Aiden King had been told his surname mattered before he understood what surnames were.

By the time he was five, adults shook his hand instead of patting his head. By ten, newspaper columns described him as the future of the King legacy. By eighteen, he had stopped reading anything written about him entirely.

Because in Britain, there were old families...

And then there were the Kings.

For nearly two centuries, the King family had owned Blackthorne Academy, the largest, wealthiest, and most exclusive boarding school in the United Kingdom—a sprawling estate of gothic stone towers, private lakes, equestrian grounds, laboratories worth millions, and libraries that held first editions universities would beg to borrow.

Presidents had sent their children there.

Royal cousins had studied there.

Future prime ministers, billionaires, scientists, athletes, and celebrities had all once walked beneath Blackthorne’s iron gates.

And every one of them knew one truth:

Blackthorne didn’t belong to Britain.

Britain borrowed it from the Kings.

Aiden King hated that sentence.

He stared at it now, engraved in gold beneath a marble statue of his great-great-grandfather in the main hall.

BRITAIN BORROWS GREATNESS.

“Bit dramatic, wasn’t he?” Aiden muttered.

“Considering he built an empire, I’d say he earned it.”

Aiden turned.

His older sister, Charlotte King, stood halfway down the staircase, immaculate as always—dark blazer, silver cufflinks, posture like she’d been born balancing a crown.

She was twenty-four and terrifying.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in London?” Aiden asked.

Charlotte smiled.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at your induction speech?”

He checked his watch.

Ten minutes late.

Perfect.

At eighteen, Aiden was officially becoming what the family called an Heir in Residence.

Which meant no more sneaking off to local pubs.

No more pretending he was “just Aiden.”

And definitely no more avoiding the truth:

One day, Blackthorne Academy would be his.

All 900 acres.

All £14 billion of assets.

All 3,000 students.

All the expectations.

He hated every bit of it.

Not because he didn’t love Blackthorne.

He loved it too much.

He knew every hidden tunnel beneath the east wing.

Every loose stair in the astronomy tower.

Every groundskeeper by name.

Every dog on the estate.

Blackthorne wasn’t a school to him.

It was home.

And that was exactly what made inheriting it terrifying.

The Grand Hall buzzed with students from over fifty countries.

Uniforms.

Whispers.

Curiosity.

And phones discreetly recording.

Aiden stepped onto the marble stage as the crowd quieted.

Three thousand eyes.

No pressure.

At the front row sat his father—

Edward King.

Chairman.

Headmaster.

Billionaire.

Legend.

Impossible man.

Edward gave him a single nod.

Speak.

Aiden looked at the prepared speech in his hand.

Then folded it in half.

And dropped it.

Gasps echoed across the hall.

Charlotte closed her eyes like she’d expected this.

Edward didn’t move.

Aiden leaned toward the microphone.

“My name’s Aiden King.”

A pause.

“And honestly...”

He looked around the hall.

“...I don’t care what my surname is.”

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Then:

“I care about what happens here.”

He pointed toward the windows overlooking the grounds.

“This place isn’t great because my family owns it.”

Another pause.

“It’s great because of the people who survive it.”

A laugh rippled through the students.

Then more.

Even teachers smiled.

Aiden kept going.

“So if you came here because your parents wanted prestige...”

He shrugged.

“Bad luck.”

Scattered laughter.

“If you came here because someone told you Blackthorne creates legends...”

He smiled slightly.

“They lied.”

The hall leaned in.

Aiden’s voice dropped.

“Blackthorne doesn’t create legends.”

He looked straight at his father.

“It reveals them.”

For the first time in living memory—

Edward King smiled.

And every student in Blackthorne Academy knew one thing instantly:

The next King had arrived.

And he might just change everything.

[enemies to lovers- she denies him despite the attraction an pull she feels towards him. He wants her but has to keep her secret from his family. He isn’t strictly consensual with her in the beginning]