"Miss Johnson..." Ben called out slowly and Haylee turned to look at them with a faint smile on her face.
"I'll behave. I won't cause trouble again. I'm sorry I made it hard for Niel," Haylee said softly.
After hearing that, both Ben and Martha felt guilty at her instantly. It was obvious that Haylee had heard everything about their conversation before.
"Miss Johnson, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend..." Ben tried to apologize but Haylee cut him off.
"It's fine. You're right. That's the least I could do to repay Niel. I should be grateful that he provided everything for me. So, I'll behave and won't cause him trouble again."
Ben turned speechless. Martha also lost her words. They stared at Haylee with mixed emotions of guilt and sorry. They felt like wanting to comfort her but she looked fine. She handled the situation maturely.
"You guys can return to the guest house if you wanted to. There's no need to stay here. Niel was asleep now and
"No. Never mind. Just forget it," she said sullenly. A faint smile formed on her face but it was clear that her eyes were welled up with tears."I'm just kidding," Niel said, sensing her vexation over the topic."Hmmm..." Haylee just responded with a nod and then just ate without talking again. She had lost interest to have a conversation with him.'We're just fine this morning after waking up. How did we suddenly end up fighting again while eating breakfast? It's not even half of the day yet,' Niel sighed heavily inside his heart.Honestly, he felt tired of having to coax Haylee all the time. He exhaled sharply as if trying to show her his frustration. He then just ate silently too, didn't try to engage in any conversation with her again.After breakfast, Niel went to the living room to watch the television while waiting for Ben to return. Meanwhile, Haylee went into the bedroom to have some personal time alone. He knew she deliberately did that b
All the other girls were stunned by her words. They didn't really expect her to notice that they were checking out on Niel."Oh, and one more thing. Let's ask him. Niel, do you think I'm ugly?" Haylee deliberately asked Niel that question in front of the girls.Seeing her getting angry as the other girls were checking him out, Niel felt like his ego got boosted a bit. He stood up and helped Haylee stand on her feet too by manly grabbing her waist."You're not ugly. They are the ugly ones," he savagely humiliated those girls and tilted his head to give Haylee a kiss.Those girls quickly left them and went into the ice rink, fleeing due to embarrassment. They didn't even dare to look at Niel again."Why are you being so sensitive today?" Niel asked after the kiss. His face looked delighted as if he loved it seeing Haylee getting jealous again when the other girls showed interest in him."I'm not," Haylee said with an annoyed gaze."Forg
'I'll never let you go out of my sight again,' he murmured inwardly while staring deeply into her eyes. This girl was someone he couldn't bear to lose."Why did you post our video at the ice rink before in your Inst*gram?" Haylee changed the topic out of a sudden."Why can't I?" He replied quickly."That video showed that you hugged me and kissed my head. You're not dating me. What would the other girls that you date feel if they see that video? They might attack me later."Niel chuckled instantly after hearing her words."Honey, do you think there are girls at school who dare to mess with you again after you silenced Brianna the other day? Brianna used to be the queen bee of our school. And now she didn't even dare to run into you.""But we still aren't dating.""It doesn't matter. I'm telling all the other guys at school that you're my girl. If they want to make a move on you, they'll have to face me first. You're mine. That's final
"Oh, no. Not exactly. I'm just trying to find my friend again," Haylee replied nicely."Oh, so you did go out with someone right now.""Yeah...""That's a shame. I'm just about to ask you to join me if you're alone," he said and looked back at the children inside the indoor playground."Do you know someone inside?" Haylee asked since he looked as if he was waiting for a child to finish playing."Not really," he chuckled."Do I look like I have kids or something?" He asked a moment later."Oh, no! I didn't mean it that way. I mean, maybe your niece or nephew," Haylee was worried he might feel offended by her words previously. Truthfully, Patrick wasn't really looked that old."No. I don't have one currently. I'm just twenty-two, by the way. You're seventeen right?""Yeah...""Are you Niel's friend at school?""More like it. I'm actually his classmate.""How was he at school? Is he doing fine?" There w
Niel only let her go again after almost two hours and they stayed at the penthouse until dinner time. After dinner, Niel brought her back to the lakehouse and he spent the night with her again there.Haylee stared at the ceiling as she lay down on the bed that night. Niel had been in a deep slumber already at that time. She turned her head to the right, staring at his face who looked so calm when he was asleep."It felt so weird, you're treating me like your wife and you're acting like my husband right now. But we're still not dating," she murmured to herself.***The next morning, Niel gave her a ride to school. In the eyes of the others, she really did look like Niel's girlfriend right now. But she knew it well enough that Niel would never want to date her. It felt suffocating when the other students assumed they were a couple but Niel still went around flirting with the other girls at school. Even though Niel had posted that intimate video of them at t
