Chapter 132

Chapter 132
Violet
 
The elegantly dressed woman was clearly Sienna's mother. Enormous pearls dangled from her ears, and her well-preserved face was etched with arrogance and fury.
 
The headmaster sat behind his desk, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Mr. Sheldon stood off to one side, his brow furrowed.
 
At the sound of the door, Sienna lifted her head from her mother's embrace. The moment she saw Lily and me walk in, she jabbed a finger in our direction, her voice shrill with accusation. "Mom! It was them! Violet was jealous that I got the VIP invitation to the gala, so she picked a fight with me in the dining hall, and then she and Lily ganged up and beat me!"
 
Her sobbing complaints echoed through the spacious office, grating on the ears.
 
"Headmaster, you must expel them at once! This is an insult to our entire family!" Mrs. Bellini held Sienna close, her manicured face brimming with haughtiness and rage. She pointed at Lily and me as though we were two pieces of reeking garbage. "My daughter, subjected to this kind of violence at school! If the academy cannot provide a satisfactory explanation, then next year's donation—and the board's financial backing—you can forget about every last cent!"
 
Lily bristled, ready to storm forward and have it out with them, but I seized her arm and pulled her firmly behind me.
 
I watched this mother-daughter performance coldly, my chest rising and falling with anger, though my expression remained calm.
 
Behind the broad mahogany desk, a fine sheen of cold sweat had broken out on the headmaster's forehead.
 
First he put on an ingratiating smile, murmuring a few humble reassurances to placate Mrs. Bellini, promising the matter would be handled with the utmost seriousness.
 
Then he rose, came around the desk, and beckoned to me, gesturing toward the floor-to-ceiling window in the corner of the office.
 
I pressed my lips together and followed him.
 
"Violet." The headmaster lowered his voice, his eyes darting nervously, his tone tinged with anxiety and calculation. "Things have gotten out of hand. You need to contact Mr. Julian Hall right away. If he's willing to step in—or even just make a phone call—then I'll have something to work with when it comes to smoothing things over with Mrs. Bellini."
 
I frowned, a powerful surge of resistance rising in me.
 
"Headmaster, Sienna is the one at fault here." I looked him straight in the eye, my voice quiet but unshakably firm. "She started it—provoking me in the dining hall, throwing water first. There are security cameras in there. You can send someone to check the footage. Why does Julian have to be dragged into this?"
 
I didn't want to contact Julian.
 
He was in London right now, in the middle of a cross-border merger worth hundreds of millions—a project of enormous importance to the Hall Group.
 
How could I possibly disturb him over some squabble between students? And more than that, I refused to look like some helpless girl who, at the first sign of trouble, could only hide behind a man and cry.
 
I had reason and evidence on my side. I didn't need to rely on privilege to settle this.
 
The headmaster's expression darkened in an instant.
 
He looked at me with a flash of impatience, clearly convinced I didn't know a good thing when I saw it.
 
"Check the footage?" He dropped his voice, laced now with undisguised warning and scorn. "Violet, you're being naive! Do you think this is some ordinary schoolyard scuffle? That is Mrs. Bellini! Her husband is a core member of the board of trustees—he controls the lifeblood of this academy's funding. Going head-to-head with her is like throwing an egg against a stone wall."
 
He paused, his gaze sharpening as it fixed on me. "Security footage means nothing in the face of that kind of money. If you don't bring Mr. Hall into this, do you really think a commoner student like you can hold on to her place at this school?"
 
The word enrollment struck me like a hammer blow to the chest.
 
My heart plummeted, and I instinctively turned to glance at Lily, standing a short distance away.
 
She was glaring viciously at Sienna, and the scratches on the back of her hand stood out, stark and shocking against her pale skin.
 
She'd gotten them protecting me.
 
I sank into deep hesitation.
 
If it were only me, I could argue my case to the bitter end—the worst that could happen would be expulsion. But what about Lily? She shouldn't have to be caught up in this disaster. If my stubbornness got her expelled too, I would never forgive myself for the rest of my life.
 
And the Waldorf—my opening solo was next week. That was the opportunity Mr. Sheldon had fought to secure for me, the closest I had ever come to my dream. If I were expelled now, all my effort, more than a decade of daily practice, would dissolve into nothing.
 
Blowing this up would do neither Lily nor me any good.
 
The office wasn't large, and although the headmaster had deliberately kept his voice down, Sienna, seated on the sofa, had clearly overheard us.
 
She straightened up out of her mother's arms, and her tear-streaked face lit up at once with a spiteful satisfaction.
 
Pushing her mother aside, she strode toward me on her high heels, chin lifted in insolent triumph.
 
"What's wrong? Too scared to call your sugar daddy?" Sienna stopped in front of me, arms folded, her deep blue eyes full of mockery and every ounce of humiliation she could muster. "I knew it. You're nothing but a commoner he plays with. A man of Julian Hall's standing might amuse himself with you now and then, but the moment there's real trouble, why would he ever offend a family like ours for your sake?"
 
She leaned in a step closer and lowered her voice to a poisonous murmur only the two of us could hear. "You think one photo is enough to turn you into some Cinderella overnight? Dream on, Violet. Right now he probably doesn't even want to pick up your calls. You're just a cheap toy—used up and tossed aside. Once I've had you run out of Manhattan, you won't be fit to shine his shoes."
 
Lily caught the tail end of it and swore outright, incensed. "Sienna, you say one more goddamn word and see what happens!"
 
I drew in a deep breath, fighting to suppress the fury churning in my chest, my nails digging hard into my palms, the pain the only thing holding my sanity in place.
 
But I knew that with someone like Sienna, endless retreat and silence would only convince her I was easy prey.
 
I couldn't call Julian—but I would never let her trample on my dignity.
 
"Sienna, don't get ahead of yourself." I regarded her coldly, my gaze as icy as if I were looking at a lifeless object. I reached straight into my coat pocket and pulled out my phone, its screen lighting up as I waved it before her eyes.
 
"You think you're the only one with connections?" I stared at her suddenly rigid face, my voice level, yet every word cut like a blade. "Just now in the dining hall—there wasn't only the security camera. I have a recording too. You threw the water first, you insulted a fellow student, and every single word is captured, crystal clear. If you and your mother insist on pushing this so hard, insist on forcing me out of school, then I won't hesitate to post all of it straight to TikTok and Twitter."
 
Sienna's face wavered.
 
I pressed on, tearing down her defenses without mercy. "Isn't your precious socialite image the thing you care about most? Take a guess—if all of New York sees you screaming like a fishwife in public, even throwing punches, how do you think those darling friends of yours in high society will laugh at you? And your family's stock—do you think it might just take a tumble over a scandal like this?"