Chapter 4 Like Father, Like Son...

"What?" I gasped, my eyes going wide with disbelief. "No! That's a total lie!"

"It's the truth!" Liam mumbled through his wired jaw, wincing as he spoke. "You were just mad I dumped you for Mia!"

"You didn't dump me, you coward!" I yelled, no longer caring who in the hallway heard me. "I caught you making out with my own stepsister! And I never spoke to Ryder Kingston! He acted entirely on his own!"

"Save the cheap theatrics for the drama department," Mr. Davis sneered, popping open the gold latches of his leather briefcase and pulling out a legal document. "My son's jaw is severely fractured. He will require expensive dental reconstruction. Not to mention the severe emotional distress of being brutally attacked in an academic setting. If you don’t sign this confession taking full responsibility right now, I will ruin you."

"You can't ruin me," I said, crossing my arms tight against my chest even though my hands were trembling uncontrollably. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"I am a senior partner at Davis & Sterling," he said coldly, his eyes turning to ice. "I will file a massive civil lawsuit against you for orchestrating a targeted physical assault. I will freeze whatever measly bank accounts you have left. I will personally see to it that the academic board expels you by sunset. And you will never attend another university in this state again."

"Are you threatening her?" Skylar yelled, stepping right into the massive lawyer's personal space. "She has no money! Her horrible stepmother just stole her entire medical fund! You can't squeeze blood from a stone, you corporate vampire!"

"I can and I absolutely will," Mr. Davis ignored Skylar completely, keeping his deadly gaze locked on me. "You are a charity scholarship student, Miss Evans. A nobody. Liam comes from a prominent alumni family. Who do you honestly think the Dean is going to believe? The bruised and battered son of a major donor, or the broke girl who wanted violent revenge for a petty breakup?"

"It wasn't a petty breakup!" I felt hot tears stinging my eyes again, but I blinked rapidly, fighting them back.

"Irrelevant," Mr. Davis snapped, tapping the paper. "You will take the fall for this. Ryder Kingston's family has a legal team I would rather not tangle with. You, on the other hand, are entirely defenseless."

"He's right, you know," Lexi chimed in from the side, crossing her arms with a smug smile. "Ryder is practically royalty on this campus. If you think the administration is going to let their star hockey player take the fall for a library brawl, you're delusional. They need a scapegoat. And you have 'expendable' written all over your cheap little sneakers."

"Shut up, Lexi!" Skylar lunged forward, but I grabbed the back of her hoodie, pulling her back with all my strength.

"Don't, Sky. She's not worth it," I said in a tight voice.

I turned back to Liam's father, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"This is insane. You want me to ruin my life and my education just so your cheating son doesn't look bad?"

"My son is the victim here!" Mr. Davis raised his voice, his face flushing red with anger. "He was brutally attacked by a known campus delinquent, and you are the obvious instigator. If you sign this paper right now, I might just let you walk away without a civil suit. But the expulsion is non-negotiable."

"She's not signing anything," a deep, rough voice echoed down the hall.

"Oh, thank god," Skylar muttered under her breath.

I turned my head. 

Walking slowly down the corridor was Ryder Kingston. He wasn't in the security guards' zip-ties anymore, but he still looked like he was ready to punch a hole straight through a brick wall. 

He was wearing his signature black leather jacket, his dark hair was a messy windblown disaster, and his knuckles were visibly bruised and slightly cut.

Beside him was an older, red-faced man wearing a university hockey track-suit. He was holding a clipboard and looked like he was one bad penalty away from a total heart attack. 

Coach Miller.

"Ryder!" Lexi instantly changed her entire demeanor. 

She dropped the mean-girl act and practically skipped over to him, batting her eyelashes innocently. "Oh my gosh, I was so worried about you! I brought you the economics notes!"

Ryder didn't even look at her. He didn't slow his powerful stride for a single second. He just brushed past her like she was a ghost, leaving her standing there with her mouth hanging open in shock.

Coach Miller marched right up to Mr. Davis, looking furious. "Are you harassing the students in the hallways now, Richard? Is that what Davis & Sterling is charging five hundred an hour for these days?"

"I am protecting my son's legal interests, Coach," Mr. Davis shot back, straightening his expensive tie. "Your player assaulted my boy unprovoked."

"Unprovoked?" Ryder finally spoke.

His voice instantly commanded the space, silencing the murmurs of the passing students.

He stopped right in front of Liam. 

Liam instantly whimpered, taking a terrified step backward and practically hiding behind his father's suit jacket, holding his ice pack tighter to his face.

"You’re lucky it wasn’t more that this," Ryder said slowly, his ice-cold eyes locked directly on Liam. "Consider it public service."

"That is a verbal admission of guilt!" Mr. Davis pointed a triumphant finger directly at Ryder. "Did you hear that? He admitted it!"

"I don't care what you heard," Ryder scoffed, crossing his massive arms over his broad chest.

He finally shifted his intense gaze over to me. His dark eyes roamed over my tired face, the messy hair, and the shaking hands still clutching the plastic coffee cup. 

For a fraction of a second, I thought I saw a flicker of... something. 

But it vanished as quickly as it appeared, instantly replaced by that same icy, terrifying mask.

"Kingston, shut your damn mouth," Coach Miller hissed, rubbing his temples in extreme frustration. "You're already facing suspension right before the championships. Don’t make this worse for yourself."

"He's a menace, Coach!" Liam mumbled thickly from behind his dad. "He belongs in a jail cell!"

"Say one more word," Ryder took a slow half-step forward, "and I'll break the other side of your jaw to match."

Liam squeaked in pure terror and shrunk down further.

"Enough!" Mr. Davis roared, his patience completely gone. "I’m not playing these childish games. I’m going into that office right now, and demanding that both the instigator," he pointed sharply at me, "and the attacker are expelled immediately."

"You can't do that!" I cried out, my panic bubbling completely over the edge again. "I told you, I didn't tell him to do it! I'm on a full academic scholarship! If I lose it, I can't pay for my grandmother's medical bills! She's literally dying!"

The hallway went dead silent. 

Even Skylar looked at me with wide, heartbroken eyes. I hadn't meant to scream that last part out loud.

Lexi rolled her eyes loudly. "Oh, here come the pathetic waterworks. How tragic."

"Hey, puck bunny," Ryder's voice was deadly quiet, but his tone made Lexi physically flinch. "Get lost. Now."

"But Ryder, I just wanted to…"

"Now," he repeated, his eyes darkening to pitch black.

Lexi turned bright red, spun on her designer heel, and power-walked away down the corridor, completely humiliated.

Coach Miller sighed heavily, looking at me with a trace of genuine pity. "Look, kid, I'm really sorry about your grandmother. I really am. But the board is furious today. My hands are tied. Ryder's a loose cannon, and your boyfriend's family has the administration's ear. I can't save you."

"He's not my boyfriend anymore," I whispered, staring down at my cheap sneakers, feeling completely defeated. "I have nothing. If I get expelled, it's over for me."

"Don't worry," Skylar squeezed my hand tight, her voice fierce. "We'll figure something out. We always do."

"There’s absolutely nothing to figure out," Mr. Davis sneered. "Actions have consequences, Miss Evans. You should have thought about your dying grandmother before you picked a fight with my son."

Before I could even formulate a response to that cruel statement, the doors to the Dean's office open.

His secretary stepped out into the hallway, holding a thick clipboard to her chest. She adjusted her reading glasses and looked at the tense group of us clustered in the hallway.

"Mr. Davis, Coach Miller, Mr. Kingston, and Miss Evans," she announced in a flat, unamused voice. "Dean Aris is ready for you now. Please come in."