Taming A Billionaire

Her blackish hair that had a hint of deep emerald was the first thing Akim saw before the rest of her body came into view. For a school like theirs that was strict with the rules, Anika sure broke them without even trying hard.

A look at the girl and Akim didn't need to be told this was not the type of girl one brought home to momma and for a prim family like his, Anika would be seen as a rebellion on his part - his parents would think he was seeing the bad girl just to get back at them for restricting his freedom.

But then, Anika was not his device for rebellion, he simply liked her. Since the last day they met, there hasn't been a day he hadn't thought of meeting her, but then, he had to wake himself up from his dream. He practically knew nothing about the girl and even if he sneak out, how or where was he going to find her? 

The kiss they shared was still fresh in his memory and now they met once more, he was almost taken back to that night. However, it hit Akim at the same time, he lied to her.

Oh shit.

"Hi everyone, we have a new student who will be joining us today henceforth, although it's quite late in the academic calendar, she's an honor student and a great asset to our school. So help me and welcome, Miss. Anika Valerie!" the teacher gave her a grand welcome and the rest of the students applauded her.

Anika stood proudly in front of the class as the teacher gestured to her to introduce herself, 

"Hi, I'm Anika Valeria," The girl began with a smile, "And it's quite an honor to study with you guys at this great school...." her gaze moved to Akim's direction and both of their gazes met and held. 

She went on, her smile never leaving her face even for a second, "most of all, I think it's a blessing to me as well to have finally met a friend I thought I would never meet. Ai, it's nice to meet you here," she gestured to where Akim sat and the class turned to see who she was referring to and their expressions changed - including the teacher.

"Erm," The teacher coughed uncomfortably, "I'm sorry, Anika, but I think you're a bit mistaken here. That's not your friend, Ai, but our one and only prince, his highness, Akim Revatio," She attempted to clear the misunderstanding.

"Oh," Anika appeared to be stunned, "He's the prince, not Ai?" She turned to look at Akim pointedly.

At the same time, Akim chose to turn the other way, his face flushed with embarrassment. Who knew she would catch him red-handed in his lie? What was he going to do? 

"Perhaps, you should take a seat," The teacher suggested hoping that would clear the tension in the air. However, that was only the beginning because to everyone's shock, the new girl ignored all the empty seats and chose to sit beside the prince.

"B-but, he's never... " One girl stammered and turned to the back of the class, as if waiting for the prince's guards to come and toss Anika away. But to her chagrin, she discovered for the first time that the prince's bodyguards weren't in the class with them; neither did the prince seem to be displeased with the girl's presence. 

She bit the inside of her cheek out of resentment, she should have grasped the opportunity to sit beside the prince. If eyes were bullets, Anika would have been long dead because the girl almost bored holes in her head.

"Ai, huh?" was the first sentence Anika made as soon as she sat down. She propped up her chin with her hand, all of her attention on Akim, and that made him uncomfortable.

But as the prince and born leader of Lincolnshire, he was trained to always hold his head high up, so he turned to Anika, saying, "For someone who just discovered I'm a prince, you sure handle your shock well," there was suspicion in his tone. 

Akim was not dumb and he watched her reaction and all, noticing how at ease she was after the revelation. If it were other girls they would probably faint after discovering that the person they had been with at the festival had been no other than the prince. The shock would be much - unless they already knew. Unfortunately, Anika was as calm as still water. 

That comment made Anika's brows raise, she asked, leaning closer to him without a trace of fear, "What are you trying to say, Akim?"

Akim's brows raised as she called him by his first name. Even in the school here, everyone referred to him with the title, "His royal highness," first before his name, not even his bodyguards called him by his first name. Yet this girl as wild as harpies and as fiery as hell, dared to call him by his name. He knew she didn't say that to disrespect him. She was intentionally taunting him and he could see that by the twinkle in her eyes. God, what was he going to do with this woman? 

"You knew I was Prince Akim that night, didn't you?" Akim asked her, pushing out every other annoying thought out of his head. 

"I had my suspicions," Anika didn't give him a straight answer yet didn't lie at the same time. 

"What gave me out?" Akim was curious to know for future purposes. 

"Some things never change - you're a royal thoroughly, your mannerism and all. However, Jasmine was the one who blew your cover, the girl is quite an entertaining company," She said. 

"Oh," He should have known. Well, what was he expecting leaving Jasmine with a sly person like Anika? Truthfully, he didn't know whether to be wary of her or ignore Anika entirely. She seemed too smart for her good.

"Is that why you came to this school because of me?" he asked only to receive a burst of mocking laughter from her. 

"Trust me, Akim, you're not as important as you think," she told a lie, obviously. 

Akim was everything to her, he was her obsession.