Chapter 44 AN OFFER FROM THE DEVIL.
SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW.
My hands trembled beside me as I looked at my thighs, too scared to look Eldric in the eye as he spoke. His words echoed in my mind like a whip, coating me in shame as I bit my lip to hold the force of my tears.
Whore, cheat, unworthy.....everything my mother had spoken of me came to mind as well, pushing a wave of nausea up my throat, but I stifled it, and waited for this hell to be over as soon as possible.
My stomach knotted, as my chest heaved, and my throat felt like sandpaper as I swallowed.
The presence of Principal Whitley, who stood behind me, felt like an uncomfortable presence as I tried my hardest not to cry.
“You think this is a game, girl?” Eldric continued, as venom dripped from each word he spoke. “Your father knows of your mother’s… tendencies. One wrong move, and his position at my office, your family’s future? It will vanish.”
My blood turned to ice immediately, and my head shot up at his words. He looked at me with a hateful expression, as his grey eyes shone with a glint. My father's work could not be threatened because of me.....he'd lost too much because of me already. My heart sank deeper than I thought possible, with the fact that it'd already sunk from earlier. I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing desperately that Lucien would appear and protect me. I wanted him to storm in, lean against the desk, glare at his father, and declare that nothing, nothing, would touch me.
But he wasn’t here. Not today.
I…” I whispered, the word breaking in my throat as the thought of leaving Lucien, of hurting my father's job, of having to choose between the two people I'd come to love?
Oh Fuck; I might be in love with Lucien.
“I… I can’t-” I whispered, trying my hardest not to choose between them both, but it was hard. My father comes first; he should come first.
'You forget you're not one of them, Sloane.' My subconscious whispered, and she was right. I wasn't one of them; I'd never be one of them.
How do I know Lucien wouldn't switch up on me and choose his father when it comes down to it?
How do I know he wouldn't abandon me when it comes to it, by choosing his father's side? After all, he is engaged to someone else, his future is set in stone already, and I'd be a fool to stay by his side, especially when mine hadn't even been decided.
His father could crush me with one word, with one phone call, he would crush me immediately. And I would have nowhere and no one to turn to.
He looked at me with a calm expression, like he had the world in his hands, as he sipped his whiskey.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, as tears pricked my eyes, and I fought to blink them away. I wanted to collapse, to curl into myself and disappear, but I couldn’t.
I wouldn’t.
Not yet.
My chest heaved, and I forced myself to sit up straighter, as my back straightened, and my eyes steeled with a false confidence. I had to keep my composure, for Lucien, for me. I let my mind drift, as I imagined Lucien striding into the room, with his predator-like dominance making which could make even Eldric flinch. I imagined him placing himself between Eldric and, as he braced his jaw, and narrowed his storm-blue eyes, and letting his fire radiate outward.
I drew a shuddering breath, pushing against the shame, the humiliation, the fear that threatened to swallow me whole. I won’t let them break me. I won’t let them break us.
Somehow I knew, I knew that Lucien wouldn't do it...he would not hurt me by leaving me in the cold. Call me stupid, but for some reason, my heart refused to accept that Lucien would abandon me to the whims of his father.
"No," I said, my tone hard, as I steeled my shoulders and stared Eldric in the eyes.
“Miss Bishop,” the principal interjected, his tone sharp as he spat from behind me. “Do you understand the severity of what you’ve done? Do you understand the stain your actions have placed on this school?”
“Yes,” I whispered, my voice barely audible, as I turned to him. My hands clenched in my lap, shaking as I tried to ground myself against the two forces digging into my mind and subconscious.
Eldric leaned closer to the screen at my refusal, forcing my gaze away from the principal back to his, the coldness in his grey eyes intensifying as he spoke the words that steeled me again. “You remind me of someone, you know… my late wife. She was… weak," He spat, as his lips curled in a hateful snarl, as her weakness offended him. "She was manipulated by addiction, and it made her destroy my family from the inside. And now,” he leaned back, the smirk twisting his face, “I see the same chaos in you. Don’t think for a second that you are safe. You are exactly like her.”
I gasped sharply, the words hitting me like a brick to the chest. My mother’s past had been a shadow I had carried quietly, because of shame, fear, anger, and the urge to hide from the chaos she brought with her, but for him to twist it against me, to compare me to someone who had destroyed his family?
My vision blurred with tears, as shame burned hotter than my fear ever had.
I felt my chest tighten for a moment as I tried to breathe. For a moment, I almost believed him, I almost let his words sink into my skin. It felt like he was right, that maybe I was destined to ruin everything, including Lucien.
Maybe I didn’t belong anywhere near him or his world.
But in that moment, a voice filtered in my mind, and added to my confidence, blurring away my fears and worry, as Lucien's earlier words echoed in my mind,
Touch her, and you burn.
His earlier words droned in, and a flicker of courage flared in my chest as I sat straighter, stared at the trillionaire, and the force that is Eldric Ravenscroft,
"I..." I started, but stopped as my voice trembled, betraying my earlier confidence, as I stared at him. "I will not-"
"Okay then." Eldric interrupted, as he rubbed his jaw and tilted his head. The coldness of his gaze is still present, but with a new note of mockery as his voice dripped with what felt like a false calm. “You may stay… for now. But remember this, your place is beneath us. One more scandal, and your privileges, everything will be gone. Let Lucien play with you, I'll allow it, after all, a boy must have fun. But remember, my son is engaged to someone else, and when the time comes, you will be abandoned, just as you were picked."
The screen turned black immediately as Eldric ended the call. I sank back into the chair, as my body trembled, and my stomach twisted. I felt raw, exposed, and humiliated, but at the same time, I felt strangely alive in a way that fear and Lucien’s protection intertwined into something I had never felt before.
My mind raced, and my hands itched with an urge. I wanted to call him.
I wanted to tell him everything, to collapse into him, and let his strength envelope me, to beg him to save me.
But I knew I had to be strong; I had to survive this without breaking completely.
I clenched my fists, letting my nails dig into my palms until the pain anchored me. And I swore silently under my breath, fiercely swore, that whatever came next, whatever this school, Eldric, or the world threw at me, I wouldn’t falter; not with Lucien by my side.