He shifted into a sitting position. "Tell ," he demanded. I closed the door behind and moved closer to him.
"What happened?" He probed.
I fixed my gaze on the floor. "Uh... Sothing happened at school. I don’t know... I don’t know how to say it," I stamred.
"What happened? You can tell ."
"There’s a problem. People think I had sex with soone... in the female restroom, but that’s not what happened. I need help. I want you to find the real culprit; I feel like it’s the only way to solve this. Can you... Can you help?" I paused.
"I’d appreciate it if you could help ," I finished. After my words, silence settled in the room. When I beca tired of waiting for his response, I looked up and caught him staring at .
I lowered my gaze imdiately. Why is he staring at ? What does he want to say? I feel like he’s about to judge .
"Did you have sex with anyone at school?" His first question ca.
I snapped my gaze up. "What?!" I exclaid, my eyes wide.
"Why would I do that?" I snapped.
He shrugged. "The rumors couldn’t have started without a reason," he said, then fell back on the bed. Does he not trust ? Wicked bastard. This is why I lied to him. I knew he’d do this—try to dig out the truth.
"Tell everything that happened. Were you in a restroom with a man?" He pressed.
No. I can’t say this. I won’t tell him the truth. I won’t ntion Ryan. But how do I settle this? Should I just back out?
Maybe. Yeah. Let’s do that.
I forced a smile and looked at him. "I was only joking. I made up the story. No one is talking about at school. Sorry for wasting your ti." I lowered my head. "I’ll leave now." I turned and rushed to the door. I was about to turn the doorknob when I heard a noise behind .
Turning, I saw him get out of bed. He walked to his telephone and dialed a few digits. "I need you to do sothing; it’s urgent. Co to the house," he said into the phone, then ended the call.
"Who... Who was that?" I asked, curious.
"My assistant. He’ll be at your school to investigate the truth. I can’t trust your mates to do a clean job."
My mates. Why does he keep referring to them that way? What’s with the change?
"Oh, really?" I smiled. "But it was a made-up story. I just wanted to entertain you. Everyone stays away from at school—you made it that way."
"You’re not the type to cook up stories," he said, returning to his bed.
He’s right. I’m not the type to do that. Of course, he’ll take the story seriously. What was I expecting?
"Oh..." I murmured, lost for words.
"You can go to school. The situation will be sorted out before the day ends." He relaxed against the bed and closed his eyes.
"T-thank you." I thanked him, opened the door, and rushed out. I arrived at my room and found Ruby waiting.
"The maids were here, but I sent them away. You haven’t had your bath. What were you doing?" She groaned.
"Sorry, I’ll wash up now." I rushed into the shower and cleaned myself. When I got out, I found the gown laid out on the bed for .
I put it on, and Ruby helped get dressed.
"I told Bryce about the rumors," I said while Ruby brushed my hair.
"You told him about what?" she frowned.
"The rumors. The sex scandal."
"What?" she gasped. "Why would you tell Bryce of all people?" she scolded.
"Tell about it," I sighed, picked up the perfu, and sprayed a little on my wrist.
After brushing my hair, she put the brush away and stood in front of . "Apply a red gloss today." She picked out a deep red and gently applied it to my lips.
"Done. You’re ready."
"You didn’t apply any," I noticed.
"I want to be ordinary today." She dropped the gloss and picked up her bag.
I picked up mine. Am I forgetting anything? I looked around the room to make sure everything was intact, then left with Ruby.
We went downstairs. On the way, we ran into Gavin. He was on a call and sounded serious.
"Where? What color? Alright, send the address, and I’ll be there as soon as possible. Keep the cops away; I need to see the corpse first," he said into his phone.
He was too busy to notice us and went upstairs, disappearing down the hallway. Ruby turned to .
"What corpse is he talking about?"
"I don’t know," I grimaced. Is it his mother’s corpse? I know he’s still searching for her. Is it her? Did she die? Ruby doesn’t know about his missing mother; I couldn’t bring myself to tell her. It feels too confidential.
We arrived at the garage and got into the vehicle; Joshua drove off.
"But seriously, why did you tell him? I thought you didn’t want to say anything to the brothers," she continued.
"I didn’t ntion Ryan. He asked, but I didn’t bring him up."
She shook her head.
"He’ll send his assistant to investigate and clear the rumors before the day ends. I’ll be out of the lilight soon."
"Ryan won’t give up though. I feel like you should involve Cooper. He might help without causing problems."
"Cooper is trouble. I don’t want him."
"Parker?"
"Worse."
"Gavin then?"
"Gavin crossed my mind, but you saw him earlier, didn’t you? I can’t tell him; he’s busy."
"Yeah, discussing corpses," she murmured.
"Let’s not talk about them. Let’s talk about you. You visited Prof. Dominic’s office. Are things looking up?"
"Good?" She huffed. "I wish. He’s still as slow as a snail. It’s frustrating."
I laughed. "Do you want to give up?"
"Give up?" She scoffed. "No, never! Remi hasn’t given up; why would I?"
"Is this a competition now? I said it, she’s your rival."
"Rival? I don’t like that; stop saying that," she scowled.
I laughed. "Sorry, I won’t ntion it again. I’ll keep my mouth shut."
She rolled her eyes. We arrived at the parking lot and found a car in my space.
"I keep seeing this car here. Ms., did you give the owner permission to park here?" Joshua asked as he parked beside Ryan’s vehicle.
"She obviously didn’t; the parking lot is bigger, so why would she—?" Ruby began, but I interrupted.
"I did. I gave him permission to park here. I know him. You don’t have to worry about it."
"Alright, Ms." He opened the back door for us, and we got out.
"I need to stop by my ho to see my wife and kids, but I’ll be back before school ends," he said.
"Not a problem, you may go," I smiled.
"Thank you, I’ll grab my bag." He took his bag and left.
We started to leave the parking lot, but Ryan’s appearance stopped us. He got out of his vehicle. "Been waiting for you," he said to .
I didn’t reply and kept moving. "I heard what you did," he said, following us.
"I know about your conversation with the dean. I know why you went to his office yesterday," he said.
Hearing the dean’s na made my steps falter; I paused and faced him. "So what? What did you hear?" I asked.
"That you want out of the school—do I make you uncomfortable?" He stood in front of .
"You do," I admitted.
"Why? Why do you feel uncomfortable? What about makes you uncomfortable?" he questioned again.
"Every part," I answered without hesitation. "Every part of you makes uncomfortable. I don’t want you near . I want you to give up your admission and leave. Your presence makes my school life difficult," I groaned.
He didn’t respond right away and just watched . After a while, his expression hardened.
"You want to leave because you’re scared your other mates might find out about . You don’t want them to get into a conflict with . You’re scared that if we fight, I might win—and I might win your heart afterward. Is that it?"
My lips parted and my heartbeat slowed as I processed his words. How did he... How did he know what I was trying to avoid? No, don’t misunderstand . He’s not completely wrong, but he’s not right either. But how did he guess the right part? Is he reading my mind?
I shifted from one foot to the other, struggling to find words, but none ca.
"I think... I think I should give you so space," Ruby murmured when she could no longer stay. And before I could stop her, she walked away from the parking lot.
"Answer . Why do you want to leave so badly? Is it for the reason you said, or is it because of your mates? I want your honest answer," he demanded.
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