"Really?" Tia and Amy asked in unison.
They both watched Brianna's hands turn into fists. She gritted her teeth in resentment with her eyes glaring into nowhere.
***
The next morning, Haylee came to school a bit earlier than Niel. As she was about to enter the class from the back door, Brianna stormed to her and pushed her chest hard, causing her to fall back to the wall of the corridor.
"B*tch!" Brianna insulted her in front of everyone.
As the school bell hadn't ring yet, a large group of students came rushing to the scene to watch the show.
Upon seeing the scene from the back door, Melly and Helen rushed out of the class and went to protect Haylee immediately.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Melly yelled back at Brianna.
Tia and Amy stood behind Brianna and a group of Niel's fans were also standing behind them. Even Amara, Lorraine and Sara were there to support Brianna in attacking Haylee.
Helen helped Ha
A few teachers who had just come to the scene were trying to stop the fight. But seeing Niel already stepped forward in front of Brianna while covering Haylee behind his back, the teacher chose to not meddle. After all, they knew Niel's status. Even though he behaved humbly in school, he was too powerful that even the school principal was under his thumb.'He could even fire the principal with a snap of a finger. Who would dared to meddle into his matters?' The teachers murmured in cowardice, feeling worried they might lose their job if they interfere with Niel.Niel gave Brianna a cold glare before he turned around slowly to check on Haylee. The blood that smeared on her lips with her swollen cheek ached his heart. He unconsciously wiped the blood on her lips with his thumb and sucked it to swallow the bloodstain like a vampire. He turned to look at Brianna again and the tender face that he gave Haylee before turned into a grim face instantly.Feeling disgusted
"Why? Hard to believe? She got chased out from home by her mom in early January this year because she hit her stepfather on the head when that bastard tried to assault her sexually. Where do you think she lived right now, huh?""In... in... in your house?" Helen stammered while guessing.Niel didn't confirm it nor correct it. Instead, he kept asking Helen."How do you think she's still able to go to school while being homeless? Who paid her student fee? Who gave her food to eat every day? Who gave her pocket money? Did she look like she's doing any part-time job right now?"Helen was stunned. 'Did Niel do all that for Haylee?' She wondered."She was chased out from home with nothing. Nothing. Yet, she's still able to stand on her feet right now with intact sanity on her mind. Who do you think the one who helped her do that?"The sharp eyes that Niel gave Helen made that girl become timid instantly. She was no longer able to counterattack his
"Is this... is this even acceptable? Not only did you bully my daughter, but you're also rude to the teacher! Mr Houstan, if you don't expel this student, I'm afraid I won't stay still. Where are her parents? Why didn't her parents been called yet? This matter should be settled among the elders. I can't speak with a brat like this. It's giving me a headache," Eric was exasperated."What so wrong about me asking Brianna to tell her story again? She's the one who reported me and made up a story saying I'm bullying her. So, what so wrong if I wanted to hear what kind of story she told you guys? I need to hear it to make sure she's not making any wrong accusation on me," Haylee retorted."Made up a story? Are you saying I'm lying?" Brianna was disgruntled, yet the others remained silent because there were some truths in Haylee's words. She needed to hear what kind of accusation was made against her."Daddy..." Brianna tried to get he father to back her up."I
"Mr... Mr Anderson? You're her guardian?" Mr Houstan was dumbfounded.He really wished he didn't need to make Niel get involved. That's why when Brianna claimed that Niel was her boyfriend, he didn't even make any attempt to call Niel to the office. This kid was too powerful than any of them inside that office room. Yet now he appeared and claimed to be Haylee's guardian."How ridiculous! How can her classmate be her guardian?" Brianna was vexed upon seeing Niel come to the principal's office. She knew well enough that Niel was siding Haylee."Why can't I?" Niel asked her coldly.Niel went forward and took Haylee's seat beside Eric James. Miss Stone gave her seat to Haylee so she could sit beside Niel. The homeroom teacher then sat on the sofa that was placed against the right wall of the office."Who is this kid? Another brat? Mr Houstan, how come your school was full of rude students? How dared he interfere with this matter? Are you trying to put
"If Haylee got expelled from this school, I'll file a lawsuit on your daughter. She clearly harassed and bullied Haylee and also had blackmailed me before. I had enough proof to bring the case into court. I will also hire the best lawyer to take my case. I can guarantee you that your daughter would end up having a juvenile record if Haylee got expelled. You choose for yourself whether to continue prolonging this matter or not," Niel said confidently."Wh... what?" Eric got nervous."What nonsense are you talking about? When did I blackmail you?" Brianna was utterly disgruntled."Didn't you force me to date you before? You said that if I refuse, you'll tell the whole school that Haylee gives her body to me. And after I agreed, you even blackmailed me again saying that I can't break up with you, or else you'll make everyone in school blame Haylee for the breakup. You were so determined to make her gain more haters at school," Niel replied."Bullsh*t! If tha
Niel was a bit flustered by her action. His steps got halted and he blinked his eyes multiple times at her. Her pouted plumpy lips were turning him on. He gulped at the sight of it. 'What's wrong with her?' He almost got seduced."I can't. I'd been cancelling a lot of meetings last week because of you. I can't afford to cancel any again or else I'll need to take leave from school," Niel got his mind straight again after a while.Haylee showed a sullen face. Even though Niel told her that she couldn't follow him, she still didn't want to release his arm. He too just let her follow him until they reached his car."Ben will come any sooner now. Go back to the lakehouse with him," Niel said to her."I told him not to come," Haylee replied."Haylee..." Niel gave her a reprimanding look."He won't come. If you don't give me a ride home, I'm going to end up staying the night at school. Who knows if someone suddenly grabs me or k*dnaps me. What are
Haylee laughed at the words said by Helen. 'Accept it? I had long been trying to accept it that I don't feel like I have a heart anymore...' her inner voice muttered depressingly.Amidst the silence between the three best friends, Niel suddenly showed up in front of Haylee's table."Are you done doing the slideshow for our literature presentation? I want to review it tonight. Miss Stone said that we will be the first presenter. We need to present it on Tuesday next week," Niel said casually to his favourite girl."I'd sent it to your email yesterday," Haylee replied to him disdainfully.They stared at each other for a few seconds and the guy smirked. He had lived with this girl long enough that he could actually read her face if she was angry or in a bad mood."Are you jealous that I'm talking with the girls outside? That's nothing. It's just casual talk," Niel said again while giving her a killer smile."F*ck off, Niel," Melly cursed at him
Niel called her out multiple times. Haylee got annoyed. She took her phone and her purse then got out of the bedroom. Niel stared at her as she headed to the front door."Where do you think you're going? It's late," he reprimanded her. He quickly stepped in front of her, wasn't letting her leave the house."Move aside," Haylee instructed him.Niel could see her face was red and there was a trace of tears on her cheeks. He felt guilty instantly. He made her cry again."It's not safe to go out right now. Where do you want to go anyway? Just stay here," he replied gently, having lost the guts to be harsh on her."Since you don't want to leave, then I'll leave. I don't want to be inside the same house with you," Haylee responded roughly.In her mind, she was determined to leave the house that night and just stay anywhere as long as she didn't need to see his face. She loathed him so much that night. Her heart was about to burst as it experienced
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