The world around them stop existing with only the two of them looking at each other- Nathan looked at her in shocked while Evelyn looked at him with blurry eyes. Nathan was speechless at her sudden confession. With each second of silence passing, Evelyn was slowly breaking inside. And somehow she knew the answer by looking at his shocked expression. But she wants to hear it from his own mouth and get over with it.

"I like you, Nathan," She confessed again.

"You must be drunk, Evelyn. Let me take you back to college." Nathan said ignoring her confession.

"I'm not drunk. I'm sober." Evelyn deadpanned. "Tell me, Nathan. Do you like me?" She asked. She knew she's rushing things and caught up at the moment but she need to let it out and get over it as quickly as possible.

"We're friends, of course, I like you," Nathan said trying to be casual.

"Don't bring excuse of being friends. You know exactly what I mean. If you don't like me, just say it." Evelyn said trying her best not to break in front of him like a helpless woman or show him how much damage he was gradually causing inside her. 

Nathan slowly withdrew his hand from her wrist and took a deep breath before looking straight into her eyes. "I like you, Evelyn but not in the way you do to me," He tells her in a quiet tone.

"I'm sorry, please don't like me. You deserves someone better," He said.

Tears rolled down her cheeks but then she quickly wiped it away and with a broken heart, she turned away from him. Nathan gulped down hard and fisted both his hands as he watched her running away from him. 

"I'm sorry, Evelyn. I'm sorry," He whispered under his sigh.

*

Evelyn didn't attend her classes for the rest of the weekdays and stayed at her Grandma's place. She lied to her friends about being on sick leave for the week. She was just not ready to face him. It still hurts her like a fresh cut from a sharp blade whenever she thinks of the moment happened days back. She knows she's taking her time getting over it but she can't help it. She thought that she could easily get over it but it was hard. She didn't know that she could be this sensitive. 

Never in her life has she thought that she was capable of falling for someone but she did, unexpectedly. And she knew she acted upon it too soon but she don't have any regret in doing so- just that, she's still hurt.

"Eve, dear, are you alright?" Eugenie asked softly as she gracefully entered inside her room. Evelyn straightened up from her bed and smile at her Nana.

"I'm alright," She said with a sad smile.

"Who is that guy that broke your heart?" Eugenie asked as she sat beside her and cupped her cheek.

"No one," Evelyn answered under her chuckle and lied to her Nana. 

"I've been a teen once, honey. I've been through every phase of my youth." Eugenie said softly. "C'mon, spit it out and let your heart at ease- mmhhh," She cooed softly and smile warmly. Evelyn looked at her with watery eyes before hugging her tightly. 

"Nana, I confessed a guy," She said under her sniffled before slowly pulling away from her Nana. "But he doesn't feel the same for me." She said quietly and wiped her tears away. "But his actions and words-" She paused and thought about the moments where Nathan would tease her and also show concerns about her. "I guess I was just imagining things," She continued and quickly shook off her thought.

"What does your heart say, dear?" Eugenie asked softly.

"I don't know," She said under her sigh. "I want to hate him but I don't want to hate him also. I want to shout at him for making me feel this way but this is not his fault, it was my fault to take things to the other way. He was just being playful and concern as a friend." She sniffled.

"Then make him into a lover," Eugenie suggested with a sincere smile.

"I'm not in a mood to take on the jokes right now, Nana," Evelyn whined and sniffled.

"I'm being serious here, dear," Eugenie said in a chided tone. "If you think you can move on with time, then that's okay, take your time. If you think you want him, you can be selfish and that's okay too. Just follow what your heart says, dear. Because you have a heart of gold that never goes wrong," Eugenie told her genuinely with a bright smile.

"Now, now, put a bright smile on your beautiful face. We are going downstairs to greet our relatives." Eugenie said cheerfully. "They have all arrived for the jubilee tomorrow."

"I'm not going," Evelyn whined and laid front on her bed.

"Your mother and brothers will be here any minute," Eugenie informed playfully.

"I hate family gatherings," Evelyn grumbled under her pillow. 

*

"I'm really worried about Evelyn. I hope she gets well soon." Emilia said in a concerned tone.

"She's fine, Em. I talked to her earlier. She's all better and will be back tomorrow." Aaleyah said in a cheerful tone. "I can't wait to see her. Wish she could attend the Jubilee tomorrow." She added in a sigh and slumped her shoulders.

"She is attending," Brian said boldly.

"How can you be so sure?" Cornelia asked creasing her eyebrows at him. "Did she tell you?"

"You guys didn't know!" Brian asked jerking an eyebrow at them to which they frowned deep in confusion. "She's the only daughter of the Chairman." He said making their eyes go wide in surprise.

"What!" The three of them exclaimed in surprise making the others in the living room snapped at them in alarm. 

"Keep it down, bitches," Sharon sneered at them.

"Mind your own business, whore," Cornelia remarked bitterly with a sickening smile and ignored her. Sharon glared at her before storming out of the living room. The others shook their heads before going back to their own business.

"You mean, our Evelyn, who don't give a damn about others is actually the daughter of a multibillionaire family." Cornelia drawled in surprise. Brian chuckled softly and casually nodded at her. "She never told us about it."

"Guess you guys never asked," Brian commented amusedly. The three of them sighed in unison.

"You're right, we never ask her about her family background," Aaleyah agreed. 

