CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44: THE HIGH ROAD

“I’ll have a small iced caramel coffee, please,” I said to the barista. She grabbed a plastic cup and wrote my order on it. I looked back at Mindie, who was standing behind me. “What would you like?”

“Oh, you don’t have to pay for mine.” My friend reached into her red purse for her wallet.

“Please, let me. Honestly, I owe you much more for staying with my mom yesterday.” I blushed. “The least I can do is pay for your morning coffee.”

Mindie smiled and looped her arm through mine.

“You don’t owe me a thing. I’ll always be here for you.”

My heart panged as Mindie ordered a large hot coffee with cream and sugar, and I handed cash to the barista.

It was the morning after Elliot gave me that awful ultimatum, and I asked Mindie to meet me at our school’s coffee shop before our morning classes.

“Do you want to sit inside?” Mindie asked when we grabbed our drinks off the end of the wooden counter.

I stared around the busy restaurant. There was an open table in the corner, but the girls there seemed to be glancing at me and then putting their heads close together to whisper. Was I being paranoid or were they talking about me?

“Let’s go outside,” I suggested and led my friend out the door. “It’s a nice morning.”

We walked to a shaded spot under a large oak tree. Mindie and I sat on a wooden bench and sipped our drinks. The spot was nice because it gave us a pretty view of our sprawling green campus, but there were trees around us, so it gave us a little privacy.

“How’s your mom doing?” Mindie asked, her brown eyes brimming with concern.

I crossed my legs and let out a deep sigh. “She’s not doing well.” I paused when my eyes pricked with tears. “She doesn’t know how long she can hold on without my father.”

My friend froze. “You mean...” she trailed off.

“I don’t know how much longer my mom can survive. Especially when she can’t feel him with those silver chains they put around him.” My hands clenched into fists. “Also, Elliot came over to my house uninvited yesterday.”

Her eyes widened. “Again?”

“Yep,” I confirmed. “He was his usual fake charming self with my mom. He cooked us dinner and even ran her a bath. But when she went back to bed, he was horrible. Every time I demanded that he get out of my house, he refused.”

“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Mindie’s eyebrows drew together.

“No, not this time,” I replied. “But he did give me an ultimatum. He said that if I didn’t move into the house he bought for me within a week, I wouldn’t like the consequences...whatever that means.” I rolled my eyes, trying to play it off, but my heart was nervously slamming against my ribs.

“He did not!” Mindie’s eyes narrowed in outrage. “How dare he threaten you like that?! And how dare he do that to Isabella? He really just plans on cheating on her throughout their whole marriage? How does he think that he can keep something like that going?”

“He wants to keep me hidden away in that house he bought and just use me as his mistress,” I explained with disgust.

“Elliot is so gross,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Are you going to tell Isabella the truth?”

I hesitated as I considered her question. Every time I saw Isabella, the truth threatened to burst out of me. I hated keeping a girl as genuine as her in the dark. But Gareth didn’t want his daughter to know the truth. If I told Isabella, there were a million and one things the Lycan King could do to ruin my life. And what if I told Isabella and she didn’t believe me? What if she thought it was part of a scheme to get Elliot all to myself? I’d definitely lose my job.

“I’m not going to tell her right now,” I answered. “I need to focus on taking care of my mom and school, but I’ll tell her if anything drastic happens.”

“I’ll support you no matter what.”

My heart warmed as I took a sip of my coffee.

“Hey, how do you know Isabella, by the way? She isn’t exactly in the same social circle as us.” She chuckled.

I choked on my coffee and coughed.

Crap.

I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about my tutoring job. Awkwardly, I avoided my friend’s eye. After a moment, I chanced a glance at her. To my surprise, Mindie had a knowing glint in her eye.

Thankfully, she didn’t bring up Isabella again as we finished our coffee and walked to class. On our way, whispers seemed to follow us. I kept my eyes forward, but I could feel people staring at me.

My stomach knotted with unease.

I found out what was going on when we walked into our classroom, and everyone turned in their seats to look at me.

My heart skipped a beat.

“Yeah, that’s her,” someone murmured, causing more whispers to follow.

“She’s the one who got Clarissa expelled.”

“And the one who got Alpha Bryson demoted.”

“I heard that she only got the scholarship because she’s sleeping with the Lycan King.”

“No way! Gareth Laken would never stoop so low!”

Mindie glared around the room and gritted her teeth. She stepped forward, her hands clenching into fists.

“Someone’s ass is getting kicked,” she muttered under her breath.

“Wait.” I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “Let them talk. Who cares? You know what kind of person I really am, and so do I, and that’s enough for me. Besides, I don’t want you to get in trouble for standing up for me.”

It did suck to have everyone gossiping about me, but compared to my other problems, this was trivial.

“Are you sure you want to take the high road on this one?” she asked.

“Yeah, but thanks for being willing to kick someone’s ass for me,” I replied with a smirk.

We sat in our usual seats. As I was zipping open my bag, Clarissa’s best friends strutted up to our seats. Mindie and I shared an exasperated look. Gwen—a redhead with a nasally voice—seemed to be the group’s new leader.

“You stole Clarissa’s scholarship.” She pointed an accusing finger at me. “You framed her and got her expelled, all so that you could steal her scholarship!” She was talking loudly enough for the whole class to hear.

I straightened up in my seat. “There was evidence that Clarissa was cheating. She was investigated, and that was why she was expelled. I had nothing to do with it.”

“You’re a liar!” Gwen yelled, her face turning as red as her hair. “Everyone knows that you’re a slut who gets what you want by seducing powerful men! Just admit that you spread your legs for Gareth Laken to get Clarissa thrown out and to get that scholarship!”

I jumped to my feet and glared at her.

Screw the high road.