The Billionaire Prince's Scholar
Emily Grey comes to an elite university on a scholarship, determined to stay invisible. Julian Blackwell-the billionaire heir who rules the campus-has never been denied anything... until her.
One dangerous encounter turns into an obsession neither of them can escape. As rumors explode, enemies close in, and dark family secrets surface, Emily is pulled into a world of power, control, and scrutiny.
Loving Julian is risky.
Leaving him might be impossible.
The Billionaire Prince's Scholar is a high-stakes romance where attraction turns obsessive and love comes with a price.
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Chapter 7
Emily I was at my dorm, safe and comfy. To be honest, ever since I'd been back from the hospital, I'd never stepped out. I was scared. Really scared.
I read the comments people made about me online. Some sympathetic, others saying I deserved it. The Whistleblower posted about my accident and even when I left the hospital.
Ava had teased me that I'd become a local celebrity now, but I didn't want to be a celebrity. I liked being unknown by everyone but my professors. It was all too much for me. I glanced at my legs, leaning back on my chair as I munched on some chips, another hand playing around with my laptop. Because of my fear of going out, Ava took it upon herself to bring her notes from every class and bought whatever it was I needed. Luckily, the university provided the best of everything, so I didn't need too much things. She got me gifts, and made herself available at all times.
She was so sweet, but I didn't want to be a burden. I was planning on leaving for the library at some point during the week.
However, one thing that made me feel better than before was Julian calling. I didn't even know why I was excited, but I just was. He sounded sincere with his apologies. He did have a point about it being his fault... it'd all blown out of proportion and now my face was everywhere. Who would believe that I wasn't dating him now?
I sighed, getting up from my desk, concluding that I wouldn't be able to study no matter how much I tried.
It was nighttime and I laid on my bed, scrolling through my phone when it started buzzing.
[Emily] [Mom's sick. We need some money.] My grip on my phone tightened as I deleted the message and blocked the number.
I knew it was all just a play to get something from me by Ronald. I didn't want to have anything to do with him. I had enough to deal with.
That didn't stop my hands from shaking with nervousness though.
I was awoken by midnight by Ava. A wide smile was on her face. I looked over her and commented. "You're going somewhere?" She grinned. "Yup. Ethan Morgan is hosting a party." Then she turned sad. "It'd be cool if you weren't in crutches." I laughed nervously. "No, no, no. It's fine." At least now I don't have to think of an excuse, I thought gratefully.
She smiled comfortingly and hugged me.
"If you need anything, just call," she told me, getting up and struting out the door.
And so I was left alone. And I fell right back into sleep.
Except... I had a nightmare.
Of chains and whips, screaming, curse words all thrown at me and tears running down my face as my body shook in bed.
"Leave me alone," I whimpered multiple times.
Truly, it was a nightmare I wanted to forget about.
****
Two days had passed and it was finally time for me to move. To get up. And I did. Shakily. Ava wasn't home and I felt claustrophobic now. I needed to do something with myself.
I sucked it up and took a car around to the school library directly from my dorm because I obviously had crutches, and I didn't want anyone to see me.
Sat faraway from everyone's sight, I browsed through the books. But when I tried to reach for a book higher than my height, I winced.
I let out a breath. I didn't want to ask for help from anyone so I didn't bother.
"Need help?" I glanced up to see Julian's friend, Ethan. "Uh..."
He smiled. "Hi, Emily. You look well." "Thanks," I said, still confused.
He laughed, then looked around before he whispered. "Okay, I'll get straight to the point: Julian wants to see you, and I'm here to deliver." I gave him an incredulous look. "D- deliver?!" He nodded, taking out his phone to place a call. "Hey." "What? Is there a problem?" Julian's smooth voice asked through the speakers.
"Nope. Just wanted to tell you I'm at the library to see Emily." "Okay, cool." Then the call ended, and I was left with the hairs on my body standing, my heart racing hard and my ears tingling from hearing just those few words. And I didn't know why.
"So?" Ethan probbed.
I hesitated.
He grinned. "Nothing's going to happen to you, I promise. I'm not a creep and I'm not stupid enough to do anything to harm you." Refusing would be rude. He'd already called Julian in front of me so what more did I need? Plus, I was... curious.
So I nodded. "Okay," I whispered.
He followed me out of the library, and I kept my eyes forward, trying to ignore the glances.
Hopefully this wouldn't be a problem.
He helped me into his car the moment we stepped outside and promptly started the engine, driving away from the building. The car drive was silent for a moment before Ethan asked me if I was alright.
