Devil's Prisoner of Love by Prefer

Chapter 901: Transferring Schools

Dorian no longer felt the confidence he once had when facing Aveline. Now, all that remained was an overwhelming sense of awkwardness.

For the longest time, he had assumed Aveline came from a modest background, believing that her closeness to Orion was due to money. But the truth struck like a thunderbolt-his family's business was merely a tiny distributor under the Barnet family's vast empire. The disparity between them was far beyond anything he had imagined.

"Aveline, are you leaving?" Dorian asked, his voice strained and unnatural.

"Yes, I'm leaving," she replied calmly. Aveline didn't dislike Dorian. Despite his occasional narcissism, he wasn't an unlikable person overall.

"Aveline, I know you and Orion have been close since childhood, but I want to say this- I really like you."

Aveline didn't expect him to be so persistent. She found it strange. After all, they were only in middle school. How could someone so young truly understand what it meant to like someone? Even though she had spent her entire life with Orion, she wasn't sure if her feelings for him were romantic.

Could someone who had only seen her a handful of times truly understand what "liking" meant?

"My answer is the same as before-I don't like you," she said firmly.

"You don't have to like me. It's enough that I like you," Dorian replied, his tone resolute.

"It's not that I doubt your sincerity, Dorian. I just find it odd. Do you really know what it means to like someone? You've only seen me a few times. You don't even know what kind of person I am in private."

"I may not know you completely, but I know you like white, you enjoy sweets, you prefer quiet places, and you dislike noisy crowds. You like soda water, but you hate flies..."

Aveline was startled. They weren't even in the same class, yet he knew so much about her.

interrupted, calm but

ulterior motives trying to please her. And she prefers freshly made yogurt over soda water. As for flies, it's not just them-she hates all black-winged insects. She doesn't eat meat often, but recently she's started liking

even know a fraction of what I do.

and unwavering. Nearby, Joyce clapped her hands enthusiastically. "Orion, you're

it were second nature. He turned to Dorian,

in this lifetime," Orion said, his tone final. "Aveline, let's go. Mr. Barnet and Mrs. Barnet are waiting for

to Orion in terms of

forever etched into his memory.

forget the first time he saw her. She had been wearing a white dress, her hair tied simply at the back. Most of the other students were accompanied by their parents for registration, but she had walked alone,

he had spotted her, and for the first time in his life, he understood

scenes like this on TV-the heroine descending in a flowing white dress, mesmerizing everyone around

he realized it wasn't

until she had walked far away that he snapped out of his daze. Thanks to his striking looks, he quickly attracted the attention of many girls, but

searched for her relentlessly, and it hadn't been difficult. Aveline's beauty naturally caught the

had confessed to her, only to be rejected. She was

with her, hoping she might notice him. But it was as though her world consisted only of

same spot every day, timing it perfectly to see

she was cold, every time he saw her, the world seemed

liking someone. A

noticed Orion's dark expression and tugged

"No," he replied curtly.

Orion is jealous!" Joyce teased, clearly enjoying the drama. "It's because other