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Chapter 4 Vivianne Sinclair SLAPS! My dad's hand struck my face the moment I stepped into the principal's office. My eyes sparked, and my hand flew to cover my burning cheek. "You shameless whore! How dare you bring shame to my family?" Tears welled up in my eyes, but I held it back. My heart ached. “I gave you everything, and this is how you pay me back?” I scoffed. Everything? Acting like a good father here, huh? Give me a fucking break, please! When did he ever know that I exist? I locked eyes with the principal briefly, my fingers tightened at my sides as I lowered my gaze. “Ms. Sinclair…” My breath caught in my throat the moment the principal's voice echoed in the office. This wasn't going to go unpunished. I could handle anything else but expulsion... I've worked too hard to get here... I can't lose everything now. “You do know what you did is against Stormbridge Academy's code of conduct, right?” I nodded, biting into my lip. “And if this gets to the public, it will not only put the school's reputation at risk, but would also worry the parents who has kids here.” I remained silent. “This act cannot go unpunished.” I swallowed hard. Just give me hard labor, please... I prayed silently. “According to Stormbridge’s rule, you are hereby expelled from the Academy with immediate effect.” he said, tossing an expulsion letter before me. My knees buckled beneath me, and heat blossomed in my chest. “Si…Sir…” My voice cracked, tears welled up in my eyes. “I…I…” I stuttered, but no words came out. Dad looked away with disappointment as I turned to him. Not that he would stand up for me anyway. “You can't do this, Sir. I didn't do…” Tears streamed down my cheeks as my voice trailed off. “You have thirty minutes to vacate the Academy's dorm.” I dropped to my knees, my body trembling, and voice shaking. "Please, sir... Y...you can't expel me... I... I... I'll do anything else, please. I can't leave this school." The principal looked at me coldly, his eyes void of emotions. “Excuse me. I'm busy.” My dad stood and left without another word. "Si...sir---" "I might be forced to ask the security to see you out if you don't leave now, Ms. Sinclair." His mind was already made up... Nothing I say will change it. I dragged myself up, then reached for the expulsion letter before walking out of his office. Noah stood outside the moment I stepped out, and my grip instinctively tightened on the paper as I paused. Right… Noah wasn't summoned too. Not even the principal would dare summon Mr. Boulevard’s son, knowing that the Academy stands a chance to lose its biggest fish… their largest shareholder. He stood before me, staring with guilt written on his face... Or maybe I was just trying hard to see him feel guilty that I made that up in my head. He couldn't have felt remorse...This is what he wanted anyway. “Vivi…” Without sparing him a second, I walked past him... ***** Students hung along the walkway, whispering, laughing, and throwing insults at me as I dragged my suitcase down, but I held my shoulders and head up high. I paused as I approached the parking unit and spotted Bailey walking towards dad's car. She paused and looked back at me, a smug smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. I joined them in the car, and the ride home began. Back home, I headed inside before dad and Bailey, ignoring my stepmom who was sitting in the living room, I headed upstairs to my room. Dad walked in at that moment. "Vivianne…” I stopped on the staircase. “You can stay here for just today. You're moving out first thing tomorrow morning.” My grip tightened on my suitcase, and I let out a scoff. “I can't let you cause any more trouble for this family. I won't let you ruin Sinclair's reputation.” Throwing me out now and talking reputation? The same reputation my mom built for him? The same company my mom helped raise to the top twenty successful companies in New York before she died? Another second barely passed when my phone pinged with a text. An alert of ten thousand US dollars popped on the screen. “That should be enough to sort yourself out.” I huffed. Ten thousand dollars? Will that even pay a year's rent? I turned to him, blinking back my tears. “Did you ever see me as your daughter?” He scoffed, placing his hands on his waist. “You have never treated me as a daughter. You've never looked at me with love. You've always neglected me—” “All I asked of you is to be like your sister! If you were half as good as Bailey, I would've loved you!” “All you do is cause trouble. You are useless, Vivianne! You should never have been born!” Those words struck my heart, and my stomach knotted, but I composed myself. No! They must not see me in tears. I looked at Bailey, and she smiled softly… as if saying ‘look, I took everything from you’. I wanted to yell at him… to defend myself and insist on staying here, but fuck it! Staying around these people was already messing with my head anyway. I lifted my phone to my face... For a second, I thought of sending the money back to him, but paused, my grip tightening on my phone. I have student debt to pay... I don't have any savings... And I don't even have anywhere to go. How will I survive? With that in mind, my hand dropped beside me, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. Bailey stepped forward, standing beside dad, her arms wrapped around his arm, and a faint smirk at the corner of her lips. "You shouldn't just stand there, Vivianne. Maybe dad will change his mind if you beg him." "You can't take her back, honey. She's brought so much shame to the family. She's always causing trouble, and she's ungrateful." My stepmom spoke for the