Chapter 135
Chapter 135
Violet
That exquisite, arrogant face was now streaked with tears and humiliation. She lowered her head, her voice trembling. "I'm sorry, Violet. I shouldn't have provoked you, shouldn't have thrown water on you, and I shouldn't have insulted your violin."
Looking down at Sienna kneeling at my feet, I felt no thrill of revenge—only a deeply absurd sense of calm.
Just half an hour ago, she had been mocking me from her pedestal, sneering that I was nothing but a lowly performer.
Now, the crushing weight of wealth and power had shattered every ounce of her pride.
"Good," Owen said coolly. "Tomorrow morning at eight, take your two-thousand-word apology to the campus broadcast station. I want you to read every single word of it aloud, in front of the entire school."
That was the final straw.
Sienna's head snapped up, her eyes going wide.
A public broadcast? That meant she would become the laughingstock of all of Manhattan's high society.
Her mouth opened, as if to beg for mercy, but only a short, sharp gasp escaped her throat.
Then her eyes rolled back, and her whole body crumpled limply onto the carpet.
She had fainted dead away.
"Sienna!" Madame Bellini shrieked, rushing over and gathering her daughter into her arms in a flustered panic.
Owen didn't spare them another glance.
He turned and tipped his head toward Lily and me. "Let's go."
We followed him out of the suffocating principal's office.
The corridor was bright, the early winter sunlight streaming through the glass windows and spilling across the wooden floor.
Away from that mother and daughter's screaming, I finally felt my taut nerves begin to unwind.
"Mr. Sheldon." I stopped walking and looked earnestly at his back.
Owen turned around. The terrifying menace from earlier had already vanished from his gray-blue eyes, replaced by his usual composure.
"Thank you." I bowed to him sincerely. "If you hadn't stepped in today, Lily and I would never have gotten out of that unscathed."
Beside me, Lily nodded eagerly. "Mr. Sheldon, you were absolutely amazing back there! That old witch turned positively green!"
Owen glanced at Lily, then let his gaze settle on me.
His eyes swept over my disheveled hair, and his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
"Don't thank me. I was only protecting my principal violinist." His voice was still stern, though his tone had softened considerably. "The charity gala is next week. I don't want any nonsense affecting your condition."
I bit my lower lip, still uneasy.
"But you forced Sienna to her knees today. The Bellini family won't let this go. I'm worried they'll use their connections on the board of trustees to make trouble for you."
"The board of trustees?" Owen let out a soft scoff, his voice carrying an utterly natural contempt. "They don't have the nerve to come after me. You needn't concern yourself with any of that."
As he spoke, he drew a pen and a notepad from the inside pocket of his suit jacket.
He quickly scrawled a string of numbers, tore off the page, and handed it to me.
"This is my private number." Owen looked at me, his gaze deep. "From now on, if you run into any trouble at school or anywhere else, call me directly. Don't let yourself end up in such a wretched state again, like today."
I hesitated a moment, then reached out and took the note. The handwriting was bold and forceful.
"Thank you, Mr. Sheldon." I clutched the note and thanked him again.
Owen said nothing more. He turned and strode off toward the faculty elevator at the far end of the corridor.
Only after his figure had completely disappeared did Lily let out a long breath and grab my arm.
"Good heavens! Violet, pinch me—I'm not dreaming, am I?" Lily whispered, brimming with excitement. "Who on earth is Mr. Sheldon? He doesn't even take the board of trustees seriously! And he actually gave you his private number!"
We walked out of the administration building side by side, heading down the tree-lined avenue toward the dormitories.
The cold wind bit at my face. I tucked the note into my coat pocket and shook my head. "I don't know either, but he really did do us a huge favor."
Lily's eyes darted around, and suddenly she leaned in close, waggling her eyebrows with a gossipy grin. "Violet, be honest—does Mr. Sheldon have feelings for you?"
Her words startled me, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
"What are you talking about?" I immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, glancing nervously around us. "He's my mentor! And I already have Julian. Don't joke about things like that."
Lily pulled my hand away and pouted, unconvinced. "I'm not making it up. Just think about it. He's so hard on you in the rehearsal hall, but behind the scenes he gives you the best solo spot. And today he stormed straight into the principal's office and made a mortal enemy of the entire Bellini family—for your sake. If that's not favoritism, I'll eat my hat!"
"That's because he values my skill. He needs a principal who can command the stage." I frowned and countered, trying to nip this dangerous notion in the bud. "You must never say things like that again. If it got out, it would damage Mr. Sheldon's reputation and cause trouble for me too."
I knew exactly where my boundaries lay.
Julian gave me all the confidence and affection I could want. There was no chance I would ever develop feelings of any other kind.
Whatever help Owen had given me, I would only ever regard as the guidance of an elder and mentor.
Seeing how firm I was, Lily shrugged. "All right, all right, I'll drop it. But say what you will—today was incredibly satisfying!"
We kept walking.
Just as we reached the bend in the avenue, a low, rumbling engine growled up behind us.
A strikingly conspicuous silver-gray Aston Martin sped up from behind and pulled to a smooth stop beside us, blocking our path entirely.
The window slid slowly down.
Owen sat in the driver's seat.
He had shed his suit jacket and wore only a dark shirt, the cuffs rolled up to his forearms, revealing firm wrists.
One hand rested on the steering wheel, and his gray-blue eyes watched us through the window.
"Get in." Owen tilted his head slightly, his tone brooking no refusal.
Lily and I exchanged glances.
"Mr. Sheldon, we were about to head back to the dorms," I said, instinctively taking half a step back to keep a polite distance.
"It's lunchtime, and you two never got to eat in the cafeteria earlier." Owen's gaze fell on my hand, which had unconsciously tightened around the edge of my coat. "Get in. I'll take you to lunch, and we can go over the details of next week's gala program while we're at it."