Owned By The Psychotic Billionaire (Mafia BL)

ADRIEN’S POV

SEVEN YEARS AGO...

I remember the day Timothy found out. It was early last semester, when I had shown up to class with a dark purple bruise blossoming across my jawline that my makeup could not fully cover.

Timothy had dragged me into the bathroom and confronted me, his own eyes shining with tears of frustrated anger.

That was the day our friendship truly took root.

Timothy and his sister are not wealthy like the rest of the heirs who walk the halls of this academy. Their family barely has enough money to pay the discounted tuition fees, while the Dubois bloodline carries substantial wealth and generations of noble history.

But despite my family’s money, I’m treated like a pathetic, unwanted shadow in my own home. Seeing how beaten down and broken I was at home made Timothy feel an instant connection with me.

We are both outsiders in a school full of predators. We don’t fit in where we are.

"I am fine, Tim," I say softly, offering him another quiet reassurance so he does not dig any deeper into my home life. "Seriously. My head just hurts a little bit. I think I just need a quick walk to clear my head before dinner."

Timothy looks at me for a long moment, then nods slowly, standing up from the fallen log. "Alright. Go get some air. I am going back to chill here and wait for my sister’s text messages."

"I will see you back in the room," I say.

I turn around and walk away, leaving the clearing behind as I step onto the narrow dirt trail that winds deeper into the woods surrounding the resort.

The quiet rustle of the pine needles above my head does nothing to calm the wild, irregular pounding in my chest.

I keep walking down the winding forest path, my boots crushing small twigs and dried leaves underfoot, until the path curves sharply around a massive, moss-covered oak tree.

I stop dead in my tracks.

Standing right in the middle of the trail, leaning casually against a thick wooden fence post with his arms crossed over his chest, is Orion.

A bright, mocking smile sits comfortably on his sharp face, his dark eyes locked straight onto mine the second I round the corner. It looks as if he has been standing in this exact spot for an hour, waiting specifically for me to show up.

My brain stammers in complete confusion. It makes no sense. I could have spent the entire afternoon sitting on that log with Timothy. I could have stayed locked inside my cabin playing card games with him until nightfall.

Yet the moment I randomly decide to take a walk down this specific path, Orion is right here, waiting like a spider sitting in the center of its web.

It is eerie, deeply uncomfortable, and it makes every strange, confusing feeling from two months ago rush straight back into my veins.

A wave of intense heat flushes up from my neck, burning across my cheeks and spreading all the way down to my toes.

My heart hammers against my ribs like a trapped bird, and my right hand instinctively twitches toward my trouser pocket, where the glass vial feels hot enough to burn right through the fabric.

"Look who finally decided to come out of hiding," Orion says, his deep voice carrying easily through the quiet trees. He pushes off the wooden post and takes a slow, deliberate step toward me. "I was beginning to think you fell into the hot springs, my little runaway duckling."

I take an immediate step backward, my boots digging into the loose dirt.

"I’m not in hiding," I shoot back, my voice automatically rising into its usual sarcastic, defensive shield. "I have things to do. Unlike you, I don’t spend my time loitering in the dirt waiting to annoy people."

Orion chuckles, taking another slow step forward. "Is that right? Because every time I turn around this week, I see the back of your head walking rapidly in the opposite direction."

"Maybe that should give you a subtle clue," I snap, taking another step back to keep the distance between us. "I don’t have any reason to speak to you, Orion. Leave me alone."

"You always say that," Orion murmurs, his dark eyes sparkling with an irritating, dangerous amusement. He steps closer again, narrowing the gap between us with effortless grace.

"Yet every time I get close to you, you look like you are about to explode. Why are you trembling, Adrien?"

"I am not trembling!" I lie loudly, my back hitting the rough bark of a pine tree as he continues to push forward.

He keeps coming closer, his tall frame looming over me, and I keep trying to pull away, but there is nowhere left to retreat.

The vial in my pocket feels heavy, like a solid block of lead pressing against my thigh, reminding me of the poison, the betrayal, and the weight of the choice sitting in my hands.

I can poison him. They gave me this because they know he’ll eat what I give him. I can mix this into a bottle of juice and give it to him...and he’d take it.

My heart hits my throat. I can’t breathe. I cannot stand here and look into his face while holding his death in my pocket.

Without thinking for another second, I turn on my heel and sprint out of the trail.

I run as fast as my legs can carry me, my boots kicking up clouds of pine needles and dirt as I tear through the trees. Behind me, Orion’s rich, loud laughter echoes through the forest, loud and clear.

"Running away again, duckling?" Orion calls out, his voice full of manic delight. "You cannot run from me forever!"

I do not look back. I crash through the thick bushes and burst out onto the paved stone walkways of the main resort complex.

I force myself to slow down to a quick, nervous power-walk, trying desperately not to draw any unwanted attention to myself as I pass groups of second-year students chatting near the main courtyard.

I lower my head, my lungs burning for air, keeping my hands shoved deep into my trouser pockets.

As I round the corner toward the student cabin blocks, I catch a glimpse of Louise standing near the wooden railings with a group of girls.

Her bright eyes shift toward me, but I look past her immediately, turning my head away before she can call my name. I don’t want her to look at me. I don’t want to speak to a single soul.

I hurry up the short wooden steps of my assigned cabin, grab the brass handle, push the door open, and slip inside.

I slam the heavy door shut behind me, leaning my shoulders against the wood as I let out a long, ragged breath. I close my eyes, trying to catch my breath and calm the frantic rhythm of my heart.

"You look like you just saw a ghost, Adrien," a smooth, unfamiliar voice says from the center of the room.

My eyes snap open instantly.

Sitting comfortably in the small armchair near the window is a boy I have never spoken a single word to in my life.

It’s Leon Vasilis.