"C'mon, girls, let's go to our room, we need to facetime Evelyn," Cornelia said cheerfully and stood up from her seat. Aaleyah and Emilia agreed readily and mirrored her. Then they all left the place leaving Brian alone in the table. He sighed and shook his head. He stood up from his seat and left the place as well.

*

Nathan sat by his study table in deep thought. He couldn't help but think about the day Evelyn confessed to him. It was all of the sudden and he was taking his time to forget about it. He does like her but not to the extent of how she feels about him. And then there's Carla, who keeps coming to him. He still likes her but not the same as he did before and he is never going to patch up with her ever. He told her clearly about it and she understood.

*FLASHBACK*

"It's good to be back," Carla said wistfully and smiled at Nathan. "I made a mistake leaving behind this wonderful place," She sighed sadly and rested her hands on the parapet. "Thank you for understanding and forgiving me, Nathan," She said sincerely. Nathan smile at her and came beside her.

"You can start over again in this wonderful place. Everything's the same," Nathan said.

"Even you," Carla pointed out and looked at him expectantly. "Do you still feel the same for me or you have moved on?" She asked quietly.

"I do care for you, Carla," He looked at her, "-as a friend," He added.

"I see you have moved on," Carla said quietly looking down at the college campus. "I'm glad you did. But if there's any chance for us to be together again, come to me, because I still love you, Nathan and I'll wait for you,"

*FLASHBACK ENDS*

Nathan raked his hand through his hair and let out a tired sigh before leaning against his chair.

"You look stressed," William said groggily who just woke up from his sleep and shuffled over his bed. He reached for his phone beside his pillow and read the time. "It's 2:00 am in the morning and you're still awake, is everything okay?" He asked in concern as he straightened up into a sitting position over his bed.

"I'm okay, I just don't feel like sleeping," Nathan said quietly, glancing at him. 

"Did something happened between you and Evelyn?" William asked. "Jeffrey told us what happened that night. You can lie to them but not me, Nathan. I know something happened between you two after you left the pub." He said in a serious tone.

Nathan sighed dejectedly and glanced at him. "She confessed to me." He said. 

William looked at him in shock for a moment before turning his expression into concern. "And what did you say?"

"I told her not to like me," Nathan said quietly making William let out a sigh in annoyance.

"Why would you say that? Don't you feel the same for her too?" William said in a chided tone.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just not ready for relationships anymore." Nathan said quietly. William understood him and gave him a sympathetic look. Nathan had been so committed to his first-ever relationship with Carla but everything broke inside him when she left him. Though Nathan never shows the hurt and pain he had suffered, William knew it. And he was always there for him.

"I understand you, Nathan. But know this, Evelyn is different." William said quietly. 

"I know,"

*

The student's along with their parents entered inside the great hall for the function. All the people were in their expensive suits and designer wear. The function was more like a competition between the riches showing off their money and status.

"It's already so boring. I want to get out of here as soon as possible." Adrian grumbled and did a light tug on his suit. 

"I wonder how they can act so well in front of the people," Kevin said bitterly, throwing a glare at his father who was talking among some high-status gentlemen. 

"Well, that's our fathers," Terrence said amusedly glancing at his father who was among his friend's father. Then he glanced to his side and chuckled softly, "And there are our mothers, probably creating news of their own."

"Probably," Jeffrey amused. "You okay there, baby boy," He turned towards Stephen and said in a teasing tone.

"I hate suits. They're so suffocating," Stephen complaint like a baby. "I would've just wore a casual suit but my mother designed this especially for me. I didn't have any choice but to wear it." He sighed.

"Mamma's boy," Russell chuckled at him.

"You all look decent," Eleanor remarked mockingly as she made her way towards them along with Mark. She was in her white off-shoulder evening gown, looking elegantly beautiful as always.

"And you look surprisingly beautiful," Adrian mocked and gave her a cheeky smile.

"I know I'm beautiful," She said cheekily making them chuckled at her.

"They're here," Terrence said looking at the entrance of the great hall. Nathan and William made their way towards their friends and joined them.

"You're looking gorgeous, Eleanor," William complimented genuinely.

"Thank you, Will," Eleanor said cheerfully. But frowned immediately when her eyes landed on the entrance. "They're such an eyesore," She said bitterly glaring at Genesis and her two sidekicks. The boys threw a glanced at the entrance and shook their heads.

"Girls," Adrian rolled his eyes over before drifting back to the entrance. "The Chairman has arrived." He informed.

The Summer's family made a grand entrance making all the eyes looked at them in complete esteemed. Eliza and Caroline walked side by side in their expensive elegant evening gowns while Isaac and Jeremy nonchalantly followed behind them. 

Ten feet behind, Eugenie entered inside along with Evelyn, with their arms locked onto each other and walked gracefully towards the front, ignoring all the stares thrown towards them. Evelyn was in her elegant white sleeveless empire waist chiffon dress with her hair perfectly but loosely styled into a bun with light locks cascading down from it.

On noticing Evelyn among the Summer's, the students gasped out in surprised and looked at her in complete shocked. 

"She looks amazingly beautiful," Adrian complimented softly staring at Evelyn.

"So she is the daughter of our Chairman," Terrence pondered.

"She lied to me," Nathan muttered lowly under his breath and shook his head.

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