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Chapter 33/The Redhead’s Departure

Chapter 33: 33/The Redhead’s Departure

Chapter 33

Alexander’s Point of View

After a while, she gathered the papers and stood up to descend from the bleachers. When she saw me standing there, she froze in her tracks, her blue eyes widening in shock. She turned quickly, trying to change her path to avoid facing me, but I wasn’t going to let her escape this time. I called out to her in a firm voice: "Come here!"

She stopped in her tracks. I could see her slender body trembling visibly, as if my voice were a shackle preventing her from moving. She didn’t turn to face me immediately; she kept her back to me, her red hair cascading like volcanic lava over her shoulders.

I stepped toward her with calm but confident strides. The air around us felt heavy. I said in a steady tone, "Turn around."

She turned very slowly, as if every inch she moved consumed her energy. She lowered her head, avoiding my gaze. I couldn’t stand this barrier between us, so I said in a commanding tone, "Look up."

She didn’t. She remained frozen. I reached my hand to her chin her skin was so soft it sent a sudden jolt of heat through my fingers and I lifted it myself to see her blue eyes, which resembled the ocean in their depth and mysterious calm.

I spoke while locking my gaze with hers: "When I speak to you, do as I say."

She gave a slight nod. I withdrew my hand, feeling a sudden void in my palm. I asked her, "What is your name?"

"Stephanie... Stephanie Miller," she said in a trembling voice, barely audible through her confusion.

I took a deep breath, trying to control the curiosity gnawing at me. "Stephanie, will you tell me who did that to you yesterday?"

I saw her cheeks flush instantly, as if blood rushed to cover her entire face. She said in a faint tone, "No one... Professor Thorne."

I knit my brows in disbelief, pressing my words: "How can it be ’no one’? Don’t protect them. Tell me who did this, and I will hold them accountable!"

But she held her ground, lowering her eyes again and whispering with insistence: "No one."

I looked at her for a long time, contemplating the mix of weakness and defiance that enveloped her. I felt a wall I couldn’t breach yet. "Fine..." I said with feigned coldness. "You may go."

I watched her walk away with hurried steps, while I remained there, the image of her flushed face and eyes drowned in sadness and confusion etched into my memory forever, realizing that "Stephanie Miller" would not be just another passing student in my life.

I snapped back from my memories at the sound of the door opening behind me. I turned quickly to see Stephanie stepping out of the room. She had changed into a pair of jeans and a simple top.

"Let’s go," she said in a dry, soul-less tone.

She walked ahead of me with steps she tried to keep steady, but I caught the slight tremor in her shoulders. She passed me without a look. I followed, watching her back and her red hair.

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Cedric’s Point of View

I sat on the sofa, boiling with rage, feeling as if my blood were foaming inside my veins. Isabella’s presence here ruined everything I had built. And now... I’ve lost Stephanie.

She will never forgive me. I remembered her look the look of heartbreak and betrayal as she heard Isabella tell her she was my fiancée. All trust between us vanished in a single second.

Even though Alexander saved the situation by claiming she was his girlfriend, I felt a desperate urge to smash his face. I was jealous of his touch, nearly driven mad by the thought of his arm around her shoulder like that.

"I’m sorry, Cedric," Isabella said in a tone she tried to make sound regretful. "I didn’t know she was your brother’s girlfriend."

I didn’t look at her. I pressed my hands against my head and said through gritted teeth, "I told you to leave!"

"I thought you were cheating on me!"

Isabella replied, standing before me, trying to justify her madness. "That’s why I tricked you and went upstairs to see for myself. When I saw her, I thought she was your whore."

I stood up abruptly, my body tensing. I spoke in a booming voice that made her take a step back: "Enough, Isabella! Your behavior is becoming suffocating!"

She didn’t stay quiet; she shot back defiantly, raising her voice: "Really? You’re suffocated by my behavior? And what are you doing, Cedric?"

She began pacing the hall with nervous steps, the sound of her heels hitting the floor like a hammer against my head. "You don’t call me, you rarely meet me... you only fucked me once, Cedric! Can you imagine that?"

I closed my eyes tight, trying to control the beast within. "Enough, Isabella, don’t change the subject!"

"This is the subject!" she screamed, stopping right in front of me. "This is why I act this way because you simply give me no consideration!"

I placed my hand on my chest, which was heaving, and felt a violent throb in my temples. "My head hurts..." I said in a strained voice.

She laughed with bitter irony. "Yes, always a new excuse! ’Isabella, I’m busy,’ ’Isabella, I don’t have time,’ ’Isabella, I’m in a bad mood,’ ’Isabella, I’m tired’... and now your head hurts!"

In that moment, while Isabella’s voice filled the room with screaming, I saw Stephanie coming down the stairs with Alexander behind her.

I stood up immediately, my body stiffening as if hit by an electric current. I watched her with desperate eyes, trying to catch her gaze, but she only gave me a cold, fleeting look that killed me where I stood. She headed for the door with fast steps, refusing to look back.

I rushed toward them, my body burning with anger and confusion. I blocked their path, my voice wavering: "Where to?"

She didn’t answer. She continued toward the exit. Alexander stood before me with a coldness that provoked every cell in my body. "I’m taking her home," he replied.

I felt my heart drop. "What? Which home?!" I asked in shock.

Alex shrugged indifferently. "She wants to go back, Cedric... what can I do?"

"How can you take her back? She’s staying here!" I shouted, the blood rushing to my face.

In that cursed moment, Isabella came and stood beside me. She placed her hand on my arm and said sharply, "What is it to you? She’s his girlfriend!"

I ignored her completely. I wanted to push her away and scream that Stephanie belongs to me, but I was paralyzed. Alexander gave me a subtle look of victory and said curtly, "Goodbye."

I stood frozen, feeling like I had lost everything in a split second. I couldn’t speak or reveal the truth; my grandfather would surely kill me if this engagement were broken, and I know well what the family’s wrath means. I found myself completely helpless, my hands shaking with oppression and my chest tightening.

I stood at the door, watching Stephanie who carries my children in her womb climb into the car beside Alex.

I watched his car drive away and disappear from my sight, carrying my heart and my redhead, whom I had failed. I felt the taste of bitterness in my throat and a headache tearing through my skull, while the silence in the house screamed one truth: She’s gone.