by Ivy Clyde
I walked forward into the bright porch lights.
Clara drew nearer and instantly, I saw her smile vanish as her gaze fell on me.
“Oh my god! What happened to you?” she cried out. “Ruben! Charles! Come quickly! Paris is hurt.”
“I am okay,” I said as her eyes took in the bruises on my face. “I had a bit of an accident but it’s all good now.”
“What accident?” she asked. Before I could reply, she turned around and screamed for Ruben and her husband again. Then she looked back at me. “What happened to you?”
“I fell face-first on the stairs,” I said as Nik had taught me.
Charles and Ruben came rushing towards us.
“What’s wrong, honey?” asked Charles, reaching us. “Why are you shouting?” His gaze fell on me next and a frown overcame his soft features.
“I will go call Dr. Reid,” said Ruben, hurrying back to the house.
“Paris says it was an accident,” said Clara, turning to her husband. Her hand gently cupped my swollen cheek. “Her pretty face is ruined.” She began sobbing.
“How did it happen?” asked Charles, looking at me.
“I fell down the stairs. The rest of me is okay though. It’s just my face that got hurt,” I said.
“Come inside the house,” said Charles. He was patting Clara’s back as she continued to sob. “The doctor needs to get a look at you.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
Liam stood in the foyer, looking curious about the noise but when his gaze landed on me, his eyes widened. He rushed forward and leaned down to take a closer look at me. “What happened?” he asked.
“It’s all your fault,” said Clara angrily. “You should have come home with her. How many times do I have to tell you to look after her?”
“It’s no one’s fault,” I said softly. “I was being clumsy.”
She huffed, frustration distorting her pretty features. “Come with me now. The doctor will be here soon.” I’d never seen Clara so upset before.
Liam followed after us until I was taken to my room. Comfort and familiarity flooded through me as I looked around the bedroom. Everything was the same as I’d left it. Clara and Charles led me to my bed so I could sit down.
Liam stood back, watching me quietly as his mother fussed about me. The doctor came within half an hour and looked absolutely unconvinced at my story. He noticed the bruises on my wrists too but I hid them quickly by pulling on my sleeves. It didn’t go unnoticed by Liam either.
“Take these pills for the next five days and apply the creams. They should help reduce the swelling and bruising.”
“Thanks.” I was grateful he didn’t pry into the reason I got hurt but rather concentrated on treating my wounds. Charles and Clara left with the doctor, leaving me alone with Liam.
“Tell me the truth,” he demanded as soon as they left. “No one’s buying your falling-down-the-stairs excuse.”
“Lucien Bettencourt.” The name was uttered from my lips in a bitter whisper. “He and his thugs did this to me.”
Liam’s blue eyes flashed with rage. Balling his fists, he spat, “When?”
“He lured me away after classes were over. They wanted to break me to such an extent I couldn’t be played with again,” I said bitterly, repeating Lucien’s words. “He was about to rape me with his friends. Nik came in time or I…” I choked on the words.
Liam sat next to me and pulled me into a tight hug. “I’m so, so sorry, Paris,” he whispered, holding me close. “You endured so much. Mother was right. Everything is my fault. You should have come home with me today.”
“How is it your fault?”
“I’m the one who made a charity case out of you. People take everything I say seriously. If I told them you were my family’s princess, they would have treated you that way. Even Brianna would have been your bestie.”
“Eww.”
He moved away, looking down at me with anxious eyes. “Fuck, Paris.” His voice broke as he covered his face in his hands. For a while, he sat like that with hunched shoulders.
“Liam,” I whispered, stroking his back. “I am okay.”
“Stop it!” he hissed, turning to gaze at me with a wild look in his eyes. “You are hurt and you’re trying to console me?”
A faint buzz started in the room. Liam took his phone from his pocket. He stared at the screen for a moment before picking up the call.
