Chapter 14 PUBLIC EXECUTION.
SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW.
I hate PTA meetings.
Why?
You may ask.
It's because I learned something about the meetings; They aren’t about the students. They’re about the parents, the politics, the money, and the power games that decide what gets swept under the rug.
It was all a huge attempt to show who was richer than the other, as every parent dressed in their best, and their most expensive. They knew they couldn't compare to the wealth of the Ravenscrofts, so they did all they could to come second.
And their noses were high in the air with pride as they complimented each other with fake smiles, fake hugs, as their fake bodies hit each other.
It was sickening.
I shouldn’t even be here. Scholarship kids don’t get a seat at the table, but the school sent me a “courtesy invitation” mail, as if parading me in front of the wealthiest parents in Ravenscroft Prep would boost their charity points.
It felt like a slap to my face, and spit in my coffee as I sat in the most unflattering seat in the hall, while the rich kids sat on chairs with different elegant designs.
I wore the black Chanel two-piece; something I couldn't afford until yesterday, but Lucien made it happen in less than thirty minutes. Lucien also said it was “intimidation chic.”
I objected to that, saying that everyone's eyes would be on me since this was the uniform for the richest kids in school. But he had smirked at me as he knew better.
The conference room smelled like expensive coffee, expensive perfume, and expensive champagne. The tables shone with their oak wood material, and the leather chairs shone like they were made from only the finest material.
Headmaster Langley sat at the far end. Dressed in a black suit with gold buttons, his dark eyes scanned the room as he propped himself up, trying to look important and authoritative to the parents.
In front of me, Roxanne and Matt were seated.
She sat with her mother, both of them were dressed in matching icy-blue blazers. He sat with his father, jaw tight, clearly hating the suit and tie. The man had barely spared me a glance when he'd walked in. And for some reason, it hurt because he was the only other parent figure I had in my life after my dad.
I'd wondered if Matt had spewed any lies to him.
I turned to look ahead, and there he was.
Lucien.
He strolled in late, of course, and was dressed in a dark, unbuttoned suit that added to his bad boy persona, as the top two buttons were undone, revealing the tattoo of a face I could not see from,m where I sat.
Like he owned the place, he was seated in the highest chair in the hall. With the name, Ravenscroft boldly written on the card in front of him as he leaned back in his seat with a bored expression, a smirk, and blue eyes filled with a mischievous glint...
My phone dinged silently in the hall, and I pulled it out to take a look; It was him.
“Enjoy the show, scholarship girl,” His text read. And when I looked up, I caught the sight of him smirking at me with a dangerous expression on his face.
What is he up to? I asked myself as I tried to calm my racing nerves.
The meeting started with boring budget talk, “new library renovations,” “alumni donations,” “sports funding.” I zoned out for a long time as the principal's whiny voice spoke into the microphone, until Lucien’s voice sliced through the air like a blade.
“Speaking of sports,” he said, casually snatching the microphone from the principal, who smiled awkwardly as he tried to stay composed. Lucien leaned back like he was bored. “We should probably talk about the drug problem on the football team.”
At that, there was razor silence in the hall as everyone kept their lips sealed.
Every head turned toward him.
Matt.
Lucien tilted his head toward the board, feigning innocence, but I could see his blue eyes spark with a vindictive flame I could recognize. “I mean, the random performance enhancer tests? The ones you’ve been sweeping under the rug? I always thought how weird it is, Captain always passes, doesn’t he?”
The captain.
Matt.
My stomach dropped to the earth's core immediately as I dug my nails into my palms.
Matt’s father bristled with a red face. “That’s a serious accusation.”
Lucien shrugged his shoulders with false disinterest. “Not an accusation, Mr Rodgers. Just an observation. You can check the locker room security footage from last Thursday. Or the results from the lab. Unless…” His gaze slid to the Headmaster. “You already know.”
At that, the headmaster turned to the principal with a red face, and a few minutes after, they both turned to the crowd and said, "We have our specialist in IT in the camera room at this very moment; he will get us what is needed." Lucien glared at him, and he immediately grabbed the mic again, "The nurse will also be with us soon to give us the results of his lab tests."
Lucien smirked at that and leaned back in his seat.
Roxanne shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable. She was pale.
I should’ve felt bad for Matt. Once upon a time, I would’ve.
Now? I watched him squirm and felt nothing but satisfaction and joy.
Lucien said, his voice like silk over steel. “Since we’re all here, why not let the parents hear the truth? And if he's guilty, we ban the captain, strip the team's wins, and level the playing field. Heck, we'll pick a new captain right here.”
I caught the glint in his eyes — this wasn’t about sports. This was about sending Matt crashing from his pedestal.
Principal Mateo turned to Lucien and tried to speak in a hushed tone, but failed miserably, "But the scout from England is here to vet the players."
Lucien didn't react with anything short of a victorious smile at that, and everyone, upon hearing that, gasped with shock.
"I know. I'm on the board." Lucien replied, and both the principal and the headmaster leaned back in their seats with an exaggerated expression.
Lucien’s smirk was lazy, dangerous, and I knew he wasn't finished. “Oh, and while we’re on the subject of cheating…”
Every head turned to him again.
His gaze slid to Roxanne. “Maybe the cheerleading squad should explain the fake invoices they submitted for cheer uniforms that never arrived. What was it, Roxanne? Fifty grand? A hundred?”
Her mouth gaped open like a fish, as an expression of shock washed over her features.
Gasps flew around the table as the parents looked at themselves with an expression of horror.
“Lies,” she said finally, voice brittle and shaky. “You’re lying.”
Lucien raised an eyebrow. “Am I? Or should I ask your mother how much of that money went into her new designer handbag?”
The room was electric now as parents whispered, and students drew their phones out. It was the kind of scandal people lived for and subscribed to in gossip columns.
Lucien looked at me in that moment, and ever so subtly, he winked, and I took it as the signal he talked about earlier.
And I… snapped.
I stood. Walked straight around the table. And slapped her.
The sound cracked through the room like a gunshot, and everyone gasped so loudly, it reminded me of the video of the gasps at Marilyn Monroe as she serenaded the president on his birthday.
Her hand flew to her cheek, which reddened instantly with a print of my hand. “You psychp!”
“That’s for every lie you told about me,” I said, my voice shaking but loud enough for everyone to hear. “That’s for trying to ruin my life. And that--” I leaned closer, my voice dropping to a razor’s edge “--is for thinking you could still win.”
Roxanne’s eyes burned. Matt stood like he was going to say something, but Lucien’s arm shot out, blocking him with a lazy strength that made it clear, and instantly, he moved back with a cowardly expression.
Lucien looked at me like I’d just passed some unspoken test.
The Headmaster was shouting now about decorum and order, but no one was listening. The students were typing furiously on their phones, and the parents whispered amongst themselves in hushed breaths.
Lucien brushed his shoulder against mine as he stood tall beside me. “Well,” he said, loud enough for the room, “that was worth the trip.”
And just like that, he’d done it. He’d destroyed Matt’s golden boy image, cracked Roxanne’s perfect porcelain mask, and somehow made me the center of attention without even touching me.
The meeting dissolved into chaos as some parents stormed out, and the students filmed us as we stood facing each other. Roxanne with her hand on her cheek from the force of my slap, and Matt was standing quite far from Lucien with an expression of fear on his face.
Lucien looked at me with an expression of calm in the storm, his gaze locked on mine like I was the only thing in the room worth looking at.
And I realized…
This wasn’t the end.
This was just the opening move.