Chapter 185

[Ella’s POV]

Well, being held up in the campus Vice President’s office was probably the last place I expected to find myself that day.

But, sure enough, there I was tucked into a small chair adjacent to Ava who looked even worse than I did because of her fight with Olivia. I wasn’t going to lie, I was highly impressed that Olivia had that sort of thing in her.

Part of me was still intently shocked that she was willing to stick up for me like that. I just hoped that she wasn’t going to be reprimanded too harshly. In fact, if I had the chance, I was going to make sure that the school knew of Olivia’s defense.

However, the real issue I was currently worried about wasn’t what sort of punishment I could be facing from the school, but rather the backlash I was going to get from Arthur and Liam.

When they found me, propped up against that pillar before, I knew I was going to have to face the music from my mates.

“Alright, my intention isn't to keep you two here all day,” the vice president went on. “I simply want to understand what happened.”

Thankfully, one of the staff members was nice enough to grab me an ice pack for my face since they weren’t going to permit me to head to the infamy beforehand. Honestly, I thought Arthur was going to tear them all to pieces when they refused his request.

Of course, Ava tried to speak first. Putting on the ‘innocent girl’ act always seemed to be her go-to in times of crisis.

“Well, sir. As you can see, all I was trying to do was talk to Ella and that other girl brutish attacked me—”

“Oh, for crying out loud,” I huffed. “Are you seriously going to try and lie your way out of this when you know that there were at least over a dozen witnesses to your attack?”

I didn’t know what came over me to speak out so brazenly. I fervently shook my head and turned to face the man behind the desk.

“Sir, Ava attacked me first,” I said while gesturing to the marks on my face. “And then, yes, Olivia proceeded to step in and protect me against Ava’s advancements.”

“I see, and why, may I ask, was Ava going after you in the first place?” he questioned steadily.

Ava’s expression swelled with bitterness and what I could only make out to be shame. She remained silent so I went on to explain that this wasn’t the first altercation she and I had gone through. When I told the vice president that Ava had been expelled from our last school because of her vicious and vindictive behavior toward me, he barely hesitated to make a decision.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Miss Belmont. I believe you’re free to go.” He then turned to Ava. “You, on the other hand, are hereby expelled from Eastwood Academy for breaking several violations and codes. I’ll be informing your parents of today’s events promptly.”

As I left the office, I could barely make out the sobs and profanities that came flooding out of Ava’s mouth.

Hopefully, now she’ll stay out of my life for good.

Right as I made it out of the office, I was met by Bonnie who greeted me with a soft smile.

“Hey!”

“Hey.” I glanced down at the white plastic case she held in her hand. “What’s that?”

“A tiny first aid kit I picked up from the infirmary. I explained what happened to one of the nurses and they said that if the bleeding had stopped then you wouldn’t need to go in. So, I’m going to help patch you up when we get back to the dorm.”

My heart swelled with admiration for my friend and her unyielding compassion. The two of us made it back to the dorm where we were bombarded with Arthur and Liam’s as they rushed to my side. They each took a turn to hold me close while being mindful of my injury that still needed to be treated.

My stomach churned as I pulled away to find they were both wearing the same grave expression.

“It’s okay—”

“No. It’s. Not.”

“Ella, we should have been there with you,” Liam pointed out.

“I know, but—”

“You made us stay back and now you’ve been attacked and we were there to prevent it,” Arthur growled.

I parted my lips to speak but was interrupted by a sound coming from the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“I’ll get it.” Bonnie got up to answer it.

Both Olivia and Ben were standing in the doorway. Shockingly enough, neither Liam nor Arthur tried to go after Ben, considering the situation. What was even more surprising was that Olivia wasn’t being held up in the office still.

“Will someone please tell us what happened before that massive fight broke out?” Liam asked.

Bonnie went on to begin patching up my wounds while Ben and I recounted our meeting.

He’d brought everyone up to speed on his part and even went on to show that he had deleted the media account for good.

“Ella, I’m so sorry that any of this happened,” he said.

“Thank you for helping, Ben.”

He wished me a speedy recovery and took his leave. I then turned to Olivia who appeared in better shape than Ava and myself combined.

“Olivia, I want to thank you for stepping in to help before. That meant a lot to me.” She merely waved it off. “Not that I’m ungrateful, but...Why?”

“As I’m sure you’ve figured out already, Arthur and I have known each other for a very long time. Our families actually believe that we should be bonded one day.”

“Like an arranged marriage?”

They both nodded their heads.

“Are feelings have never been anything other than platonic,” she clarified. “You mean a great deal to him and I believe that he deserves to be happy.”

“Thank you, again. But how will your family take it once they realize that you and Arthur won’t be marrying one another in the future?”

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll be pissed. But it’s too bad.”

I noticed that Olivia shifted closer to my roommate at that moment and the two shared a small smile between themselves.

...

Later on, Liam, Arthur and I decided to head up to Liam’s room to reassess the situation.

The stalker problem had been solved. Unfortunately, a majority of the damage had already been done.

Arthur and Liam were still gravely upset over my injuries and were not likely to let the conversation be dropped. What really bothered me was that Arthur appeared as though he could barely stand to look at me.

I knew that it had a lot to do with him feeling guilty for not having been there to prevent it. Yet, it still hurt me.

“You know my wolf is going to allow me to heal quicker than normal,” I pointed out gently.

He gave me a stern glare and bit back a sneer. “That's not the point and you know it.”

“Arthur—”

“No,” he hissed. “I’m mad at you, Ella. I’m fucking furious and so annoyed that I could tear that bitch, Ava, to shreds and it still wouldn’t be enough to satiate me.”