Chapter 7: LAST TIME

CHAPTER SEVEN | LAST TIME

ASPEN

The world beneath me tilted, and I felt like I was going to collapse any time soon. I felt dizzy, and all the contents of food I’d eaten days ago tried to force their way out.

I had to force them back down. I wasn’t sure what to do next. Should I beg her not to expose me, or run for my life and get the hell away from this school?

I thought I’d be safe here. I thought my secret would be safe. But I fell right into the trap I had hoped to avoid on my first day.

“I’m sorry, Ronan,” she whispered solemnly.

The moment she said that, every atom of composure I had managed to keep shattered. Bile rushed to my throat, and I hurried to the bathroom, throwing my guts out.

I didn’t even have much to throw up. I hadn’t eaten in a few days. When I got my act together and came back outside, I felt the tension between the two.

“I need to leave before I’m caught… before she exposes me.” I staggered to my bed, where I had placed my bag.

I wanted to pick my bag up, leave this cursed place, and never step foot here again. Obviously, I would have to avenge Adrian another way, not from here.

“No, stay,” Ronan ordered, his gaze still on Rachel.

“I won’t tell anyone, Aspen. Or is it Alex? I’m not sure which of the names to call you,” Rachel stated.

Yet, her assurance wasn’t enough to make me feel better. As long as she was somehow linked to the authority of this school, I believed my safety would be a gamble.

“That wasn’t my question. I asked if you are ready to defy your father to help us. Are you ready to stand against him, to go against his authority and everything he stands for? Are you ready to flee if it comes down to it, to hide the truth right under his nose? Or are you going to waver and give in like you did the last time?”

The tension between them was so thick that a knife could cut through it. I had no idea what “last time” Ronan was talking about, but I knew for a fact that whatever it was still hurt him deeply, and that was one of the reasons he didn’t trust her.

I wasn’t sure if I should ask about it or just ignore it and focus on the problem at hand. Leaving now might just be the best thing for me to do.

Her fists clenched and unclenched as she desperately tried to keep her emotions at bay. “Last time was a mistake.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Ronan retorted instantly.

“It was,” she fired back. “I was stupid and naive. I thought I could trust my father with everything, anything at all. I thought when it came to me and everything I loved, the rules had an exception. I never knew he would do me like that. If I knew, I would have stayed silent.”

Her head went down at the last part. She was obviously remorseful for whatever it was she did that hurt Ronan so much.

I stepped in, not wanting to keep being in the dark. “What happened last time?”

She looked at me, redness creeping up her cheeks. They must have forgotten that I was there as they had their lovers’ quarrel.

“Nothing much,” she mumbled, looking away from me.

But Ronan was having none of it. He ran his hand through his hair, gritting his teeth and stomping his foot. “Nothing much? That wasn’t something little, Rachel. You almost had me killed with your recklessness.”

I gasped, staggering as the truth registered in my head. If she almost had her own boyfriend killed, how much more me, someone she only met a few hours ago? She’d definitely have me killed.

She threw her hands up, frustrated and on the verge of tears. “It was a mistake! If I had any idea what it would mean for you, I wouldn’t have said anything about it. But this time, things are different. I’m no longer the young and naive daddy’s girl I used to be. I understand now, and I’m ready to do anything for you. Can’t you understand that I love you, Ronan?”

Her words hit the wrong button for me. I truly wasn’t comfortable watching them have their lovers’ feud in front of me.

“I’ll stand by you, no matter what. No more distrust between us. No more lies or secrets. I’ll stand by every one of your decisions, I promise.”

A part of me relaxed a little, because she sounded genuine. I didn’t know her much, and I had no idea what it’d look like when she was telling a lie, but I could tell that what she just said came from a place of truth.

But Ronan wasn’t moved by her confession. “Prove it. If you really are going to stand by me, I want you to prove it now.”

She searched his eyes, trying to see if he was kidding or not, and when she got nothing but sincerity, she sighed. “Fine. I’ll prove that you can trust me. I’ll start with the first clue of the case, getting my hands on the real copy of the picture of Aspen being wanted. I’m sure it’s in my father’s office or room.”

She was about to storm out of the dorm when I stopped her, distrust clawing at me. “Wait, I want to come with you. I want to see you.”

She raised her eyebrows, challenging me. I mean, what right did I have to request anything when I was in a desperate situation? But I wasn’t foolish enough to let her walk into her father’s office with my fate hanging in the palm of her hands.

I needed to know everything. I wanted to know what was going to happen there. For all I knew, she was heading there to tell him everything she knew about me, which wasn’t much, but was enough to get me arrested.

“She’s right. We have to come with you to see how it goes.”

She nodded her head after thinking for a few minutes and signaled for us to come with her.

She unlocked her father’s office, ready to search, but we heard his and Ryker’s voices only a few seconds later, and worse still, they were discussing me.