PROLOGUE

"One more drink. Come on, you can't be that weak." I said to my friend as I downed another shot of alcohol from my own glass. "I'll drink that if you say pass, but I'd call you weak for the rest of the year." I watched my friend sway out of drunkenness.

"You know your father would shoot you dead on the spot if he sees you drunk, Shyne. He'll never forgive his perfect daughter if he finds her messing around with us." My classmate said as he slyly tried to grope one of my best friends, who was a little too drunk for my liking.

"Keep your hands to yourself, KP. I'll break that faster than you can drink that shot." I said in a playful yet warning tone. He reluctantly removed his hand from my friend's thigh and fixed his own school uniform.

We finished drinking just enough to make us tipsy but not yet drunk enough to pass out. We still had exams in an hour, and we had to make sure we were presentable enough to not get caught. Going to school and taking exams drunk for me was easy. The problem was making sure my stupid friends didn't make it obvious. They had peas for brains whenever they were intoxicated.

I finished the test as fast as I could to go straight to my boyfriend's house. I didn't love the guy, but he was a good trial run to try all the firsts I wanted. I didn't want to show him to anyone because he was definitely NOT my type. 

Being with Rian was stupid, but I'd rather be foolish and free than be stuck at home with people who don't understand me. All the money and awards will never be enough for me. I was looking for love, a home, and a place where I could be myself.

I knew wild activities were not what I would consider as my authentic self either. However, I dug my own grave in this pretend life I'm living, and I have no way out.

"What are you thinking?" Rian says as he covers me with the blanket. "You're looking into space again. Don't tell me you're too drunk to even feel anything." He said playfully while hugging me.

"You look like a psychopath with that mustache, so I guess that's distracting me," I said as I playfully hugged him back. "But no worries, hon, I won't call the cops on you for looking like a psychopath. I'd be in trouble too 'cause they'll see me with you." We just laughed and enjoyed ourselves for a few hours until I was decent enough to go home.

A few hours after I arrived at my house, my mom called me into the living room. Usually, I'd only be slightly nervous; however, my mom's eyes showed me otherwise. She is looking at me as if I was a walking disappointment, and the tears on the corner of her eyes added to the face of anger and disappointment that she was wearing plainly.

"Why were you seen by your aunt walking with an unknown guy in the middle of a small village a few kilometers from school?" She asked coldly. "How did you get there without anyone knowing, and who is that person?"

"He's my boyfriend, mom," I replied carefully. "I just visited him, and we're not doing anything wrong. Just leave it alone." I said and ignored her stares as I sat on the couch.

"I hired an investigator. He's an addict, a delinquent, and he didn't even finish his studies because he's wild and they can't afford his studies. Now, I want you to cut every communication with him and leave him. You are a De Leon, and your name as well as your father's name will be put to shame if you don't stop this." My mother ranted for an hour, and all I could do was nod.

My mind raised a hundred scenarios in a minute and planned out what I should do as soon as my mother allowed me to go back to my room. I was thankful for the perfect posture that I was trained to have, no matter the situation. If my family found out about Rian, I was positive that they would later find out about all of the crazy things that I was doing. An entire investigation could happen just to do a background check on my friends. If my father found out, the head of the clan would surely do everything in his power to polish the identity that I have tainted. Freedom was not an option as the eldest child of the boss of the De Leon clan.

"I can hire a killer to just shoot that boy, but I won't. But, it would be a waste of our family's money, and I don't want my uniform as a police officer to be tainted with his blood." My mother continued and said in disgust. "I'm giving you one last chance to get that boy out of your system before I take matters into my own hands." She looked me dead in the eyes. "Do not disappoint us, young lady. Never throw your future away for some bastard who has no future."

Leaving Rian isn't that bad, and honestly, I would gladly do it now that I have no choice. However, the bad thing is if my parents figure out that I haven't had my menstruation for nearly four or three months. I didn't even tell Rian I was having this problem. If I get pregnant at the age of twenty by a twenty-four-year-old out-of-school addict, then I'd be disowned for sure.

I left the room and went straight to my room, crying silently. I called because I had no idea how to get out of this mess for the first time in my life without getting busted. This is bad. The family can't know about this, or else both Rian and I would be dead meat. LITERALLY.