He Begged Me To Stay After I Had Already Left Chapter 02

He Begged Me To Stay After I Had Already Left Chapter 02

The next morning, I showed up at the administration office right on time.

The hallway was packed with students waiting to watch the spectacle.

“Look, the slut’s here.”

“She’s pregnant and still showed up at school. She has no shame.”

“I heard her parents kicked her out last night. She deserved it.”

Without sparing them a glance, I walked straight into the office.

The grade dean sat behind her desk, looking at me like I was a pile of unrecyclable trash.

“Sign the withdrawal form.”

“Then go to the PA room and read this apology letter.”

She slapped a sheet of paper covered in writing onto the desk.

I gave it a quick glance. It was full of self-abasing lines about how jealous I was of Sophie Sutton and how shameless I was.

I picked up the pen and signed the withdrawal form.

Then I tore the apology letter into pieces.

“What are you doing?” the grade dean snapped, shooting to her feet.

“I’ll withdraw, but I won’t apologize,” I said evenly.

“Because I didn’t do any of it.”

The grade dean let out a furious laugh.

“You didn’t do it? So the bar video was fake? The pregnancy report was fake?”

“Nina, do you think everyone at this school is stupid?”

I looked at her and asked, “Did you ever actually verify whether that report was real?”

She froze for a second, then barked back at me.

“Why would I need to verify it? Everyone has seen what kind of person you are.”

“Get out, and don’t stain this school any further.”

I turned and walked out of the office.

The moment I stepped into the hall, I ran straight into Chase and Sophie.

Sophie was holding a thermal container, her face full of concern.

“Nina, you probably didn’t eat breakfast, did you? I made you chicken soup.”

As she spoke, she held the container out to me.

I didn’t take it. I only looked at her coldly.

“Sophie, drop the disgusting act.”

“There aren’t any cameras here. Who exactly are you performing for?”

Her hand jerked. The container slipped from her fingers, and the scalding soup splashed all over her foot.

She let out a shriek, and tears spilled down her face instantly.

Chase shoved me aside and pulled Sophie into his arms.

“Nina! Have you lost your mind?”

The force sent me stumbling back into the wall.

That familiar metallic taste surged into my throat again.

I bit down hard on my lip and swallowed the blood back.

“I didn’t touch her,” I said, looking straight at Chase.

“You’re still denying it? I saw you knock it over with my own eyes.”

His eyes blazed with anger.

“She made soup for you out of kindness, and this is how you treat her?”

“What is your heart made of? How can you be this vicious?”

I looked at his furious face and felt an exhaustion so deep it hollowed me out.

“So you only believe what you see, Chase.”

“Then why didn’t you believe me the day of the school showcase?”

“Why didn’t you watch the full security footage from that night at the bar?”

He froze, clearly not expecting me to drag any of that back up.

“You still have the nerve to bring that up?”

“You wrecked the sound system at the showcase, and you were the one who went looking for trouble with those punks at the bar.”

“You screw up, and then you blame everyone else for not believing you?”

Sophie tugged at his sleeve and said through a choked sob, “Chase, stop. This is all my fault.”

“If I hadn’t transferred here, Nina wouldn’t hate me this much.”

“I’ll leave. Just please stop fighting because of me.”

Chase turned to comfort her at once.

“Sophie, don’t say that. The one who should leave is her.”

Then he looked back at me, his eyes as cold as if he were staring at an enemy.

“Nina, you are going to apologize to Sophie today.”

“Otherwise, I’ll make sure you won’t be able to get by anywhere in Riverton.”

I leaned against the wall, feeling my life draining away little by little.

[68 hours remaining.]

I looked at Chase and suddenly smiled.

“Sure. Make my life impossible.”

“It’s not like I planned on staying anyway.”

Something in that smile seemed to stab him. He took a step toward me, like he meant to grab me by the collar.

“What are you smiling at? Do you think I’m joking?”

I wiped away the thin line of blood at the corner of my mouth.

“Chase, you’d better remember every word you said today.”