Chapter 14 The king shackles
Chapter 14: The King’s Shackles (Liam’s POV)
The air outside the police station was cold, but it didn't feel as cold as the look my father gave me when he handed the sergeant the paperwork for my release. I stood on the sidewalk, the rain soaking through my shirt, watching the blue and red lights of a passing patrol car.
I was free. But I felt like I was walking toward a different kind of execution.
"Get in the car, Liam," my father said, his voice a low, vibrating growl. "We aren't done."
The ride back to the estate was silent. My father didn't look at me once. He just stared out the window, his jaw tight. When we pulled into the driveway, I saw the lights on in the guest cottage. It was empty now. The "Ghost" was in a hospital bed, and I was the one who had put her there—whether I was behind the wheel or not.
As soon as we stepped into the foyer, my father turned and backhanded me.
The force of the blow sent me stumbling against the mahogany coat rack. My ears rang, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. I didn't fight back. I just stood there, staring at the floor.
"You embarrassed this family," he hissed, stepping into my space. "You stood in that hospital and accused the Senator’s daughter of a crime. Do you have any idea what kind of fire I had to put out to get those handcuffs off you?"
"She did it, Dad," I whispered, wiping the blood from my lip. "Chloe hit her. I saw the SUV."
"I don't care what you saw!" he roared. "In this world, truth is what we say it is. Chloe is a Miller. Elena is a nobody. You are a Vance. You stay on the winning side, or you lose everything. I’ve already contacted the school board. The scholarship is being reviewed. By the time that girl can walk again, she won't have a school to come back to."
"You can't do that," I said, my heart sinking.
"I already did. Now, you’re going to go to that hospital tomorrow, and you’re going to tell her exactly how this is going to go. You’re going to make sure she signs a non-disclosure agreement. If she doesn't, her mother will be sued for the thirty thousand you 'loaned' her. I’ll call it theft. I’ll ruin them both."
He walked away, leaving me standing in the dark hallway. I felt like a puppet whose strings were being pulled so tight I was about to snap.
The next morning, I was back at the hospital. I hadn't slept. I looked in the mirror and saw a stranger—a boy with a bruised face and dead eyes. I walked down the sterile hallway toward Elena’s room, my boots heavy on the tile.
I stopped outside the door. Through the glass, I saw her. She was awake, staring at a small tray of untouched hospital food. She looked so small in that bed, but the moment I pushed the door open, she sat up as much as her cast would allow. Her eyes flared with that familiar, burning hate.
"Back so soon?" she rasped. "Did your father forget to tell me how much I owe him for the room service?"
I didn't answer. I walked to the foot of the bed and dropped a thick folder onto her lap. It was the NDA.
"Sign it, Elena," I said. My voice was flat, empty of emotion. I had to be the monster. If I showed a single crack, my father would finish her.
Elena looked at the folder, then back at me. A bitter smile twisted her lips. "So that’s it? The hero from the study is gone? Back to being the puppet?"
"It’s not a choice," I said, leaning over the bed. I tried to make my eyes look as cold as Jax’s. "Chloe’s dad is a Senator. My dad owns half the city. You’re a girl in a cast with no money and a mother who can't pay her bills. If you don't sign this, my father will sue your mom for every penny of that thirty thousand. He’ll call it fraud. He’ll put her in the same cell I just walked out of."
I saw the flicker of fear in her eyes, followed quickly by a wave of pure, unadulterated loathing. She picked up the folder and threw it at my face. The papers scattered across the floor like autumn leaves.
"You coward," she hissed. "You’re worse than Chloe. At least she has the guts to admit she’s a predator. You pretend to have a heart just so you can get close enough to stab me."
"I'm trying to save your mother!" I shouted, the mask slipping for a second.
"You’re trying to save your trust fund!" she shouted back, her voice cracking. "You don't care about my mother. You care about the fact that if I talk, your 'King' status is gone. You’re a liar, Liam. You’re a bet-making, status-seeking, pathetic little boy who’s too afraid to tell his daddy 'no'."
The door swung open, and Jax walked in. He wasn't supposed to be here, but he was wearing his varsity jacket, looking like he owned the place. He looked at the papers on the floor, then at me, then at Elena.
"Trouble in paradise, Cap?" Jax smirked, leaning against the doorframe. "Chloe told me you were coming here to do the dirty work. I didn't believe her. I thought you’d actually grown a pair."
"Get out, Jax," I growled.
"Why? I’m here to help!" Jax walked over and picked up one of the papers. He read it aloud, his voice mocking and cruel. "'The victim agrees to waive all rights to prosecution...' Wow. You really are a shark, Vance. I guess the bet is still on, then? Does she have to sign this before she falls for you, or after?"
Elena looked at me, her eyes filling with tears she refused to let fall. "The bet. You’re still talking about the bet while I’m lying here broken?"
"Elena, it's not—"
"It is exactly what it looks like!" Jax interrupted, laughing. He looked at Elena. "He bet us he could make you love him. He thought it would be a fun game to play with the 'Scholarship Case.' I guess the hit-and-run just added a little spice to the plot, right, Liam?"
I turned and swung.
I didn't think. I just launched myself at Jax. My fist connected with his jaw, and we both went crashing into the medical carts. Trays of instruments flew everywhere, the clatter of metal deafening in the small room.
"Liam, stop!" Elena screamed.
I didn't stop. I was pinned on top of Jax, hitting him again and again. Every punch was for the rink. Every punch was for the highway. Every punch was for the fact that I hated myself more than I hated him.
Two security guards burst into the room, pulling me off him. Jax was laughing even as he spat blood onto the floor.
"See?" Jax wheezed, wiping his mouth. "He's losing it. The King is cracking. And it’s all because of a Ghost."
The guards dragged me toward the door. I looked back at Elena. She was staring at me, her face a mask of horror and disgust. She didn't see a hero. She didn't even see a man. She saw a monster who couldn't control his own world.
"Sign the papers, Elena!" I yelled as the guards pulled me into the hallway. "If you don't, you lose everything! I can't stop him if you don't sign!"
"I’d rather lose everything than give you a single win!" she screamed back.