Chapter 46 UNAPOLOGETIC
MERRIELYNN.
Walking to school with my arm in a sling wasn’t exactly the start to the day I’d hoped for.
The bruise blooming just below my shoulder throbbed with every step, a constant reminder of what had happened the day before.
It wasn’t really a fight—calling it that would be generous.
Juniper had made her point physically, shoved me hard enough to send me stumbling into a wall, and left me there like yesterday’s trash.
I should have seen it coming.
Juniper wasn’t the type to waste time with empty threats. She’d said she would make me regret not staying away from Cormac, and she’d followed through.
The worst part? Cormac wasn’t even her boyfriend anymore.
Not officially, at least. But that didn’t seem to matter. Juniper had staked her claim loud and clear, and I was the one paying the price for it.
I pulled my coat tighter around myself as the wind bit through the thin fabric.
My arm ached, and my pride wasn’t faring much better.
I’d come to Pinnthorpe Academy hoping for a fresh start, but trouble seemed to follow me everywhere I went. And no matter how much I wanted to blame the school or the people in it, I knew exactly who was at the center of it all.
Cormac.
I reached the front gates just as the first bell rang, sighing as I trudged toward my locker.
It was going to be another long day.
By lunch, my patience had run out. I didn’t even want to look at Cormac, let alone sit next to him as part of our so-called deal. But the universe, as always, seemed determined to push me to my breaking point.
He found me before I could find him, leaning against my locker with that cocky smirk I’d come to despise.
“Merrielynn.” He said, his eyes scanning me up and down.
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t call me that.”
“What’s with the sling?” he asked, ignoring my tone.
I peeked up at him.
Cormac raised an eyebrow.
He most likely didn't know.
I glared at him. “I'm getting threatened to stay away from you.”
Instead of looking concerned, he laughed—a short, sharp sound that made my blood boil..
I clenched my fists, even though the movement made my arm throb. “This isn’t funny, Cormac. She’s threatening me because of you. I didn’t ask for any of this.”
“You’re the one who made the deal,” he reminded me, his smirk fading into something more serious.
“And I’m backing out,” I said firmly. “This is too much. I didn’t sign up for all this drama.”
Cormac tilted his head, studying me like I was some kind of puzzle he couldn’t quite figure out. “You don’t get to back out.”
I glared at him, standing as tall as I could manage. “Watch me.”
For a moment, he didn’t say anything. Then, his gaze dropped to my arm in the sling. Something unreadable flickered across his face, but it was gone before I could figure out what it meant.
“You’ll honor the deal,” he said finally, his voice low and firm. “And now, since you’re trying to weasel your way out, you’re going to sit in my lap for a month.”
My jaw dropped. “What? Are you insane?”
His smirk returned, sharp and unapologetic. “You heard me.”
I took a step back, shaking my head. “This is ridiculous. Your girlfriend—”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he interrupted.
“Fine. Your ex-girlfriend is threatening me. Don’t you care at all?”
“No.” His answer was so casual it made my stomach twist.
“How can you not care?” I asked, my voice rising. “This is my safety we’re talking about!”
Cormac leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Your safety isn’t my problem, Merrielynn. But my wants? Those are your problem. And if you don’t do what I say, you know what’ll happen.”
I didn’t need him to spell it out. The threat of those photos hung in the air between us, unspoken but heavy as a storm cloud.
My chest tightened, anger and frustration bubbling up inside me. “You’re a real piece of shit, you know that?”
He shrugged, completely unfazed. “I’ve been called worse.”
I stared at him, searching his face for even a shred of humanity.
But all I saw was smug satisfaction, like he’d already won.
“You’re impossible,” I muttered, turning away.
“See you at lunch tomorrow,” he called after me, his voice light and teasing.
I didn’t look back.
I couldn’t. If I did, I might have screamed, and that wouldn’t have ended well for anyone.
By the time I got to class, my head was pounding. I couldn’t focus on the lesson, couldn’t even pretend to take notes.
All I could think about was Cormac and his stupid smirk, Juniper and her threats, and the sinking feeling that no matter what I did, I was trapped.
I’d tried to keep my head down when I came to Pinnthorpe Academy. I didn’t want to stand out, didn’t want to make waves. But somehow, I’d ended up in the middle of a mess I couldn’t get out of.
Cormac was at the center of it all, pulling the strings and leaving me to deal with the fallout.
And the worst part?
A tiny, infuriating part of me wondered if he even realized how much damage he was causing.
Not that it mattered. Whether he cared or not, the result was the same. I was stuck.
That night, as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, I tried to come up with a plan. Something, anything, that would get me out of this mess. But every idea I had crumbled under the weight of Cormac’s threat.
He had all the power, and he knew it.
I closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep. Tomorrow was another day, another chance to survive. But as I drifted off, one thought lingered in my mind:
If Cormac thought he could control me forever, he had another thing coming.