Chapter 20: I meant to do it.

Lana's POV

The house had never felt this cold before. It was the same silence that usually wrapped around me like comfort but today, it felt suffocating. Like every inch of it was watching me… judging me.

Expelled.

Even now, the word refuses to settle in my mind. It hovered there, foreign and misplaced, like it belonged to someone else’s life.

I dropped my bag onto the floor, the sound echoing faintly through the hallway. Normally, that would have earned me a warning from one of the maids or a disapproving look from my mother.

Today, nothing.

No one said a word.

That silence unsettled me more than anger ever could.

I exhaled slowly, straightening my shoulders as I walked further into the house, forcing myself to remain composed. This would pass. It always did. Whatever disappointment they felt, whatever lecture they had prepared, it would fade.

It always had.

“Lana.”

My father’s voice stopped me mid-step.

I turned.

He stood at the far end of the living room, his posture rigid, his expression carved into something I didn’t recognise. My mother stood beside him, equally still, equally unreadable.

That was the first sign that something was wrong.

They never confronted me together.

A faint unease stirred in my chest, but I pushed it aside, lifting my chin slightly as I walked toward them.

“Yes?” I asked, keeping my tone neutral, almost indifferent.

Neither of them responded immediately.

They simply watched me.

Assessed me, and for the first time in my life, I felt… small under their gaze.

“We received a call from your school,” my father said finally.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “I assumed you would.”

“And you have nothing to say for yourself?” my mother added.

I hesitated, just for a fraction of a second before shrugging lightly. “It’s been exaggerated. They’re overreacting.”

Silence followed, but this time, it was different.

My father took a slow step forward, his eyes never leaving mine. “Overreacting?” he repeated, his voice calm but there was something beneath it. Something controlled. Dangerous.

“Yes,” I said, more firmly now. “It was just a picture. People share things all the time. Sloane is the one turning it into something bigger than it is.”

The moment her name left my mouth, my mother’s expression changed.

Not subtly.

Her jaw tightened, her eyes hardening in a way I had never seen directed at me before.

“That picture,’” she said slowly, “was not yours to share.”

I let out a quiet scoff. “Oh, please. It’s not like it was a secret. Everyone already suspected something was going on between her and Alex….”

“Enough.”

My father’s voice cut through the room like a blade.

I fell silent.

Not because I wanted to, but because something in his tone forced me to.

He didn’t raise his voice.

He didn’t need to.

“Do you hear yourself?” he asked, his gaze unwavering. “Do you understand what you’ve done?”

“I embarrassed her,” I replied, folding my arms. “That’s it. She’ll survive.”

The words had barely left my lips when the atmosphere in the room shifted.

It wasn’t anger anymore. It was disappointment.

And somehow… that felt worse.

My mother stepped forward, her heels clicking softly against the marble floor. “You didn’t just embarrass her, Lana,” she said, her voice quieter now..but far more cutting. “You humiliated her. Publicly. Intentionally.”

I held her gaze, refusing to look away. “She’s not as innocent as she pretends to be.”

“That is not your decision to make.”

Her response was immediate. Final.

I felt irritation rise in my chest. “Why is everyone defending her?” I demanded. “She’s not the victim here. She’s just…”

“Stop.”

My father’s voice again.

I pressed my lips together, frustration building.

This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.

They were supposed to be upset, yes, but not like this. Not… united against me.

“You have been expelled,” he continued, each word deliberate. “Do you understand the weight of that?”

“It’s just one school,” I said quickly. “I can transfer..”

“That is not the point.”

His tone hardened, and for a moment, something unfamiliar flickered across his face.

“You have damaged your reputation,” he said. “Your record. Your future prospects. And for what?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

Because suddenly… I didn’t have an answer that sounded convincing anymore.

“It was a mistake,” my mother said quietly, though there was no softness in her words. “A serious one.”

I shook my head instinctively. “It wasn’t a mistake.”

I lifted my chin. “I meant to do it.”

What I didn’t expect… was the silence that followed.

“Why?”

The question came from my father, not the way it felt watching Sloane stand next to Alex like she belonged there. Like she had a place I had never been given.

“She needed to be put in her place,” I said instead.

The moment the words left my mouth, I knew they were wrong because they weren’t true but because they sounded… small.

My mother exhaled slowly, closing her eyes for a brief second before looking at me again.

“This is not who we raised,” she said.

Something in my chest tightened.

I didn’t like that.

Didn’t like the way it made me feel.

“You will apologise to her,” my father said firmly.

The words landed between us like a final verdict.

I blinked.

“I’m not doing that.”

My voice was steady.

His gaze sharpened. “You will.”

“No,” I repeated, shaking my head. “I won’t apologise to her. She doesn’t deserve it.”

The air shifted again.

“You don’t get to decide what she deserves,” my mother said coldly.

“I already did.”

And that—

That was the breaking point.

My father’s composure cracked.

Not loudly.

Not dramatically.

But enough.

“You will apologise,” he said again, his voice low and firm, “or you will face consequences far worse than expulsion.”

A flicker of unease passed through me, but I refused to show it.

“You wouldn’t do that,” I said.

For the first time, he didn’t hesitate.

“I would.”

The certainty in his voice hit harder than any shout could have.

And suddenly… I wasn’t so sure anymore. I clenched my fists and lifted my chin.

“I’m not apologising.”