Chapter 40 The fall of the king

Chapter 40 The fall of the king
Chapter 40: The Fall of the King (Liam’s POV)
​The silence didn't last long. It was like a bomb went off.
​One second, I was taste-testing Elena’s lip gloss in front of everyone I knew. The next, the entire living room was screaming. It wasn’t a cheer; it was a riot.
​"NO WAY! HE ACTUALLY DID IT!" Jax roared, jumping off the sofa so hard his drink splashed onto the rug.
​"The Playboy just kissed the Ghost!" someone else yelled. "Someone tell me I got that on video!"
​I stood there in the center of the circle, my hands still tingling from where I’d touched her face. My brain felt like it had short-circuited. I looked at Elena. She looked horrified. She wasn't blushing or acting like a girl who just got her dream kiss. She looked like I had just slapped her in public.
​She didn't say a word. She just grabbed her cane, shoved past a group of stunned cheerleaders, and bolted for the door.
​"Elena!" I called out, but my voice was drowned out by the chanting.
​"VANCE! VANCE! VANCE!"
​I turned around, and the first thing I saw was the empty space where Chloe had been sitting. The shattered glass of her drink was the only thing left. I looked at Jax, who was laughing so hard he was doubling over.
​"Man, that was cold!" Jax said, slapping me on the back. "To Chloe’s face? In her own lake house? You’re a savage, Liam. I thought you were just playing with her, but that was a statement."
​"Shut up, Jax," I snapped, shaking his hand off. "It was a dare. You dared me."
​"I dared you to show us the best kiss in the room," Jax said, his eyes glinting with mischief. "You didn't go to your girlfriend. You went to the girl who tutors you in the library. What does that tell everyone?"
​"It tells them I’m drunk," I lied. My heart was still hammering a hole in my chest. "It tells them I wanted to stir the pot. It didn't mean anything."
​"Tell that to Chloe," a girl named Sarah chimed in, holding up her phone. "She just posted a story. It’s just a black screen with the words 'You’re dead to me' written in red. I think the merger is the least of your problems now, Cap."
​I didn't stay to hear the rest. I pushed through the crowd, ignoring the hands reaching out to high-five me. I needed to find Elena. I needed to tell her... what? That I was sorry? That I didn't mean it?
​The problem was, I did mean it. When I leaned down, I wasn't thinking about the dare or Jax or the merger. I was just thinking about the fact that she was standing there looking at me like she saw through every lie I’d ever told.
​I burst through the front doors into the humid night air. The driveway was a mess of cars and people smoking, but I didn't see the midnight blue dress anywhere.
​"Elena!" I yelled.
​"She took the shuttle back, man," a guy from the junior varsity team said, leaning against a Jeep. "She looked pretty pissed. If I were you, I'd stay away. Chloe's brother is looking for you with a baseball bat."
​"Let him look," I muttered.
​I walked toward my own car, but a hand caught my shoulder and spun me around. It was my father’s head of security, Miller. He didn't look happy.
​"Your father is on the line, Liam," he said, handing me a sleek black phone. "He saw the live stream."
​I took the phone with a shaking hand. "Hello?"
​"You have exactly ten minutes to get home," my father’s voice was like a block of ice. "Do not speak to the press. Do not speak to Chloe. And if I see you near that girl again, I will make sure her mother is evicted by tomorrow morning. Am I clear?"
​The phone went dead before I could answer.
​I threw the phone back at the guard and kicked my front tire. "Damn it!"
​Everything was falling apart. I had just traded my entire future—my reputation, my girlfriend, my father’s approval—for a three-second kiss with a girl who hated my guts.
​I drove back to the mansion like a maniac. When I walked through the front door, the house was silent, but the lights were all on. That was never a good sign.
​I headed straight for the West Wing. I didn't care about my father's warning. I needed to see her.
​I reached her door and hammered on it. "Elena! Open the door. We need to talk."
​No answer.