first time. That witch! My fingers tightened on my suitcase. Fine! I'll leave! There's no point staying here when I'm not valued anyway. I'm going to make all of them pay for this... Noah... dad... Bailey... and everyone that hurt me. They'll all regret it... Chapter 4 Noah Boulevard ‘I'm sorry, Noah. There's nothing I can do. Your dad insisted she must be expelled, and I didn't have a choice’ The words echoed in my head even long after I left the school. My chest burned with rage, my fingers tightened on my phone as I stood before my dad in the living room. “Dad… We need to talk—” “We have nothing to talk about, Noah—” “It’s all my fault, dad… I…I… I did everything. Vivianne did nothing wrong.” My voice shook, heart thudding against my ribcage. He remained silent, his eyes glued to his phone… It was as if my presence wasn't noticeable. “If anything, I should get punished, dad. I lured her to my room because of a silly bet with my friends…” Those words burned my tongue, down to my chest, tightening it. Holy shit! I guess this is how it feels lying for the first time. “I took the pictures while she was sleeping… I spread those rumours in the school because she kept acting tough. I wanted to prove to everyone that she wasn't that reserved like she…” Before I could finish my speech, a glass cup flew from dad's hand and landed right on my forehead, then crashed to the ground. For a second, I thought I imagined it, but the sudden pain that exploded through my head, and the blood trickling down my face confirmed it was real. My hand instinctively flew to my forehead and I let out a wince. He glared hard at me, his jaw tightened, and his face dripping with disgust. “I am not going to fold my arms and watch you bring shame to my family… You won't ruin the reputation I've spent years building!” My heart stung. I let out a scoff. “I guess throwing another person under a moving bus to save your reputation is nothing to you, right?” I didn't know where the courage to face him came from, but for the first time in my life, I didn't want to stand and do nothing. Colours drained from his face, and he blinked. “What?” “You are not even going to get me punished for doing that to her, but you would rather hurt her instead?” Tears blurred my vision. I didn't do it… Yes, I can be a jerk sometimes, but doing that to Vivianne or any other woman? That's not who I am. But I would take the fall if that's what it takes to clear her name. “If you feel so guilty, why don't you withdraw from Stormbridge instead?” Dad shot to his feet, glaring hard at me. I swallowed nothing, taking a step back. “I know, right? You dare not do that, do you?” A smirk curled his lips. “Noah…” He closed the distance between us, his eyes locked on me. “If you insist that she was wronged, I can bring her back to Stormbridge, but only on one condition…” He straightened up, his hands in his pockets. “That you give up your hockey career and follow the path I've always wanted you to follow.” My breath caught in my throat, nails digging into my palms so tightly, my knuckles turned white. Hockey wasn't just a sport to me, but my life… And now he wants me to give it up? How heartless can he be? “If you are not ready to do that, then I'm afraid I can't help you.” And with that, he turned and headed to the staircase, but paused and looked back at me over his shoulder. “I'm letting you off this time, but if you cause any more trouble for this family again, I'm afraid I won't be able to let it slide.” Then he walked away... not even so little as a glance back at me. Back in my dorm room, I sat on my bed, phone in hand, and eyes glued to it, reading the text I had composed to send to Vivianne. ‘I'm sorry about what happened, Vivianne. I would never do anything to hurt you. I've always genuinely liked you, and I cherished what happened between us… I'm sorry for the trouble that I caused you. I'll bring you back to Stormbridge Academy. I promise’ Just as I was about to send the text to Vivianne, dad's words echoed in my head. ‘Are you ready to give up your hockey career?’ My grip tightened on the phone, and I bit my lip hard. Why is this happening just when I thought my dream was about to come true? Being a Boulevard's was like a curse to me. My life was a reality of the script my father had written even before my existence… To him, I was nothing but an actor who had to fit the perfection of the character he had created. My life… my career… and everything has been written in this script, and the only thing I've been doing all my life, was follow it. Be a businessman like him… That is what he had always wanted, but I stood my ground. He'd take everything else from me, but not my passion to do what I loved the most… becoming a hockey player. And just when I was slowly getting his support, or so I thought, I got into this mess. I stared at my phone's screen, a bitter smile creeping up my face as memories of months ago clawed back into my mind… The day I first saw Vivianne. That was the first time I genuinely felt something for a woman… And from that moment, I'd stare at her from afar, admiring her, but never had the courage to approach her. I was scared that I'd never get a chance with this crazy girl who had won my heart in every way. Maybe I should never have approached her. She would've been safe if I had just kept admiring her from afar. Right… Just turn away from this, Noah. You have to be selfish. For the sake of your future. Remember this is the first time you ever really want to do something for yourself… to genuinely make yourself happy… Just do this for you. And with that in mind, I wiped the text, but still held my phone tightly. Right… For once, I should be selfish for my sake…