High School Again: The President's Secret Lady Boss

Marcellus suddenly appears before Ace. 

He's now striding down the hall with both of his hands shoved in his pockets. Complacent and placid – he's carrying an air of mocking equanimity as he approaches him. He may be smiling amicably, but the formidable look in his eyes tells a different story. 

"Good job, Miller. I've heard nothing but compliments from the photoshoot's organizers. They said you were quite exemplary. Everyone's praising you," Marcellus commended, keeping things professional.

"Thank you, President Lexington, though that's a bit much," Ace replied, deciding to play along.   

"Continue to work hard. I bet Ms. Miller is proud of you."

"Yeah. I think she is."

"I'll be going, then. I still have to meet up with someone. See you around."

Not expecting how cool-headed Marcellus seems to be acting, he feels a strange sense of foreboding. Ace thought for sure that he came back to confront him about what happened earlier in the dressing room. 

He can't just possibly leave like this when he's clearly peeved back then. It's somehow giving him the impression that his confession to Winter stands no chance – that he doesn't need to meddle nor even make a comment to show him how he's dominant.

"President…" Ace called out to Marcellus, voice thick and vehement.

"I think you don't know Winter well enough."

His sudden remark had Marcellus halting on his tracks. He doesn't appear to be planning to change his domineering stance, though, as he only remains enigmatically collected.

"She used to be alone in class, and she didn't have friends before we came along. Everyone would always steer clear of her since she would also steer clear of them. She liked working on her own, and she preferred to be alone. She won't talk unless someone talked to her first, but when she did try to socialize, she was reserved and guarded…" Ace found himself blurting out all of the sudden, thinking that Marcellus and Winter were just so different from each other that they may not have a chance to work out as an item. 

"I believe that both of you don't suit each other. You might end up hurting her, considering how you did the same with many other women before-"

"Don't tell me what to do, Miller," Marcellus snapped, cutting him off. 

He's starting to lose his cool again despite how much he's been trying to bottle it all up. Since he is Violet's precious little brother, he plans to take it easy – or maybe 'planned' is the right word at this point. Hearing people judge him for his playboy image is something he's already used to do, but hearing someone use it to get in the way of his relationship with the girl he's pursuing is something he will not tolerate.

Marcellus has to show him. Ace has to know that who has the upper hand here.   

"So, you want to see who knows her better, huh?" 

His cold, steely voice made shivers run down his spine. He almost forgot that a man of his standing holds that much power - imperious and commanding. 

"Let me tell you what. I know Winter much more than anyone does. From how she slightly quivers whenever I hold her hands to how red she becomes whenever I call her pretty, I've already memorized her body movements and facial expressions," Marcellus started, retaliating with a self-assertive smirk.

"H-Huh? What're you on about?" Ace stammered out, dumbfounded.

"She can be quite silly and clumsy sometimes, you know? Making pep talks with someone else's brain, falling down a stairway, asking for piggyback rides, all sorts of funny stuff like that – I've seen her act like the complete opposite of how you just described her. Do you wanna know how she reacts to intimacy, too?"   

"I-Intimacy?"

His face is flushed, flustered and embarrassed. 

Marcellus seems to be trying to make him feel jealous. He's exerting his dominance again - and this time, it's even more miffing. 

"W-What intimacy…?" Ace stuttered despite his demanding tone.

"Just what the hell are you doing with her? Are you messing around with her? Is it because she's pretty? Do you only want her for how she looks-" 

"You really are still a child…" Marcellus cut him off again, much to his exasperation.

"If I'm just going to end up wanting something from her, why would I settle with only that? Of course, I want her, and I want her whole – her heart, her soul, her mind, everything." 

Now, that's a first.

It's the first time Ace is seeing him like this.

His half-lidded eyes are now glinting with intensity. They brim with unspoken desires – filled with a cluster of strong emotions. His smug smirk has contorted into an ambiguous one, and with his sudden confession dropping hints of possessiveness, he can tell how intoxicated and obsessed he has become.

It almost seems dangerous. 

And for a fraction of a moment, he somehow felt that Marcellus was giving him a death warning. 

"I must say, though, you know Winter quite well, too. I wonder why you didn't attempt to make a move until recently…" Marcellus continued with a scoff.

"You two are classmates since first year of high school, right? If it were me, I would've pounced on a chance to ask her out as soon as I could. But then again, you seemed to have a negative perception of her before. Does that mean you're the one around here who only wants her for how she looks?"

"Shut up…" Ace hissed, already getting aggravated.

"Just what do you know? You're only an adult who likes to play around with women." 

"You said it yourself, though? She doesn't get along with people. But I bet you never cared about that side of her. I mean, it took you that long to make a move. Doesn't that only mean that you haven't really appreciated everything about her?"   

Stunned by that claim, Ace stiffened.

Marcellus kind of has a point. He never tried to get to know Winter more before. 

For so long, he's at least aware that he has a crush on her. Yet he never did anything about it until their last year in high school. He didn't try to befriend her earlier, and he didn't make an effort to spend more time with her.

So, he does have a point.

'Oh, did I hit a nerve?' 

Having left Ace speechless, Marcellus smirks again. 

With that, he finally walked past him and continued on his way, leaving him standing there with his train of thoughts. Though he didn't mean to go that far, he felt like he had to let it out at that moment. Neither of them is dating Winter yet. So, neither of them has the right to act as her boyfriend.

Still, it's not like Marcellus lied about anything. Everything that Ace heard is true.

'Though that last part doesn't make me any less self-righteous, I never take Winter for granted at the very least.'

---

"The hell is with those two? Had they gone insane?"

Marcellus Lexington and Ace Miller. 

One's the youngest CEO of a multi-million conglomerate, the other's a rising model who's second in the line of succession to a huge corporation. Both are in love with the same girl who's just supposed to be a nobody not too long ago – a girl who keeps acting like she knows everything and owns everything.

"That lowly bitch."

Unbeknownst to Marcellus and Ace, Bianca had been eavesdropping the whole time. 

She was listening to their conversation in the hall while she was hiding behind the wall in some corner. It's no coincidence, though. She knew about what happened earlier, and though she was pleased with the drama and chaos – of course, with the useful information she gained from watching behind the scene as well, she didn't find the bigger picture anywhere near pleasing at all. 

Everyone's making a big fuss over Winter. Everyone seems to be fond of Winter.

"So, those two actually like her? And they're already that close with her…?" Bianca sneered scornfully. 

"Why, though?! Just how?! What was so special about her, anyway?!"

"Calm down, Bianca…" Jacob said with a low yet vehement tone, crossing his arms together and leaning on the wall beside her. 

"I'm sure I told you about their relationships with Ms. Middleton before. You should've already seen it coming. The only reason I set this whole thing up is to confirm it. You did ask for something like this, didn't you?"

It was Jacob who'd been pulling the strings all along. 

From the very moment he learned that Winter had a plan to see Ace's photoshoot up until the confrontation they had with Marcellus in the dressing room – it's all part of his scheme. It was a last-minute preparation, however. He didn't even know that she'd be coming, but as soon as the receptionists from the lobby informed him that they recognized her as someone related to him, he immediately pounced on the chance to lay out a trap.

"You once asked me if Ms. Middleton has someone special to her the same way I'm special to you, didn't you, Bianca...?" Jacob muttered with an unsmiling and enigmatic look.

"Well, that was the answer."