From Ruin to Reign Leander's Unbreakable Will novel Chapter 634

Chapter 634 The Shadow Creeps In

“Leander!”

“It’s really him!”

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Inside Ravenridge Senior High’s auditorium, his name rose in waves. The sound built and crashed again and again, shaking the hall with raw excitement.

The loudest voices came from the seniors. When Leander had been a senior, they had been his underclassmen. They had witnessed his effortless domination of the stage with a single performance. They had watched him set the highest mock exam score in school history.

More than a year had passed, yet those two moments remained vivid in Ravenridge’s collective memory.

The freshmen, however, looked confused. They began tugging at nearby upperclassmen, asking who Leander was. Once the stories began spilling out, understanding dawned. Jealousy in their eyes shifted into awe.

It became clear to them why the two former campus belles treated him that way.

In the guest section, Victor, Shiloh, Hendrix, and Jade watched Leander’s entrance in silence. Each expression carried a different emotion, though none were pleasant.

Victor felt it most sharply.

The sight of his old rival stirred a familiar ache. In his entire life, no one had struck him harder than Leander. Defeat after defeat had once cornered him, leaving him powerless.

“Wow… he’s insanely popular. Jade wasn’t exaggerating.” Jacklyn stared at Leander as if witnessing a living legend. Tiny sparks of admiration gleamed in her eyes.

Beside her, Melanie parted her lips slightly in disbelief.

She had not expected this.

Leander had been gone for more than a year, yet his return instantly placed him at the center of attention once again.

Her gaze slid toward Jade, confusion resurfacing.

The roar in the hall exceeded her expectations, yet she still struggled to grasp why Jade rated him so highly.

Her eyes returned to Leander, a subtle hint of flirtation reappearing. Her curiosity about the senior, who once made her heart race, quietly came back.

“Listen to them. They’re shouting your name. You claimed you didn’t want to come. If you hadn’t, how would you explain yourself to all these underclassmen who worship you?”

Yvette and Ginny seemed delighted by the crowd’s response. They shared a glance and then turned to Leander, flashing him playful smiles.

Leander rubbed the bridge of his nose with a faint, helpless smile. He had never imagined that an impulsive performance–sparked

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Chapter 634 The Shadow Creeps In

by Colin’s provocation–would leave such a lasting impression.

The blazing anticipation in the students‘ eyes pressed in from all sides.

He exhaled lightly and raised a hand in acknowledgment.

That simple gesture ignited the crowd even further.

The auditorium erupted in deafening shouts as voices reached their limits.

Several girls screamed with all their strength, hoping their voices would reach him above the roar.

“Leander! Are you going to perform tonight?”

“Sing something! Or play the piano!”

“Leander, we love you!”

The cries rolled through the hall as Yvette and Ginny guided him down the aisle.

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Victor and the others watched in silence. Though they had returned as honored alumni, none of them could stir such a reaction.

“You can stop pulling. I’m staying for two minutes, then I’m leaving. This scene isn’t for me.”

Despite the roaring enthusiasm around him, Leander remained composed. His voice stayed low and steady as he spoke to the two of them.

“How could that be? We came all this way and definitely plan to stay for the anniversary. Just see how excited the underclassmen

are.”

Yvette tightened her hold on his arm.

Leander cast her a sideways glance, met her stubborn expression, and finally let out a quiet sigh.

He allowed himself to be led to the guest row.

A line of familiar faces waited there.

His eyes briefly scanned them–cool and unreadable.

Shiloh and Hendrix lowered their eyes almost instantly. Victor alone maintained eye contact, clinging to his pride.

Yet, Leander’s glance lingered for barely a second before sliding past him entirely. He took a seat at the end of the row without greeting anyone. To him, they might as well have been empty chairs.

Victor’s hands curled into fists, nails biting into his palms.

“So I don’t even deserve acknowledgment?”

Heat rose in his chest, sharp and suffocating. His gaze burned with refusal.

“Maybe I can’t match you now. Give me ten or twenty years; I won’t look up forever.”

He stared at the rival who was already far ahead and etched that vow into himself–resolute, rebellious, and determined not to

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MMI

Chapter 634 The Shadow Creeps In

yield.

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Leander remained unaware of the storm brewing beside him. Even if he had known, it would have drawn little reaction. His current adversaries were figures who shaped nations. Against that scale, Victor’s ambition barely registered.

He had returned today on impulse, curious whether the campus still felt the same. Attending the ceremony had never been part of the plan. Without Yvette and Ginny’s persistence, he would not have stepped inside.

Just as the two prepared to sit beside him, a smaller figure darted past and slipped into the seat at his side.

“Leander, you actually came!” Jacklyn beamed, eyes sparkling.

“It’s you.” Leander recognized her immediately and offered a faint nod.

Ever since she learned about Leander’s past at Ravenridge Senior High and heard the way Jade spoke of him, her admiration had taken root deep in her heart.

She did not even try to hide it.

Confidently, she grasped his arm and leaned in, lowering her voice with visible excitement. “Leander, I’ve heard all about you. You were a legend at our school–more impressive than Victor and the rest. Jade even called you a sovereign of the sky. I can’t believe I met someone like you at an internet cafe.”

‘Jade? You mean Jade Dempsey?” Leander’s eyes shifted to Jade, sitting nearby. She was the class rep in Class 4 in their final year, and he still faintly remembered her.

Jade stiffened under his glance, offering an awkward smile before lowering her eyes.

Jacklyn continued firing questions, unable to contain her excitement. Leander responded briefly at first, then gradually fell silent. (vette and Ginny watched with amused expressions, covering soft laughter.

nside the hall, preparations for the anniversary ceremony neared completion.

Outside the campus, however, a different scene unfolded.

Two figures advanced silently along the outskirts of Ravenridge.

Where they stepped, the grass darkened, and the flowers visibly withered. The air grew dense and oppressive, pressing down like an unseen weight.

The sky overhead dimmed unnaturally, with darkness spreading outward like ink bleeding across paper. A shadow slowly encroached upon the city’s edges.