Chapter 9 The long walk home
Chapter 9: The Long Walk Home (Elena’s POV)
The rain wasn't just falling; it was an assault. Each drop felt like a needle against my skin, cold and sharp, but it was nothing compared to the burning humiliation in my chest.
I walked along the edge of the highway, my shoes squelching in the mud. I had left my bag in the gym. I had left my dignity on that floor, scattered alongside the pens and the ruined Calculus book that Jax had kicked like it was trash. And the worst part wasn't Jax. It wasn't the way he’d loomed over me or the way he’d called me "property."
It was Liam.
I could still see his face in the flickering gym lights. He hadn't just watched. He had joined in. He’d called me an "investment." He’d stood by his dog and let him bark, laughing while my life was literally being kicked around the room. I had taken his money to save my mother, and in exchange, he had taken my soul.
I hate him, I whispered into the wind, the words disappearing into the roar of the storm. I hate him more than I’ve ever hated anything in my life.
A bright light flashed behind me. I didn't turn around. I expected it to be a truck, or maybe a bus that would finally take me away from this nightmare. But the car slowed down, its engine humming a low, expensive purr that I recognized all too well.
It was a black SUV. Chloe’s car.
The window rolled down, and the smell of expensive cherry blossom perfume hit me, clashing with the scent of wet asphalt.
"Oh, look!" Chloe’s voice shrieked over the rain. "The Ghost is trying to swim! You look so much better covered in mud, Elena. It really brings out the 'charity case' in your eyes."
I kept walking, my eyes fixed on the white line of the highway. My jaw was clamped so tight it ached.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Chloe shouted. The SUV swerved closer, tires hitting a deep puddle. A massive wave of dirty, cold water exploded over me, drenching me from head to toe.
The girls inside the car erupted into high-pitched laughter.
"Oops! My hand slipped!" Chloe yelled. "Just like Liam’s hand slipped when he wrote that check! Did you really think he liked you? He was just buying a pet, honey. And pets belong in the dirt."
The SUV sped up, then slowed down again, playing a sick game of cat and mouse. They were waiting for me to break. They wanted me to scream, to cry, to beg them to stop. But I wouldn't give them the satisfaction. I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, pushing back the hot tears of rage. I was Elena Vance. I had survived eviction. I had survived hunger. I would survive a spoiled girl in a Range Rover.
Suddenly, another set of headlights cut through the rain. A silver Porsche roared past Chloe’s SUV, swerving sharply to cut her off. The screech of brakes echoed through the trees.
I stopped walking, wiping the muddy water from my glasses. Liam climbed out of the Porsche. He didn't have an umbrella. Within seconds, his expensive hair was matted to his forehead, and his jaw was set in that hard, arrogant line I had grown to loathe.
He marched back to Chloe’s window. I couldn't hear everything they said over the wind, but I saw Liam’s face. He looked furious—but was it for me? Or was he just mad that his "investment" was getting messy?
"Go home, Chloe!" I heard him roar.
Chloe yelled something back, waving her arms, but Liam didn't budge. He stood there like a wall of ice until Chloe finally slammed her car into gear and peeled away, the red tail lights disappearing into the mist.
Liam stood in the middle of the road for a moment, his chest heaving. Then, he turned toward me.
"Get in the car, Elena."
"No." My voice was raspy, barely audible over the rain.
"Don't be stupid. You're going to get hypothermia." He walked toward me, reaching for my arm, but I jumped back like he was a snake.
"Don't touch me!" I screamed. The sound surprised both of us. "Don't you dare touch me, Liam Vance! You stood there. You watched Jax humiliate me. You called me a horse in your stable. And now you want to play the hero? You’re the reason they feel like they can do this to me!"
Liam flinched, but then his eyes turned cold again. "I have your bag, Elena. I went back and picked up your things."
He reached into the passenger seat and pulled out my backpack. It was dirty, but it was zipped up.
"You picked them up?" I laughed, a bitter, jagged sound. "What, did you want to make sure your 'investment' still had its pens? Or did you just want to see how much of my life you could fit into one bag?"
"I'm trying to help you!" he shouted back.
"You’re trying to manage me!" I stepped closer to him, the rain drenching both of us. "You’re afraid. You’re afraid that if I quit, you fail. You’re afraid that if the school finds out you’re paying me, your 'King' reputation is dead. You don't care about me. You care about the shadow I cast on your perfect life."
Liam didn't deny it. He couldn't. He just stood there, looking at me with an intensity that made my heart race for all the wrong reasons.
"Get in the car," he said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous command. "If you stay out here, you lose. If you get in, we go back to the estate, you dry off, and we figure out how to handle the fact that the secret is out."
"The secret is out because of you," I said, but my strength was fading. The cold was finally starting to seep into my bones, and my legs felt like lead.
I looked at the car. It was warm. It was safe. And I hated it. I hated that I needed him.
I walked past him and climbed into the passenger seat, leaving a trail of mud and water on the leather. I didn't care. I hoped the stains never came out. I hoped every time he sat in this car, he smelled the rain and remembered what he was.
We drove in a suffocating silence. Liam turned the heat up, and the air in the cabin became thick and humid. I stared out the window, watching the gates of the Vance estate loom closer.
"My father called," Liam said suddenly. His voice was hollow. "The 'Northview Confessions' page. Someone posted about the money. He wants to see both of us in the study as soon as we get back."
I felt a cold pit form in my stomach. "Is he going to kick us out?"
"I don't know," Liam muttered, his grip tightening on the wheel. "But if he does... I’m not letting him take that scholarship from you. I’ll tell him it was a bet. I’ll tell him I forced you. I’ll take the hit."
"Why?" I asked, turning to look at him. "Why would you do that?"
Liam pulled the car to a stop in front of the main house. He turned to me, his eyes dark and full of a conflict he couldn't hide.
"Because," he whispered, "if you leave, Elena... there’s no one left in this place who actually looks at me and sees the truth. Everyone else just sees the King. You’re the only one who sees the monster. And for some reason, I’m not ready to let that go yet."
He got out of the car before I could say a word.
I followed him into the house, my wet shoes squeaking on the marble. We reached the study doors, and Liam took a deep breath, his hand trembling on the knob. We walked in, and Marcus Vance was sitting behind his desk, the glow of the 'Confessions' page bright on his computer screen. But he wasn't alone. Chloe was sitting in the armchair across from him, a handkerchief to her eyes, looking like the perfect victim. 'There they are,' she sobbed. 'The two people who tried to blackmail me.'
