Chapter 64 Apologize now

Chapter 64 Apologize now
Wails echoed through the staffroom, loud and high-pitched, almost like the desperate whine of a dying animal.

Mara winced at the sound, her entire face tightening in irritation as she instinctively lifted both hands to her ears.

She glanced sideways at Liora and nudged her lightly, the look in her eyes saying exactly what words didn't need to. Can you believe this?

Liora didn't need to answer brcause she was just as irritated and to say Liora was annoyed would have been a gross understatement.

She had been interrupted right in the middle of her meal, and now she had to sit there with an empty stomach while enduring Sophie’s dramatic performance.

The timing alone was enough to test her patience, but the exaggerated sobbing and trembling voice made it even worse.

If anything, the whole performance was so nauseating that Liora almost considered being hungry a blessing.

At least she didn't have to eat while listening to this. “I was just talking to them, and they attacked me,” Sophie bawled, pressing a hand against herself as if she had just suffered some terrible injustice. Her voice trembled dramatically as tears rolled down her cheeks. “If you hadn’t arrived in time, I would have been beaten to death!”

Mara stared at her in disbelief. “How shameless can you get, Sophie?” Mara demanded.

“Why don’t you tell Mr. Lawrence about how you hit me first?” she continued, her eyes flashing with anger. “Who do you think you are, that I shouldn’t fight back when you started it?”

“I didn’t.”

Sophie immediately shook her head and her lower lip trembled as she looked toward the professor, making herself appear as vulnerable and innocent as possible.

“Stop slandering me,” she said, her voice breaking. “Lying only makes yourself look worse, Mara. Why would I attack you?”

Mara stared at her and her anger surged again. She lifted her hand instinctively, her body reacting before she could think better of it but before she could do anything, Liora reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Save it,” Liora said quietly.

Her grip was firm despite the softness of her voice. “You’ll just dirty your hand.”

Mara's head snapped toward her, then slowly swiveled back toward Sophie.

“Don’t think you can twist the truth just because the professor is around,” she warned. “I’m not as forgiving as Liora. I won’t let this slide.”

Sophie’s expression immediately changed rather she turned toward the professor, her eyes widening as if Mara had just threatened her life.

“Look at her, Professor,” she whimpered. “Threatening me like that…”

Her voice became smaller..“She’s scaring me.”

The professor was in his forties and he had lost his wife far too early, and perhaps because of that loss, his instincts naturally leaned toward protecting anyone who appeared frightened and vulnerable and right now, Sophie was doing an excellent job of appearing exactly that.

She stood before him with trembling lips and watery eyes, looking like a frightened young woman who had been cornered.

The professor expression hardened as he turned his attention toward Mara.

“You’re a bold one, threatening a fellow student,” he barked. “Apologize now!”

“Apologize?”

Mara's eyes widened in disbelief and her anger immediately flared again. “She hit me first!”

“What kind of attitude is that?” The professor snapped and his voice left little room for argument.

“I saw you and Liora bullying Sophie with my own eyes. If you continue to argue, I’ll have you charged with a major offense. Is that what you want?”

Mara's mouth opened, ready to argue and she wanted to tell him that he had seen only part of what happened but Liora stepped in before she could say anything that might make matters worse.

A major offense could leave a blemish on her friend's record, and all of this was happening because of Sophie and Liora couldn't allow that.

She leaned closer to Mara, keeping her voice low enough that only her friend could hear.

“It’s not worth it,” she whispered eMara looked at her.

“We’ve already had our revenge by beating her up,” Liora continued quietly. “They’re just word and we don’t have to mean them.”

Mara's jaw tightened and for several seconds, the fury in her eyes remained unmistakable.

She didn't want to apologize but then she looked at Liora.

She knew how much Liora had already sacrificed. She knew how important it was for her friend to protect everything she had worked so hard for.

Slowly, the fury in Mara's expression receded, like a wave withdrawing from the sand.

She still hated Sophie, that hadn't changed but she cared about Liora more than she cared about winning this particular argument.

Mara turned her attention back to Sophie, her gaze filled with barely concealed hatred. “I’m sorry,” she gritted out.

Liora followed immediately, though the apology felt just as hollow..“Can we leave now?”

For a brief moment, their words seemed to soothe Sophie’s wounded ego and her expression relaxed slightly, almost as if she had finally gotten what she wanted but then the memory of how badly she had been humiliated returned and her eyes hardened.

“If you’re truly sorry,” Sophie said, her voice taking on a different edge, “you ought to cover my medical fees.”

Liora's expression changed and Sophie looked directly at her. “You married a rich man, Liora. That shouldn’t be too hard for you, right?”

Liora's body went tense and the professor glanced at the injuries and nodded. “You both attacked her,” he said firmly. “You ought to pay for her fees.”

Liora felt tension grip every part of her body and she had been willing to swallow her pride.

She had been willing to apologize simply to keep Mara from getting into serious trouble but this was different.

Sophie wasn't satisfied with an apology and now she was trying to take advantage of the situation for money.

Liora's fingers curled slightly at her sides. “Watch yourself, Sophie,” she warned.

Sophie immediately buried her face in her hands and resumed her sobbing. “You hit me, but you won’t compensate me?”

Her voice was muffled behind her fingers but under the tears and trembling, there was calculation because her finances had been tight lately, and she wasn't about to let an opportunity to get money from Liora slip through her fingers.

Especially not when the professor was already backing her and the more sympathetic he felt toward her, the easier it would be to make Liora look like the unreasonable one.

Mara couldn't believe what she was hearing.

A harsh, disbelieving laugh tore from her throat. “Do you need to get your brain checked?”