“Yeah, she is here with me,” he said into the phone. He listened closely to whatever was being said. “What?! Are you serious?” A moment’s pause and he muttered a ‘fuck’, followed by a few more curses. “She looks like hell but thank you for getting her away from the assholes. I owe you one.” After a moment, he cut off the call.
“Was that Nik?” I asked.
He nodded. “There’s some bad news.”
“More bad news?”
“Your cabin was burned down.”
“What?”
Liam rubbed his forehead and sat down on the bed beside me. “There are some things you don’t know about.”
“Like what?”
Before he could tell me, Clara and Charles came back to my bedroom. Ruben followed after them, carrying a glass of apple juice.
“The doctor said you shouldn’t try to eat anything for a day or two,” said Charles, reaching me. “He suggested you have some apple juice for tonight.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking the glass Ruben offered.
“The painkillers will help you sleep,” said Clara. “You must be exhausted after a long day.”
“Yeah,” I said, taking a few tentative sips of the juice. It felt really good against my parched throat but stung a little at my sore inner cheeks. Looking up at both Clara and Charles, I apologized. “I am sorry I caused such a ruckus,” I said. “My face feels a lot better already.”
“You’re just too sweet for your own good,” she said, sitting down beside me and giving me a hug. She stroked my back gently and said soothing words. Warmth flooded my chest. All her fussing made me feel cared for. Despite my aching cheeks, I smiled.
“Tell Ruben to bring the medicines. I’ll make sure she takes them,” said Liam.
Clara’s eyes shone with tears. Going to him, she hugged him tightly as well. “I’ll leave it you, son.” Glancing at me, she said, “Take the pills as soon as they arrive and sleep. You need plenty of rest to get better soon.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Charles gave me a nod and left with his wife. As soon as the door closed behind them, I turned towards Liam. So far, I’d stopped myself from reacting to the news of my cabin burning down. Cold washed over me. Another of my home burned down…
“How did Nik know about my cabin? Where is he now?”
“He’s home but his men gave him the news.”
“What men?”
Liam exhaled a long breath and sat down at the edge of my bed. “Ever since the confrontation with Lucien on Halloween, Nik has been taking precautions to keep you safe. He had his personal security men guard your cabin night and day.”
I never knew about them but it probably explained the feeling of safety I felt there. It was in a lonely spot and the bullies could have easily broken in to prank me without anyone knowing. I kept thinking Nik wanted nothing to do with me after he knew about the night I spent with Gabrielle, but he’d never stopped protecting me.
“So, what happened tonight?” I asked.
“After today’s incident, he had them following his car while he drove you home. When the men went back to their stations, they found the cabin burning. There was no school security or cleaning staff around to stop or report it.” He ran fingers through the long locks of his silken hair, looking frustrated. “Nik thinks the same thing happened in the science wing this afternoon. There were no cleaning staffs in the building once classes got over at four. Otherwise, they would have heard you shout and come to see what was up.”
For the first time, I realized the full extent of the dangers surroun
ding me at Knightswood. It wasn’t just the name-calling and pranks played by Brianna and her posse. The depth of their violence against me was much deeper than I could ever anticipate. And all because I was born and brought up on the streets of Kensington? Did they think it didn’t belong to the same country as their posh neighborhoods? Were they that delusional about the grandeur of their worlds?
“Paris.”
I looked up at Liam.
“I am so sorry about everything,” he said. His blue eyes looked deeper as tears shone in them. “If I could’ve just accepted you back then, none of this would be happening.”
“It’s not y-”
“It is!” he shouted. In a softer voice, he said, “I saw Vanessa in you. She was the daughter of my father’s best friend. We grew up together since we were babies. When her parents were going through a rough divorce and their business was failing, my father brought her to live with us in our home. We grew even closer. Our friendship turned to love. I even promised to marry her when we graduated high school.”