I shrugged. "The doctor said I'll be out of my crutches soon, so it'll be fine." "You're not even worried about who hurt you and all?" he continued to ask.
I thought about it. "They couldn't find the person, and I don't know the person. I can't really be angry even if I want to because at least I survived." And I get a chance to continue school, get great grades and get a really good job. I'd get a chance to live a good life before death. A first in my family, sadly.
Ethan hummed, steering the car farther from other school buildings. "You seem to have an interesting look in life. Revenge isn't a bad idea sometimes." I shrugged. I actually didn't have anything against revenge or being hateful and angry, it's just that I tried and I just could never execute it. I didn't have the confidence nor power. So I just gave up on it. I wished I could say that it's peaceful this way, but it wasn't.
It was nice watching it in the movies though.
Ethan didn't try to continue the conversation and let the silence settle.
The buildings got more and more unfamiliar as we drove, but I didn't ask questions, which was probably dumb because what if he was kidnapping me?
It took a lot of minutes till we reached a very reserved neighborhood that from the outside you could tell not just anybody could enter. We got through after some security checkup and parked by a large building complex. I followed Ethan as we walked inside.
There were so many steps to go through that I was already exhausted by then. I just wanted to sit down and rest.
After going through an elevator, we stopped at a door and knocked. I looked around the fancy walls and marble floors feeling grossly uncomfortable.
The door opened and I returned my attention to it.
Then I saw him.
He stood tall and handsome, his eyes lighting up when he gazed down on me.
"Hi, Emily," Julian said, his smile slowly taking my breath away.
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7.7
My bank account was four hundred dollars in the red when my brother called me screaming from the most exclusive club in Manhattan. He said he was going to be killed or arrested, and I was the only one who could save him from the mess he’d made.
When I arrived at The Onyx, I found my brother on his knees, accused of assaulting a high-profile socialite. But instead of begging for my help, he pointed a shaking finger at me and screamed, "It was her! My sister set the whole thing up because she wanted money!"
The man watching the chaos from the shadows was Adrian Clemons—the billionaire CEO of the company where I worked as a lowly assistant. He didn't look at me with pity; he looked at me with a profound, exhausted disgust, as if I were a stain on his expensive rug.
To save his own skin, my brother didn't just lie; he offered me up like a piece of tradeable property. "She'll do anything," he pleaded with the billionaire. "She’s clean, she’s obedient. Just don't send me to jail!"
Adrian didn't call the police. Instead, he made a cold, terrifying business proposal: "Lend her to me for one year. I wipe your debt, and the cops stay away." My brother didn't even blink before he snapped, "Done. Take her."
I was whisked away to City Hall in a silent Rolls Royce, signing a marriage license before I could even process the betrayal. I wasn't a bride; I was a "human asset" bought to help a cold-blooded monster secure his inheritance.
The moment my hand accidentally brushed his during the signing, he recoiled as if I were contagious, his face turning a ghostly, panicked white. He made it clear that I was nothing more than a prop, a girl from the slums meant to spite his elitist mother.
As the heavy iron gates of the Clemons estate slammed shut behind me that night, I realized I hadn't just saved my brother. I had entered a golden cage owned by a man who hated my touch, but owned my life for the next three hundred and sixty-five days.
9.6
Brenda Vincent thought her biggest nightmare was catching her boyfriend cheating with her roommate on her own sofa.
But her life truly derailed after a drunken night led her into the bed of Bryon Reeves, the ruthless billionaire CEO and older brother of the student she tutored.
Trying to pay off the most dangerous man in New York with a crumpled twenty-dollar bill was her first mistake.
Fleeing the hotel, she accidentally rear-ended his custom Maybach. Bryon used the massive repair bill to blackmail her into being his fake date, parading her at a gala just to make his sister-in-law jealous.
When Brenda finally snapped and fled the humiliation, only to be rescued by his biggest corporate rival, Bryon's twisted possessiveness turned completely destructive.
"If you feel kidnapped, call the police. But your teaching license will be permanently revoked."
He didn't just threaten her. He systematically dismantled her life, using his influence to force the university to freeze her tenure and suspend her without pay.
Brenda couldn't understand why this terrifying man was going to such extreme lengths to ruin a simple tutor who just wanted to be left alone.
Now, stripped of her career, her income, and her independence, she was forced into the sprawling Reeves Manor.
Hearing the heavy mahogany door lock from the outside in her signal-jammed bedroom, Brenda's panic slowly morphed into a cold, clinical rage.
She was trapped, but she refused to be his helpless pawn.
