Chapter 20 Chapter 20
Hailey’s POV
Before I could say another word, Damien was already moving.
He took off down the hallway with a speed that startled me, his footsteps quick and purposeful as he chased after the shadow. His jacket billowed behind him slightly, and I caught a glimpse of the cold determination on his face.
I stood there, frozen, my heart still pounding in my chest.
Part of me wanted to follow him, to see who it was, but my legs felt like they were made of lead.
Honestly, I didn’t understand why he was making such a big deal out of it. It was probably just some nosy student who’d stumbled upon us and wanted to film it for social media clout. College students did that kind of thing all the time, turning every little drama into content.
The thought should have been comforting, but something about the way that shadow had stood there, so still and deliberate, made my skin crawl.
I shook my head, trying to clear the unease settling in my chest, and turned to walk back toward my classroom.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, vibrating urgently.
I pulled it out and saw Benita’s name flashing on the screen. I answered quickly.
“Hello?”
“Hailey, where the hell are you?” Benita’s voice was sharp, panicked. “You need to get back to class. Now.”
“What? Why? What’s going on?”
“It’s Sophia,” she hissed. “She’s tearing apart your textbook and going on some insane rant about you. She’s calling you a slut and saying you haven’t learned your lesson, that you’re following men twice your age. Everyone’s just sitting here watching like it’s a damn show.”
My blood turned to ice, then immediately boiled over into white-hot rage.
“I’m on my way,” I said through gritted teeth, already breaking into a run.
The hallway blurred past me as I sprinted back to the classroom. My hands were shaking, my vision tinged red with fury.
She’d drugged me. Humiliated me in front of the entire school. Poured wine on me at a party and gotten me thrown out. And now she was destroying my property and slandering me to anyone who would listen?
Enough was enough.
I burst through the classroom door, and the scene that greeted me made my rage explode.
Sophia was standing at my desk, holding what was left of my textbook. Pages were scattered across the floor like confetti, torn and crumpled. She was ripping another page out as she spoke, her voice loud and theatrical.
“The slut hasn’t learned her lesson,” she was saying, her tone dripping with mock sympathy. “Now she’s out there following men twice her age. It’s honestly pathetic.”
A few students laughed nervously. Most just watched with wide eyes, clearly uncomfortable but too afraid to say anything.
Benita was standing near my desk, her fists clenched at her sides, looking like she was two seconds away from launching herself at Sophia.
“Sophia!” I shouted, my voice cutting through the room like a whip.
Everyone’s heads snapped toward me.
Sophia turned slowly, a cruel smile spreading across her face. “Oh, look who finally decided to show up. Were you busy throwing yourself at a man”
I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. I just launched myself forward.
The room erupted in gasps and shouts as I charged at her, my hands reaching for her perfectly styled hair.
But before I could reach her, strong arms wrapped around my waist, yanking me backward.
“Hailey, no!” Benita shouted, struggling to hold me back. “Don’t give her what she wants!”
“Let me go!” I snarled, thrashing against her grip. “I’m done with her! I’m done!”
Sophia laughed, a high, mocking sound. “Oh, please. You think you scare me? You’re nothing.”
“Say that to my face without your daddy’s money protecting you!” I screamed.
“Girls! Enough!”
The booming voice made everyone freeze.
Professor Mendez stormed into the classroom, his face red with fury. His eyes swept over the scene, the torn pages on the floor, me struggling against Benita’s hold, Sophia standing there with that infuriating smirk still on her face.
“What is going on here?” he demanded. “This is a place of learning, not a circus! Act like grown adults for once!”
“Maybe you should tell that to Sophia,” Benita shot back, her voice sharp and defiant. “Since she can’t stop being a bitch.”
“Miss Benita!” Professor Mendez snapped. “That language is completely unacceptable!”
“Unacceptable?” Benita repeated, her voice rising with indignation. “What’s unacceptable is letting her come back here and terrorize people after what she did!”
Professor Mendez’s jaw tightened, a vein throbbing at his temple. “I will not tolerate this behavior from any of you. Miss Hailey, Miss Benita, you will both stay behind after class.”
“What?” I stared at him in disbelief, my mouth falling open. “She destroyed my textbook! She’s been harassing me!”
“I don’t care who started what,” he said coldly, his expression hard as stone. “You both escalated the situation. You’ll stay behind and complete the assignment collection and attendance list for today.”
“This is ridiculous,” Benita muttered under her breath, her face flushed with anger.
“Do you want detention as well, Miss Benita?” Professor Mendez asked, his eyebrows raised in challenge.
Benita clamped her mouth shut, fuming silently beside me.
Sophia, meanwhile, looked absolutely delighted. She smoothed down her hair and picked up her bag with exaggerated grace, giving me a smug little wave as she sauntered toward her seat like she’d just won some grand prize.
The injustice of it all made my chest burn with helpless fury.
I slumped back into my seat, my hands trembling as I tried to collect the torn pages of my textbook from the floor. Benita helped me, shooting venomous glares at both Sophia and Professor Mendez.
“This is such bullshit,” I whispered to her, my voice thick with barely contained emotion.
“Tell me about it,” she muttered back, her jaw set tight. “He’s totally kissing her ass.”
And she was right.
Professor Mendez wasn’t being impartial at all. He was protecting Sophia, probably because she or more likely her father had paid him off to reduce her suspension in the first place. It all made sense now.
The realization made my stomach turn with disgust and a deep, aching sense of defeat.
This was what money and power could buy. Not just influence, but complete immunity from consequences.