It felt truly reassuring to hear the words mentioned by Miss Stone. 'Somewhere else to stay?' Haylee wondered if she should just accept that offer. But then again, her mind remembered that conversation she heard between Ben and Martha the other night. The consequences that Niel might face if she was to misbehave again and tried to leave him. Her heart felt guilty instantly as she didn't want to be the reason for Niel to become depressed. 'His mental health might deteriorate if I do that...' Her conscience stopped her from having the idea of leaving Niel.She knew that Niel hurt her feelings multiple times already. But she couldn't deny it either that he helped her a lot. She hated it the most if people said that she was an ungrateful person."Haylee?" Miss Stone called her out slowly as she saw that girl just being unresponsive."Tell me what's bothering your mind so I can help you. Or better yet just explain to me the situation so I could have a clear picture o
"Are you still in the teacher's office? What's wrong? Are you sick? Do you want me to send you home?" Another text message from him arrived.Haylee put away her phone and closed her eyes. She didn't have the mood to engage with Niel right now. She let time pass without worrying that by the time she left the infirmary, it was already recess. Haylee slowly walked along the corridor heading towards her classroom."Where the hell had you been? You skipped half of the classes today. Are you planning to skip the classes after recess too?" Helen approached her out of a sudden and Melly was following from behind.Haylee halted in step and just stared at the two faintly. Her face was pale like a corpse and she looked super unmotivated right now. She turned to look at Melly and that girl flashed some guiltiness across her face."I'm sorry I snapped at you this morning. Helen had told me everything," Melly said to Haylee."Told what?" Haylee was confused and
"Haylee didn't want to be an ungrateful person, Mike. Believe it or not, she too felt stuck and trapped right now. She said that she was sorry and she forgive you for what you did that night at the amusement park. I don't know what it is but I assumed you must have done something to offend her at the amusement park before?" Helen's words made him remember again what happened that night at the amusement park. Mike pondered for a while. He tried to entice Haylee into giving in to him that night but Haylee clearly refused and he began to force her a little. But then someone else suddenly appeared and took Haylee away. That man even knocked him down harshly. Came to think of it, he had a hunch that he might know that guy. "Was Niel the one who attacked me that night? It was him, wasn't it? He followed Haylee," Mike asked and Helen nodded to him promptly. He exhaled sharply in frustration. 'No wonder,' he thought and once again he stared at Haylee who looked calm being fed by Niel at the
After Haylee was done cleaning herself up, Niel finally brought her up to the top floor again. It felt truly uncanny when he saw her smiling, laughing and even making some jokes to him while they were inside the elevator. He felt horrible inside because he remembered what happened to her last night. The fact that she forgot all about it was clear proof that her mental health was deteriorating.They entered the penthouse again and Niel's eyes swiftly went to look at the living room. The television was gone and the mess there had been cleaned up. The food was also had been served on the dining table."Where's the TV?" Haylee asked. She was weird that the television was gone. She tried to recall what happened last night but her head felt hurt instantly. She cried out in pain while holding her head with both arms."What's wrong?" Niel grabbed her body from falling. The woman looked like she was about to faint."Aspirin..." she said and Niel helped her to sit at the dining table first befo
Upon seeing her leaving the open kitchen and entering the bedroom, Niel rushed to the elevator and went up to his penthouse again. He took his spare key card of the condo unit and went down again. He just left his laptop on the floor in front of the condo. It only took him less than five minutes to return and he quickly went into the house.The first thing he did was go to the open kitchen and grabbed all the knives and cutleries. He put them inside a black plastic bag and hid them inside a bin. Then he carried the bin and put it into a cupboard inside another bedroom. He threw a bunch of towels and a blanket inside the cupboard to hide the bin even more.Then he came out to the living room and slowly went to the bedroom that Haylee entered before. He carefully twisted the knob to check if the door was locked. It was and he just stood there thinking about what he should do next. There was not a single sound from inside and that made his heart race. He didn't know if she was okay or hu
Seeing her become speechless, Niel smirked and just walked towards his bedroom again. She was so frustrated that she grabbed an empty wine bottle and threw it toward the television in the living room. The cracking sound of the screen made Niel panic and he ran back to the living room to check on her. He saw her grab another few wine bottles and try to throw them on the television again, just like before. She was acting like a lunatic and so he quickly hugged her body from behind, locking both her arms from moving to stop her violence. "You don't know shit! You don't know what it's like to be me! You don't know shit about me! I'm fucking tired of you! I fucking hated you! I fucking hated living with you!" She shouted frantically while struggling to free herself from him. Niel grabbed her body firm and even tighter, slowly had his eyes reddened and his cheeks felt hot. He didn't know why he was so angry at her yet felt hurt at the same time while looking at her losing her sanity. Hayle