8.5
I was Landon Mercer's secret girlfriend and loyal assistant for four years. I thought my absolute devotion would eventually win his heart.
But he casually announced his engagement to a wealthy heiress, reminding me I was just a convenient nobody from an orphanage.
When I got trapped in a horrific car crash and begged him to call an ambulance, he just hung up on me, annoyed that my bleeding was ruining his romantic getaway.
He even blackmailed me with my orphanage's land lease, forcing me to attend his engagement party as a prop.
At the party, his elite family and friends brutally humiliated me.
They deliberately crushed my broken arm, poured red wine over my head, and kicked me into a freezing pond.
When Landon finally pulled me out, he didn't care that I was suffocating and turning blue.
"Are you out of your mind? You come out here and cause a scene during my engagement party?"
He threw a stack of cash at my shivering body, furious that I had embarrassed him in front of his wealthy guests.
Looking at the hundred-dollar bills floating in the muddy water, my four years of foolish love completely died.
To him, I wasn't even human; I was just a cheap toy he could abuse and pass around.
I didn't cry, and I didn't beg.
I dragged my soaked, battered body into a car and headed straight to the penthouse of his biggest billionaire rival.
It was time to burn Landon Mercer's world to the ground.
7.1
For seven years, I hid my identity as a wealthy heiress to be with my boyfriend, Ewing. I followed him across the country and made myself small so he could feel big.
On Thanksgiving, he ditched our celebration for his first love, Bree, who supposedly had a "burst pipe."
Later, she posted an intimate selfie with him, calling him her "hero."
Then she sent me a video of him at a bar, laughing with his friends.
"She's just being dramatic," he slurred, smirking at the camera. "A new necklace and she'll forget all about it. She's easy."
Easy. Seven years of my life, my love, my sacrifice-all reduced to that one word. I realized I was never his partner. I was just a placeholder.
I didn't cry. I packed my bags, booked a one-way flight to New York, and sent him one final text before blocking his number.
"Don't bother coming home. I'm getting married."
9.0
After giving birth, I lost my beauty when I started gaining weight in all the wrong places.
Stretch marks. Soft stomach. Tired eyes.
The same body that carried our child became the body my husband couldn't stand to look at.
"I can't take you anywhere like this."
That was what Marcus Hawthorne my powerful, untouchable CEO husband said to me the night he stopped bringing me to events.
The whispers started after that.
She let herself go.
He deserves better.
How embarrassing for a man like him.
I heard them all.
And Marcus?
He never defended me.
Instead, he grew colder crueler and distant each day.
The same man I sacrificed my everything for made me feel like I was no longer worth loving.
And when tragedy struck and I lost the only thing keeping me togheter -our child.
I realized the bitter truth not only was I meant to grieve a failed marriage alone but a dead child too because Marcus didn't hesitate to replace us with his new family.
And that was the breaking point for me.
Determined to start over, I fled the country for my own sanity.
Worked on the weight that had made me feel unattractive.
Rebuilt the career I had abandoned for love until I became the successful woman I was always meant to be.
Now seven years later I'm back.
And guess who can't take his eyes of my new body?
Marcus!
Only he isn't the man I left behind. He's now being haunted with a very serious problem.
One that only I could help him with and he's ready to do whatever it takes to get me back.
But here's the problem.
The woman who would have forgiven him no longer exists.
And this woman here?
She's not sure if she want to have anything to do with him again.
8.9
At my million-dollar wedding to the Hoffman heir, the priest was interrupted by a ringing phone.
My groom, Elijah, didn't silence it. He answered it right at the altar, yanked his arm from my grasp, and walked out because his "true love" Jalyn needed him.
I was left standing alone in front of three hundred elite guests, blinded by mocking camera flashes. My own mother rolled her eyes in disgust, later threatening to freeze my trust fund and sell me to a notorious playboy to recoup her losses. Elijah even had the nerve to call me, demanding I take the blame for the canceled wedding to save his PR, while live news feeds showed him cradling a fragile Jalyn in the hospital.
I had spent two years bending over backward to be his perfect bride, only to be discarded like trash. What made it sicker was finding out that Jalyn's sudden "medical emergency" was actually a ruptured cyst caused by having vigorous sex with Elijah right before he walked down the aisle.
I refused to let them destroy me.
Kicking off my six-inch heels, I stepped down from the altar and walked straight to the back row where Cristian Lowe sat. He was the ruthless iceberg of Wall Street and Elijah's most terrifying rival.
I looked up at his sharp jawline and asked the craziest question of my life.
"Will you marry me?"
He stood up, his dark eyes locking onto mine.
"As you wish."