Chapter 75 Exposed
NANCY'S POV
Lily was no longer smiling, and the switch in her expression was enough to make my chest go out rapidly.
It had gotten to a point where I could no longer keep count of how much my chest had tightened.
"Say it," I choked past the lump in my throat, watching her closely so I wouldn't miss anything. "What did you hear?"
She didn't respond immediately. Instead, she crossed her arms, looking every bit like she was enjoying making me uncomfortable.
Slowly, she raised her hands and began to pick at non-existent dirt in her fingers.
I was sure her dismissal was intentional, a way to make me even more anxious, and despite knowing I wasn't supposed to react to it, I did.
"I heard enough," She muttered finally, still vague.
Her response moved my frustration to a new height, and I took a step closer, before reluctantly dragging my feet backwards when her eyes lifted.
"Can you stop toying with me? If you're trying to threaten me, then just do that directly instead of beating around the bush like this.”
Her eyes sharpened, and she let her hands drop slowly, "You think I'm toying with you?"
Although it was risky, I thought I had finally made her mad enough to spill whatever the fuck she had heard, but my expectation differed greatly from reality.
A soft chuckle escaped her instead, and it took a minute for her to stop laughing.
"You really think I would go out of my way to threaten the likes of you?"
"What are you doing then, if this isn't a threat?" I challenged.
Just like before, she crossed her arms again and muttered, "I'm just curious."
Somehow, that sounded worse than if she said it was actually a threat.
I knew how much curiosity had made me do and knew some people existed that wouldn't rest until their curiosity was satisfied.
Dearly, I hoped she wasn't one of them, but as it was, I knew the situation had spiralled beyond what I could bluff my way out of.
The only thing I could do now was come up with a reason convincing enough to dispel whatever suspicions she had, but first, I needed to know what those suspicions were.
The silence between us stretched for far too long, discomfiting for me, but clearly convenient for her.
After what seemed like forever, she spoke.
"You know...this isn't the first time I've seen you spend so long in his office."
My heart skipped another beat, but I didn't interrupt her.
"I'm sure you must have thought you were so subtle, but people notice these things, Nancy. It for sure didn't escape my attention."
"What exactly do you want?" I snapped, finally losing my wits.
I was done dragging this back-and-forth conversation between us.
"There it is, you're finally asking the right questions."
My eyes flickered while a smile graced her lips.
Slowly, she enunciated, "I don't want anything."
My brows knotted. "Then why..."
"I just think Vanessa would be very interested in what I heard." She cut in before I could finish.
My voice froze at the mention of that name.
Of course, Vanessa.
How the hell could I have overlooked the fact that she was friends with Lily?
The latter's obvious contempt and dislike for me couldn't be for any other reason than her.
My chest tightened harder at the revelation. Lily was even easier to manage than Vanessa.
I couldn't begin to imagine what the latter would do if she found out. I assumed it would be way worse than what Lily was doing.
Vanessa was not to be trifled with, I'd heard that much, and sadly, I was one of the people who had stepped on her toes.
It didn't help that Mason had just broken things off with her, too.
The more I thought, the more it finally clicked why Lily was being so antagonistic towards me.
She probably thought or had probably heard that I was the reason for Mason's and Vanessa's breakup, which wasn't even true.
I wasn't sure, but it was the only plausible reason for her approach.
"Well, since you keep asking what I heard," She took a step closer towards me, then stopped. "Just know it was enough to figure out that your relationship with him isn't just a simple student-teacher relationship."
There it was, finally, the truth I had been waiting for all along, and thinking back to my conversation with Mr Landon, I could more or less figure out that she had heard the entirety of our conversation.
She wouldn't sound so sure if she hadn't.
Now that I knew, I could finally say something.
"Now that I know what you heard, I can tell you that it was just a misunderstanding," I said, trying to sound as believable as possible.
I didn't need to say much; I just needed to rewrite the whole story, fabricate something to switch up the meaning of the entire conversation, and change her opinion about it.
She didn't give me a chance to do that.
Before I could even say anything, she cut in, "That's what everyone says when they get caught doing something improper. I didn't think you would be any different."
That sentence made my heart drop, and before I could regain my composure, she leaned back slightly, like she was already done with the conversation.
"I'll see you around, Nancy," She waved, smiling brightly as if we had just had a conversation about the weather.
"Wait..."
I never got my words out. She already turned.
"I'll see you around, don't get too comfortable."
Just like that, she was gone.
Long after her departure, I remained standing where I was, unable to get my feet to move.
It wasn't until then that I realized how badly my hands were shaking.
Outwardly, I seemed as calm as I could possibly be, but my mind was a mess within, already exploring different possibilities of what could go wrong.
The most concerning thought I had was whether Lily would tell Vanessa
And if she did, what would Vanessa do?