My Stepbrother Wants Me-Chapter 211: Wrestling Ground

Catherine’s POV

The silence that followed the slap didn’t even last three seconds. Lucy stood frozen, her hand pressed against her reddening cheek, her eyes blown wide with a shock that quickly curdled into a manic, unthinking rage. She didn’t stop to consider the cameras, the crowd, or the fact that she had just been dismantled in front of the entire student body. Instead, she let out a guttural scream and rushed forward to fight back. She lunged at Sasha, her fingers curled like claws, aiming for Sasha’s hair and face. Sasha didn’t flinch; she braced herself, her jaw set, ready to turn the hallway into a wrestling ground.

I moved instinctively, stepping between them to shove Lucy back, but before things could spiral out of control, a booming voice cut through the chaos.

"Enough! Everyone, back away right now!"

The student coordinator, Mr. Henderson, shoved his way through the circle of students. His face was a mask of professional fury, his eyes darting between Sasha’s defensive stance, my protective positioning, and Lucy, who was still trying to scramble past me to get to Sasha. The crowd immediately began to disperse, though every phone remained held high, recording the fallout.

Lucy saw Henderson and did a complete 180. The rage vanished, replaced instantly by a trembling lip and a flood of tears. She hurriedly played the "victim" role perfectly for the cameras, weeping and claiming she’s being bullied by "low-lifes."

"Mr. Henderson, thank God you’re here!" Lucy wailed, her voice cracking as she leaned against a locker for support. She pointed a shaking finger at Sasha and then at me. "They attacked me! I was just trying to talk to Catherine about family matters, and they cornered me. Sasha hit me! Look at my face! They’re ganging up on me because I’m a Vaughn. They’re jealous and violent!"

Tessa looked like she was going to vomit from the sheer audacity of the lie. Sasha just crossed her arms, staring at Lucy with an expression of pure, icy contempt. I felt a headache pulsing behind my eyes. This was the Vaughn way: strike first, and when you get hit back, scream for the authorities.

"All of you," Henderson barked, pointing at the four of us. "My office. Now."

The walk to the administrative wing was agonizing. Lucy continued to sob theatrically, making sure every student we passed saw her "suffering." We were led past the main desks and straight into the Dean’s office. The room was small, smelling of stale coffee and old paper, which only made the atmosphere feel more claustrophobic. Dean Miller sat behind his heavy oak desk, looking between us with a weary frown.

Lucy made sure to take the most central chair, still dabbing at her face with her handkerchief. She didn’t wait for the Dean to speak.

"I want my phone," Lucy demanded, her voice no longer trembling but sharp and entitled. "I’m calling Mr. Richard right now. I want him to know that his son’s obsessed ex and her delinquent friends physically assaulted me because of Julian. I want them expelled, and I want it done right this minute."

Was this bitch okay in the head? Why the fuck did she think she had the right to make such a decision? She was merely Julian’s fiance, not Richard’s wife. Why on earth was she always bragging with my stepfather’s name?

Dean Miller sighed, looking at me. "Catherine? Do you have anything to say before this escalates to the Board of Governors?"

I looked at Lucy. She was staring at me with a hateful glint in her eyes, even as tears continued to track down her cheeks. She thought she had me. She thought that the threat of Richard was a universal kill-switch that would make me crawl. But she forgot that I knew things about her that were far more damaging than a slap in a hallway.

I leaned forward, my voice calm and low. I struck back, telling her that if she moved funny, she would not hold back.

"Go ahead, Lucy," I said, my voice cutting through her fake sobbing. "Call him. Tell Richard everything. But the second you dial that number, I’m going to tell the Dean—and the police—exactly what we discussed in the hallway before the slap. I’ll tell them about the ’scaring’ of Tessa. I’ll tell them about the hired men we found and the statements they’ve already given. If you move funny or try to ruin Sasha’s life over this, I will make sure that your name is dragged through the mud for attempted murder. Do you really want Richard to find out you were that sloppy?"

The color drained from Lucy’s face, but she didn’t back down. She gave me a hateful look, her teeth bared in a silent snarl. "You’re bluffing. You wouldn’t dare."

"Try me," I countered. "You’ve got a lot more to lose than I do."

Dean Miller looked between us, sensing the shift in the room but not quite understanding the subtext. He reached for his desk phone. "If there is no resolution, I have no choice but to involve the parents. Ms. Vaughn, if you insist on calling Mr. Richard Vaughn—"

The door to the office swung open with a violent thud. Julian walked in. He didn’t knock, and he didn’t wait for an invitation. He moved with a cold, predatory grace that immediately drew the oxygen out of the room. He didn’t even look at the Dean. His eyes went straight to me, checking for any signs of injury, before landing on Lucy.

Julian appeared and moved till he was standing behind my chair, his hand dropping onto my shoulder in a gesture that was both protective and a clear marking of territory.

"What is going on here?" Julian asked, his voice like a blade.

Lucy jumped up, thinking her savior had arrived. "Julian! Look what they did! That girl slapped me, and Catherine is threatening me! You have to tell the Dean to call your father. They need to be punished!"

Julian didn’t look at her cheek. He didn’t offer a word of comfort. Instead, he looked at her like she was a bug he was considering stepping on. "I didn’t talk to you, Lucy. Stop making a fool of yourself. I saw the video. It’s already all over the school’s social feed. You baited them. You brought this on yourself."

Lucy’s jaw dropped. The betrayal was written all over her face. Her hatred for me intensified, her eyes burning with a promise of future violence. To have Julian take my side in a public office was the ultimate humiliation. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The Dean stood up, his face reddening. "Julian, this is a private disciplinary hearing. What right do you have barging into my office like this? Leave now, I will call your father and discuss these silly attitudes from all of yoy."

Julian turned his gaze to the Dean, his expression flat and unreadable. He didn’t even blink.

"My father is currently out of town on an emergency business trip," Julian said smoothly, the lie rolling off his tongue without a hint of hesitation. "He’s unreachable for the next forty-eight hours. As the eldest son present and Catherine’s fiancé, I am here to act as her guardian and handle this matter internally. There’s no need to bother Richard with schoolyard bickering, is there, Dean? Unless, of course, you’d like to lose your position in this school."

The Dean hesitated. He knew Julian was likely lying about Richard being unreachable, but the threat of the library wing was very real. He looked at Lucy’s red face, then at Sasha and Tessa, who were sitting silently in the corner.

"Julian, you can’t be serious," Lucy hissed. "You Father is—"

"My father is what?" He shot a cold stare at her.

She seemed to have lost her tongue.

"Like I said, he’s out of town," Julian repeated, his voice dropping an octave, his eyes narrowing at her. "What were you going to say? Do you want to contradict me in front of the Dean? Think very carefully about your next words."