​"Elena, I know you're in there. I'm not leaving until you come out."
​The door creaked open, but it wasn't Elena. It was one of the housemaids, and she was packing a box.
​"Where is she?" I asked, my stomach dropping.
​"Mr. Vance had her moved, sir," the maid said, not looking me in the eye. "He said she’s staying in the servant’s quarters in the basement from now on. He’s revoked her access to the main house except for tutoring hours."
​"The basement?" I felt a surge of pure, hot rage. "She’s a student, not a criminal!"
​"I just do what I’m told, Liam," the maid whispered.
​I turned around and marched toward my father’s study. I didn't knock. I slammed the door open so hard it hit the wall with a bang.
​My father was sitting behind his desk, calmly reading a report. He didn't even look up.
​"Sit down, Liam."
​"Move her back," I said, my voice trembling. "Move her back to the West Wing right now."
​"You made a choice tonight," my father said, finally looking up. His eyes were cold. "You humiliated the Miller family in front of the entire county. You ruined a multi-million dollar deal because you couldn't keep your hands off a scholarship student. You're lucky I haven't thrown her out on the street."
​"It was a dare!" I shouted. "It didn't mean anything!"
​"Then why are you in here screaming about her room?" my father asked, leaning back. "If it didn't mean anything, you wouldn't care if she slept in the cellar. But you do care. And that makes her a distraction. A distraction I am going to eliminate."
​"If you touch her, I’ll tell the press everything," I threatened. It was a bluff, and we both knew it.
​My father laughed. A short, dry sound. "Tell them what? That you're in love with a girl who carries a cane? They’ll laugh you out of school. You’re the King, Liam. Act like it. Go to Chloe’s house tomorrow. Apologize. Get on your knees if you have to. If you don't fix this by Monday, I’m sending you to that military academy in the north, and Elena will lose her scholarship."
​He pointed to the door. "Get out."
​I walked out, my head spinning. I felt trapped. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water, but then I stopped. I looked at the door that led to the basement stairs.
​I waited until I heard my father’s bedroom door close upstairs. Then, I slipped through the kitchen door and down the narrow, dark stairs.
​The basement was cold and smelled like laundry detergent and damp concrete. I found the small room at the end of the hall. The door was thin wood, not like the heavy oak doors upstairs.
​I knocked softly. "Elena? It’s me."
​I heard a movement inside, then the sound of the bolt sliding back. The door opened just a crack. Elena’s eyes were red, and she was still in that blue dress, but it looked wrinkled and sad now.
​"Go away, Liam," she whispered.
​"I'm sorry," I said. It was the first time I’d ever said those words to anyone and actually meant them. "I didn't know he’d move you down here."
​"You did this," she said, her voice cracking. "You wanted to prove you could have me. You wanted to show everyone that the 'King' gets whatever he wants. Well, look at me. Is this what you wanted?"
​"No," I said, reaching out to touch her arm, but she flinched away.
​"Don't. Just don't. You kissed me to win a game, and now my life is ruined. Chloe is going to kill me, your father hates me, and I’m sleeping in a room with no windows."
​She looked at me, and for the first time, the hate in her eyes was mixed with something else. Disappointment.
​"You really are a coward, Liam," she said. "You kiss me when everyone is watching, but you can't even protect me when we're alone."
​She slammed the door in my face.
​I stood there in the dark, cold basement, listening to her cry on the other side of the wood. I wanted to break the door down. I wanted to carry her back upstairs. But I knew if I did, it would only make things worse.
​I was the King of Northview, but as I stood in that hallway, I realized I was just a prisoner in a much bigger cage.
​I pulled out my phone and saw a message from Jax.
​Jax: Check the school blog. Chloe just leaked the library video. The one where you pinned her to the shelf. The headline says: 'Scholarship Predator: How the Ghost Seduced Our Captain.'
​I felt sick. It wasn't just a social war anymore. It was a massacre.