free will Seb. The apology is unnecessary, don’t make the atmosphere uncomfortable for everyone. Gavriel is tense enough as it is.” She raised a brow at him and then continued what she was doing.Sebastian was at a loss for words. He scratched his head awkwardly and said,“There’s still a lot remaining for the project to be complete, I’ll feel guilty if you’re doing it alone. How about we continue working on it next tomorrow? The project is not due for another four to five days at least.”“She chuckled lightly, “Relax Seb. Don’t worry, I don’t plan to do everything by myself tonight. That’s a lot of work to complete in one night. I just need the distraction of working on something for a bit so I’m staying back
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23. Projects 1: The Lifeline
At Leonard’s apartment, in a luxurious district of Country A, Leonard was on a call, his tone was angry and dangerous.“I suffered great humiliation today, thanks to Sebastian and Anna. Sebastian must not be allowed to continue studying at Evertrise. He must never amount to anything! So, find a way to make the project presentation tomorrow! I don’t care what you do, make it happen!” And he cut the call.Leonard looked at the completed project work that was in his room. Everything was there, the blueprint, the simulation and the physical model, it was all done to perfection. The only thing of concern was, it was a stolen idea from Sebastian. He was irritated at how excellent the concept Sebastian came up with was, it was almost like a sneer in his face as he stared at it.Leonard had put one of his minions to tail Sebastian and get his idea for Lecturer Grizzalo’s project, as well as pictures of the rough sketches. The minion did a perfect job in fulfilling the task because what was bef
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22. Cancelled Sponsorship
Despite being nighttime, the city was abuzz with discussions, ridicule and laughter. Various versions of what transpired at Wintore Hospital spread like wildfire across the city and eventually the entire Country A in one night!The broadcast of the scene from Wintore hospital, starting from when Anna was pleading to Alessandro to spare her to when Leonard scurried away spread across social media and was reposted over and over. Memes were made with Anna’s unsightly crawling and Leonard’s scurrying away; wild exaggerations were added to the memes and there were the butt of every joke. Headlines began to flow one after the other:“BREAKING NEWS: Five Conglomerates just cancelled their decade-long partnership with Celestine Conglomerate. The various representatives of the companies say they are willing to pay the exorbitant severance f*e than have Celestine Conglomerate as a business partner!”“JUST IN: From Nation’s Husband to Demon Reaper. Leonard who once caused millions of hearts to m
