[BRAINSTORM HIGH SCHOOL]
During class, Rafael’s gaze was hard. His leg kept fidgeting under his desk. He watched the teacher’s lips moving but wasn’t hearing a thing.
The bell-that was the only thing he was waiting for.
“Is your brother okay?” one of Leonard’s girlfriends who sat beside him asked. Leonard’s gaze shifted to Rafael, who seemed unsettled.
Rafael had been acting weird lately. Always locking himself up and trying to avoid him at school. He didn’t even appear during lunch and returned late to the mansion.
Was he running away from him? He’d find out where he always went today.
Finally, the bell rang. Rafael was the first to grab his bag and leave the class.
Leonard stood and rushed to follow him. But when they got to the hall, swarmed with students, Leonard lost sight of Rafael.
He kept searching for minutes until he spotted a door open. Rafael and the male teacher stepped out. Their gazes met, and Leonard swallowed at the man’s cold blue eyes.
He composed himself, raising his head high as he approached them.
“I see you’ve made friends. An old man with blue eyes, isn’t this cute?” Leonard smirked.
The man gave Rafael a look, and as if speaking through their eyes, Rafael nodded. The man cast one last glance at Leonard before leaving.
“How creepy,” Leonard scoffed.
“What do you want?” Rafael asked, his voice cold.
“What have you been up to? Are you leaving the school during school hours? Your attitude has been so sneaky these days, and-”
“How is that your business?” Rafael cut in coldly, and Leonard scoffed. “If you don’t have anything reasonable to say, how about I take my leave?”
“No!!!” Leonard roared.
The lunch hour was over, and students were already coming out. They all felt the tension between the Wallington twins and waited to watch the show. Light whispers filled the air.
“You do not talk back to me-” Leonard began, but Rafael started walking away.
“You son of a bitch!” Leonard roared and grabbed Rafael’s shoulder, aiming to punch and discipline him in front of others, but that didn’t happen.
Rafael swung a substance at his face, and Leonard’s eyes widened at the sharp sting. Onlookers gasped, and Leonard frowned.
He reached for his cheek, and when he looked down at his fingers, he saw his own blood. With wide eyes, he looked back at Rafael, who was holding a cutter. His eyes held no emotion.
Leonard just couldn’t recognize him anymore. Rafael, his weak brother, had just cut his cheek?
“Touch me again, and I’ll aim for your neck,” he said coldly and walked away while Leonard stood in shock.
His breath came ragged as his eyes darted around. He didn’t even realize his trembling hands or the tears that fell from his eyes. He dashed to the staircase, running away from the gazes around him.
Once there, he tried to control his breathing. His eyes went to the window, and he caught Rafael leaving the school and heading toward the strange male teacher who stood beside a car.
Rafael got in, and the man suddenly looked in Leonard’s direction. His gaze was unreadable. One thing Leonard knew was that the man wasn’t a teacher.
His heart raced in fear.
What does the man want?
Who the fuck is he?
___
Tatiana had been drifting in and out of consciousness. Even when Cassius was bathing her, she fell asleep in the tub. Waking up again, she found herself on the bed and didn’t wait to fall asleep again.
She woke up when Cassius pulled her up to him and made her head rest on his chest.
“Dylan is worried; you should go down-”
“I can’t walk… thanks to you, Mr. Monster,” Tatiana cut in.
Cassius chuckled. “Should we continue?”
Tatiana’s eyes flew wide open. She looked up. “Are you insane? My body aches, and I want to sleep.”
She wanted to lie back down, but the man dragged her back up.
“You shouldn’t have seduced me to the extent of calling me… Daddy.”
Tatiana smiled, her crazy subconscious screaming the word repeatedly in her head. She pressed her lips into a thin line.
“Don’t tell me you’re about to call me that,” Cassius raised a brow.
“Maybe,” she whispered and the man raised one of his brow. She smiled.
“How’s Indigo?” Tatiana felt the reality of the world crashing down on her. Her father’s war, Indigo hurt, her sisters captured, her loved ones in danger… and here she was, lying lazily on the bed.
‘I hate myself,’ she said inwardly.
“She is fine,” Cassius hesitated on the words he was about to say. “Jolene is not in the mansion. She left last night, according to my mother. And I’ve checked the footage of the mansion and saw nothing strange about Butler Conrad.”
Tatiana stayed silent, her mind reeling from the thought.
As Cassius waited for her response, Tatiana’s phone rang, disrupting the moment. She immediately reached for it and saw a private number.
“Hello?” Isabella’s familiar voice sounded on the other side.
“Belle?” Tatiana’s eyes welled up. She put the phone on speaker so Cassius could hear.
“B… Belle, are… are you okay? Is Father hurting you?” Tatiana asked worriedly.
“No, I should be the one asking if you’re okay. I heard you were poisoned back when we were taken away.”
“I’m fine, Belle. How’s Maya?” she asked.
“I… I haven’t seen her in recent days. That asshole Maximus has been giving us food and treating my daughter well… and, well, I… uhmm… I’ll be getting married soon,” she announced over the phone, and Tatiana’s breath halted.
What in the world?
Cassius’ gaze turned cold.
“Marriage? To whom?” Tatiana asked.
“A man called Sil…” She couldn’t finish the word before a screeching sound was heard, and soon, a familiar thick voice replaced it.
“Tatiana, I knew you were going to survive.”
Tatiana felt every nerve in her body screaming with anger. She badly wanted to rip this man’s head off through the phone if it were possible.
“Who are you getting her married to?” Tatiana asked, her breath slowly becoming harder to control.
“That’s none of your business… I’ve been wondering why you haven’t come for me yet, Mr. and Mrs. King… You were impressive, bringing down some of my allies in such a short amount of time… Why did you stop?”
Cassius stared into space. It seemed the man wanted to make another ally-the one that would make his empire even stronger.
Maximus continued over the phone. “Let me guess. You’re trying to figure out who my little bird is, huh? C’mon, Tatiana, you know the person by heart; you just don’t want to admit it. You’ve seen the signs and ignored them many times…”
“Screw you. I won’t fall for your trick.” Tatiana’s heart collided with her chest. She didn’t want to think about it.
No, she didn’t.
“See you around, Little Rebel…”
Cassius took the phone from Tatiana and stood. “Hey motherfucker, are you currently on your hot seat? Is that why you’re desperate to sell your daughter to another ally? C’mon, stop the hide-and-seek and show your fucking face.”
Maximus chuckled. “Dumbass, I’m glad to finally hear your voice. Welcome back to Australia.”
He knew. The little bird told. Fuck… Who?
“Cool, I’m glad to hear your voice too, Max. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? I knew the kind of monster you were the moment I saw you. I knew what you could do. And I knew someday, I’d be the one to end you.”
Silence fell between them for a while.
“Give me all you’ve got… Dumbass,” Maximus dared, and the call ended.