He suddenly lost his voice. His throat bobbed with the effort of swallowing his sobs. “Then, just as we left junior high and were about to enter high school, she decided to leave me. It was an out-of-the-blue decision. She hadn’t even told anyone she’d been applying to fashion schools in Europe. Since the day Vanessa arrived here, she’d made up her mind to leave me someday. It broke me when she left without even giving an excuse.”
Leaning against the pillows, I watched Liam pouring every bitter feeling in his heart. The times I thought he hated me, he was actually channeling his hatred for Vanessa on me. He thought I would do the same. Take advantage of the hospitality of his family and leave when a better opportunity came my way.
“I was so angry and out of my mind,” said Liam. “Gabe warned me I would end up hurting you but back then, I didn’t even care.” He fixed his gaze on me. “Why didn’t you run to my mother and complain to her about what an asshole I was being to you? She would have definitely interfered at the school and threatened every teacher for not treating you like a princess.”
“Clara loves you so much. There’s no way I’d tell her son is an asshole.” A smile wobbled on my lips. “Besides, I am a charity case. Whatever I got from you and your family, I’m grateful. I just wish people didn’t forget I am a human being too.”
“I should leave you alone,” he said, getting to his feet. “There is no way you can ever have feelings for a guy like me.”
I shook my head. “Stay.” Crawling to the edge of the bed, I caught hold of his hand. “I forgave you that night you pushed me in the pool. Besides, no matter what you said about me, people don’t have to obey you. You’re not an actual king even if they keep calling you one.”
Liam grinned. “It’s all high school bullshit.”
“Exactly.”
I leaned back among the pillows as he sat down again. A long sigh escaped me. “Thank god, I have my laptop with me. Most of my assignments and notes are in there. If I left it in my cabin, I would be freaking out about lost data.”
“Store everything in Dropbox,” he suggested. “That way you’ll never lose access even if something goes wrong with your computer.”
“I’ll do that.”
I was about to get up from the bed when Liam moved forward and pressed on my shoulders. “You don’t have to do that tonight. Do it tomorrow. For now, just sleep.”
“I need heavy drugs to get to sleep tonight.” I rubbed at my tired eyes. “Every time I close my eyes, I feel like I can’t move or breathe.”
“I’ll stay with you tonight,” said Liam, squeezing my hand.
Ruben came in sometime later with all my medicines. He gave me another glass of juice and asked me to call him anytime I needed him. The elderly butler seemed upset to see me this way as well.
Liam kept his promise to me, staying with me throughout the night. When it got past the time I could no longer keep my eyes open, he slid into the bed beside me and pulled the cover over us.
“I am here,” he whispered, wrapping his arm around me. “Sleep if you want to.”
And I did. His warmth and familiar scent enveloped around me, keeping the nightmares away.
35
Paris
Easter weekend became a somber affair in the Davenport household because of my injuries. Neither Clara nor Charles bought my explanation of tripping down a staircase. They each took turns to come to my room and talk to me, hoping to extract the real reason for my bruised face.
Zoya was also struggling to cancel the meet-up with her mom. Aunty Cathy insisted coming to visit me in the Davenport Mansion when Zoya said I was down with a stomach bug. Suddenly, it wasn’t just me trying to hide the reason I was hurt. My friends were working to help keep everything a secret too.
I hated looking at myself in the mirror. The bruises looked nastier the next day as they got darker. Even I could see how I looked like a victim of an assault with my purplish bruises, a split lip and the hollow look in my green eyes. My insides burned with rage and pain. While Liam kept saying it had been his fault that the bullying got out of hand, I was also to be blamed for putting up with it.
Every time I decided to ignore Brianna and her posse when they called me street whore, they grew bolder.
Every time I chose the fear of repercussions over doing something about the bullying, they won.
Back when I lived in the streets of Kensington, the norm was to mind your own business and stay blind to what happened around you. That was what kept you safe. But things were different in Knightswood. Bullies only understood power. It was the only thing they recognized.