Ashley gasped in disbelief at her words. She stared at Niel and saw the change in his expression. He looked absolutely grim. But Haylee simply looked relaxed as if she was not even in trouble.'So, what would happen if Haylee fails the subject?' Niel thought. Surely, one thing led to another. She would probably deliberately fail the other subjects too so she would need to repeat the first semester. If that happens, she would be moved to a new batch of students next semester and she won't be in the same class with him anymore for the next five semesters. And if somehow Haylee refuses to repeat the first semester and quit Kingston, she could appeal to get into Hudson University for July intake. She was being clever to him. She knew how to threaten him now too. In short, Niel could not afford to kick her out of the group and make her fail the subject, or else he would be the one at loss here. Slowly he released her arm and let her go reluctantly."Exactly," Haylee said arrogantly and wal
Haylee could feel her cheeks turn hot due to the embarrassment. The hall turned silent for split seconds with a lot of eyes staring at her. Niel boldly beckoned her to come to him. Haylee slowly walked down the stair pathway to go to the front. But then she noticed the mad looks Ashley and Linda gave her. She stopped unconsciously, reevaluating her choice whether she should go to Niel or not. It was obvious he wanted her in. In fact, it was not just Ashley and Linda who were looking at her hatefully right now. Haylee noticed that some other students were looking at her disdainfully too, probably those who had asked Niel to take them into his group before but got rejected."Why are you just standing there? Come here," Niel rebuked her gently, beckoning her to come to him again."Niel, how about if we just take Linda? Haylee didn't seem like she wanted to be in our group," Ashley suggested bravely."Why are you deciding for her?" Niel rebuked her coldly, totally a different treatment co
"Do you really think that I won't have a spare key card?" He ridiculed her and took out another key card from his pocket.She scoffed at him instantly. 'I knew it. He would never let me have my own privacy,' she muttered inwardly and just put the key card inside her backpack."That's not fair. I thought it was supposed to be my own place," she said deliberately to show her dissatisfaction."How is that not fair? You had access to my penthouse as well," Niel replied with a chuckle."Is this mean that I'll be living alone for real now? Can Martha live with me?" Haylee asked. Deep down inside, she was anticipating for that to happen for real. "No. I never said that. You're going to still be living with me, in my penthouse, our house. That condo unit was just for emergency. We're going to be studying here for three years. I'm sure at some point your friends or my friends would want to visit our place. So we need a split residence for that. Aren't you the one who didn't want people to kno
"Anyway, your food looked tasty. How long had you known Haylee?" Lily asked more. Her questions were all over the place, non-relating to each other."Hmm..." Niel was about to speak but the woman asked him some more."Haylee said her brother was rich. You're close with her, so you must know her brother too, right?""Brother?" He knitted his brows in confusion and instantly looked at Haylee. She met his eyes and made a poker face at him, silently sending a signal to that guy to go along with her lies."Yeah. Haylee brought a lot of expensive makeup to class, so we asked her how she was rich. She said she had a rich brother," Lily explained cluelessly."Right..." Niel nodded while giving Haylee a playful glare. 'So now I become her rich brother,' he muttered internally."Of course, I know her brother. We're partners," Niel added the lies."Partners?" Now Lily and Haylee said in unison."Yeah. Haylee's brother worked with me. I sent him abroad to handle some projects. He won't come back
"He was the one I'm talking about before. He's my former classmate during high school," Haylee said."Damn, girl! You got into the wrong gang. We're obviously out of your league," Bruno quipped at her and the rest just chuckled in agreement."Are you together with him? He seemed close with you," Lily asked. She suddenly turned into this kind of over-friendly girl to Haylee."We're just normal friends," Haylee avoided telling them the truth."Bring us together for lunch. Introduce him to me please..." Lily begged. She never would have imagined it getting an opportunity to know Niel in person."You don't even want to know his name first?" Haylee teased her and the girl laughed shyly."His name was Nathaniel Anderson. We called him Niel during high school," Haylee said deliberately to let them all know.A while later, the lecturer came into the lecture hall. He was Professor Damien, an old man in his late forties. As soon as he entered the hall, he went directly to Niel and had a handsha
Weeks passed and they finally started college at the end of February. After the orientation week ended, all the undergraduates at Kingston University started their first class the following week. Haylee and Niel pretty much acted like strangers at college. Niel drove by himself to class even though they were going to the same destination because he sometimes would need to go to the company during his free time if his presence was necessary there. So, Haylee too was the same. She drove by herself to classes using the red Ferrari car that Niel gave her during Christmas last year.After coping with her depression about not going to Hudson for a few weeks, Haylee slowly learned to accept her fate of going to Kingston. She tried to look at the bright side. Home was not far, so she didn't need to think about paying to live in a hostel. And surely, if she was somehow in trouble, Niel was around to help her fix it. Her life was easier that way.She attended her first lecture wearing designer