Chapter 36Jasmine“How are you doing this morning, Jasmine?” That was the first thing Lisa said to me as I ran downstairs, heading to the kitchen to help mum prepare breakfast.The smile on her lips , clearly fake, made me to almost want to puke.“I had a good night. Thank you” I simply said, then left immediately.I did not have the time for any fake care and attention she wanted to show, and ever since the incident where I almost got killed back at the forest, I became a little bit weary of her.Well, I did not have concrete proof that it was related to Lisa, and I still could not boldly say that the attack was aimed as me, as much as I forced myself to believe that lie.I was certain it was aimed at me.I had no enemies that I could think of asides from Lisa, and maybe Hardin, I doubt Hardin hated me as much as wanting to kill me. Or was it some other enemy that I had unknowingly made?“Mum,” I greeted with a smile immediately I got into the kitchen, and hugged her for some minute
Chapter 37HardinI could feel the walls of my room shake as I slammed the door to my bedroom in rage and even though I had thought that I could take off the edge by taking out my anger on Jasmine sexually, which had worked for the most part, I could not for the life of me get over how Lorenzo thought it was okay to provoke me. And how he had stood up to me, with a frown that challenged me and wanted to see what I could do to him. The fact that it had been in public was even worse and I knew after hitting him that I had made a mistake because now, not only would the news reach my father, it would not matter what my side of the story was. It never mattered to him anyways. I was definitely going to have no choice but to attend even more sessions with the guidance counselor than before. And it was all Jasmine's fault. There was a knock on the door and when I opened it, a servant was standing outside, her gaze on the floor as she spoke shyly. "Your father would like to see you in h
Chapter 38Jasmine's POVSomething had changed with Hardin since that fight with Lorenzo and I knew it.I could feel it in the way he looked at me that night when I came out of his father's office after telling him about what had happened because they had called from the school about the incident, a situation that I wanted to avoid. It was exactly the way he used to in the beginning, when my mother and I first moved here.No, it was worse. I noticed it the next day when the principal had called all three of us to his office and the disciplinary committee had asked to hear our sides of the story and Hardin hadn't said one word, only asking what his punishment would be. Lorenzo had gotten one week suspension, with three days out of that week in school, to be served working at different places according to the discretion of the school. Hardin's was worse. And by worse, I meant infinitely worse. And it was not the fact that he was going to be at home for one week. It was that for that
Chapter 39Jasmine's POV"Thank you for coming out." Lorenzo said with a smile as we sat in one of the booths of the town's diner and I nodded, knowing that I had only one hour before Hardin started looking everywhere for me. Because since the shooting in the woods, Russo had unofficially made him my bodyguard even though I had tried to argue against it. But last night when he had finally broken the news at dinner that Hardin would be the one to go with me since he felt it was better than a stranger, I had been too afraid to tell him no, especially because I could not tell him that I wanted to be nowhere around his son, especially after what had happened at my birthday party three days ago. It still gave me nightmares anytime I closed my eyes because I wondered if the door to my bedroom would burst open and he would come to molest me again. I had even tried to go to school the next day after it happened but all that anybody could talk about was what had happened at the party. I h
Jasmine As I stood in the crowded party, surrounded by people and music, my thoughts were far from the festivities. I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety every time Hardin was nearby. Every touch, every word, made me cringe with revulsion. And the way he had mouthed the words that I was next made me want to puke. “Come with me Jasmine, let’s go over to the balcony,” Nadia mentioned, but I simply shook my head with a forced smile, while her eyes searched mine worriedly.“You are sure you don’t want to go?”“Yes,” I voiced out, then Nadia gave me a warm hug before leaving to join the rest of the crowd.My mind was consumed with doubts and questions about what I did feel for Hardin. I had accepted the fact that whatever I shared with Hardin was mainly because I had no choice, and I definitely had no romantic feelings for him. But still, the thought of him being with other girls made my blood boil with anger. How dare he violate me whenever I was with Loren
Chapter 41HardinGuilt and frustration were the exact words to describe how I felt every time that I made Jasmine break out in tears. I was toxic, and I did not need to be told.I was gradually becoming the image of me that my mother would not like and anytime I thought about how she felt watching what I suddenly turned out to become, I cursed severally. From where I stood at the balcony, I watched Jasmine leave the party with Nadia tagging behind her confusedly. I only realized that I had been staring at her for so long, when the twins came behind me, calling me out of my thoughts."Weird right? We also feel that way, I mean the way you pay special attention to her. Is there something we do not know?" Sandro pointed out, and I furrowed my brows like I had no idea what he was talking of."Who?" "Your step sister, man. I don't think we can hold back from saying it," Alex joined. "Ohhh... Jasmine. My father suddenly added a responsibility on me by making me her personal body guard w
Chapter 42 - HardinHardinIf I was right, I had exchanged barely six or seven words with Dad ever since the incidence at the dinning room. Maybe once when I had answered 'yes' to all of the advice that he was feeding me with, and some forced 'good mornings' to him. The only reason I still stayed back at the mansion and had not moved to the cottage where I always found comfort was because Dad had intentionally added much more duties to me, which at the end of the day will not only be exhausting, but will be so late that I won't be able to leave the mansion anymore.Whenever Camila had the opportunity to talk to me, she came up with the thing of how everything Dad was doing was solely for my care and growth, and how I was just misunderstanding him.I never answered any of the things she said though, because none of it made any sense. If Russo actually cared like Camila said, then instead of placing more jobs on me, the exact thing that he would have been doing will have been to find
Chapter 43Hardin"You really think Lorenzo can make a good team captain?" Someone whispered to her friend down the hallway and thanks to supernaturally enhanced hearing, I could not help but listen to the conversation even though the last thing that I wanted to do at this point was hear anything about that darned competition that should not even be happening in the first place. And even though I wanted so badly to punch Lorenzo in the face, I knew that it would only make things worse for me. After all, this silly idea had started right after the incident between us that had made me go on suspension as team captain. And now that the time had elapsed and it was now time for things to go back to the way they were, it was a perfect opportunity for Lorenzo to strike and declare his intent to be captain of the lacrosse team. A team that I had been the captain of since I was in sophomore year. "I don't know but with the way things are going and how he is becoming everyone's favorite, it