“It’s time I grew powerful,” I said aloud to my reflection.
I met my hesitant gaze.
It was true that Mom was gone. But somehow, she didn’t leave me all by myself. The loyalty she showed her friends was being repaid to me. Clara opened her heart and home to me. Aunty Cathy was violently protective of me. Even Grandpa Peter was there to look after me. My mother didn’t leave me powerless. She made sure to surround me with powerful people.
“I am going to be the nerd queen of Knightswood Academy,” I vowed to my reflection. Her green orbs flashed with fire at my promise.
The bluish patches on my pale face adamantly remained over the weekend, refusing to fade away quickly. Fortunately, the cut in my inner cheek healed enough for me to be able to eat soft foodstuff. Brianna and her group of harpies were probably waiting for me to return on Monday so they could make fun of my bruises as well as my burnt cabin.
Not a chance, I thought, walking into breakfast on Monday morning wearing a lavender-hued frock.
The whole Davenport family was seated at the table. Liam looked up at me, his azure eyes lighting up as they fell on me. My cheeks warmed at the way he looked at me. He’d been extremely caring over the past two days, not leaving my side and making sure I took my pills in time.
“Morning,” I greeted everyone. “Hey, Ruben.” I gave the old butler a little wave.
“Are you feeling better?” asked Charles, putting down the newspaper he’d been reading.
“Better but I don’t want to go to school yet,” I said, looking between him and Clara. “My cheeks still hurt and I have no place to stay now.”
“I am going to take care of your accommodations today,” said Clara in a determined voice. “You should’ve never been allowed to stay in that cabin. They probably didn’t even make sure the place was safe before letting you live in it. I can’t believe how irresponsible the academy has become.” She breathed heavily, swelling like an enraged mother hen.
Charles patted her hand. “I’ll go with you, honey.”
Clara’s anger vanished for a moment as she turned lovey-dovey eyes at her husband. Leaning in, she kissed him. Liam cleared his throat pointedly and looked down at his plate of bacon and toasts.
“Do you have any preferences?” asked Clara, beaming as she separated from Charles.
“It would be nice to have a r
oom on the same floor as Zoya,” I said.
“Done!” said Clara. “Anything else, dear? I am going to ask for the most ridiculous things and make the school do my bidding if they want to continue receiving their alumni donations from us.” She turned to look at Liam. “Any requests for you, son?”
“Yeah, I want to be on the same floor as Paris.”
Clara’s eyebrows shot up. “Is something happening between you two?” she asked, her eyes shining with excitement.
Liam shrugged while my cheeks heated up and I focused on drinking my orange juice without choking on it. “Get Gabe, Nik and Lucas Bettencourt to shift to the same floor as well.”
I stared at him. “All of us together?”
He nodded.
“Lucas Bettencourt?” Charles turned grim eyes towards his son. “Why do you want to be involved with the Bettencourts?”
“Lucas is Sam Bettencourt’s son. Paris and he are best friends.”
“What? I thought she liked you and Gabrielle!” said Clara.
“Lucas is gay,” I said with a chuckle. “I share all my classes with him. But it’s all right if we can’t live on the same floor. Being close to Zoya is awesome enough.”
Clara looked relieved to know that particular fact about Lucas’s preferences. She shook her head and grinned. “I am going to get all your friends shifted onto the same floor as you. You spend so much time at school. It’s good to have friends close by to look after you.”
“Yes!” A cheerful exclamation escaped me.
I tucked into the fruity oatmeal that Ruben brought me, happily anticipating living so close to both Lucas and Zoya. With Liam and Gabrielle on the same floor, I would never have to fear Lucien or any of Brianna’s harpies.
I took the entire week off, studying from home and submitting all my assignments through the school portal. Lucas and Zoya kept me updated on everything that was happening at the academy. Lucas sent me his class notes so I could keep up with my classes. Zoya, on the other hand, told me she was in charge of decorating my new room.
