The Stalker. Lila pov

I felt so guilty crying into Leo's arms when he told me the president of SakuraTech wanted him to marry Ophelia—and that his parents would likely agree.

That was how the world of the elite worked: marriages were strategic alliances, not love stories. Families of wealth and power gave their children away to other wealthy families to secure business interests, foster development, and protect their legacies. I knew Leo wouldn't go through with it—he'd told me as much—but the mere thought of him standing beside Ophelia in a tuxedo, exchanging vows for the sake of corporate growth, made my chest ache.

"Life throws a lot of shit at you sometimes," I muttered as we sat beneath the wide umbrella outside the café, a mere distance from his house. The cold wind bit at my cheeks, but Leo's warmth beside me made it bearable. "It's like the universe has a personal vendetta."