Rejected: A love story-Chapter 27: His Cupcake, His Rules

I stepped out of the Dean’s office and saw Nathan leaning on the wall, arms crossed like he’d been waiting for hours. I walked to him slowly.

"I’m sorry," I said, staring at the floor.

He looked at me. "Sorry? For what?"

"For dragging your name into all this. I didn’t... I didn’t want people thinking nonsense about you."

"It’s not your fault. The person who should be apologizing is—"

He stopped. His jaw flexed. I could literally see him swallow his anger. I almost laughed, and my lips pushed out on their own.

"Never mind," he muttered.

"You know you can talk freely. I don’t even like her, and we aren’t related," I said.

He kept staring at me for a second, then a small smile slipped out.

"Why are you smiling now?" I asked. "Weren’t you acting all angry before?"

"You should pack your things for the day. Daniel will take you home. I have stuff to handle."

"But Nathan, it’s my first day. Classes aren’t over. I can’t start skipping already."

"You wanna stay?" he asked.

His eyes... wow. I didn’t even know where to look.

"Y-yes," I said quickly.

"Alright. But if anyone tries anything, I’m taking you out of here immediately."

His tone changed —It almost sounded... possessive.

I nodded. He stepped forward, pulled me close, and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

My whole body went warm. His lips were soft.

It made me wonder what they’d feel like somewhere else.

"Take care, cupcake," he said with a tiny smile before walking away.

I didn’t even realize I was grinning till I turned around and saw half the hallway staring.

My legs were glued to the spot. Thank God Ella suddenly grabbed my arm.

"Move before you faint, idiot," she hissed, dragging me away.

We slipped into the library. Only a few people were there.

"Oh my gosh Fiona," she whispered, shaking my arm. "I want to be you so bad right now— I swear—"

I covered her mouth before she screamed.

Narrator’s Pov

Catherine got home earlier than usual. Valerie was in the living room folding clothes while Duncan was reading something on his tablet. They both looked up.

"Why are you home so early?" Duncan questioned, he checked his watch to be sure. Catherine dropped her bag on the floor like she was about to explode.

"Ask your precious little daughter," she snapped. "Fiona made me a laughing stock today. And apparently I have to apologise to her and that little irrelevant rich boyfriend of hers or I get expelled in two days."

Duncan blinked. "What are you talking about? Expelled? For what?"

"Oh forget it. You never believe me anyway." Catherine let out a shaky breath, eyes suddenly red. "I guess it’s because I’m not your biological daughter, right? You don’t love me the way you love her."

Valerie rushed to her. "Catherine, don’t say that—"

"No!" she pulled away. "It’s true!"

She grabbed her phone and thrust it toward them.

"Here. Since no one ever believes me. Watch this."

The video started playing. It showed Fiona slapping her, the next clip — Fiona talking about how Valerie and Catherine treated her, how they hit her, made her do chores like a slave while Duncan never cared.

Valerie’s mouth fell open. Comments were pouring across the screen:

witch

heartless woman

monster

that step sister is evil

Valerie’s face went red. Pure fury.

"So this is how she wants to paint me?" she muttered, voice shaking. "After everything— this stupid girl is calling me a witch online??"

Duncan’s jaw tightened. His hands were trembling around the tablet.

Duncan dropped the tablet on the table, rubbing his forehead like he suddenly had a migraine.

"So Fiona runs away for weeks... comes back to school... and now she’s dragging our name online?" he said under his breath.

Catherine folded her arms, pretending to wipe fake tears.

"The Dean is even asking me to apologise to her.."

Valerie grabbed the phone again, scrolling through the comments, her anger growing with every second.

"Look at this," she hissed. "People calling us abusive. Calling me a witch. Calling Catherine evil. Do they even know what that girl is capable of?"

Duncan stared at the screen again, frowning when he saw Nathan beside Fiona in the video.

"Who’s that boy she’s with? He looks familiar?" he asked.

Catherine scoffed. "Some guy she calls her boyfriend. I don’t know him."

Valerie frowned. "He looks older. And... Rich."

Catherine rolled her eyes. "He thinks he’s someone important, trying to get me expelled like he owns the school."

Duncan sighed. "We don’t even know where Fiona is living now. We haven’t heard from her since she ran away. And now she’s creating all this?"

Valerie’s face twisted in frustration.

"If she wants to destroy this family, then fine. But she will not drag us through the mud. Not like this."

Catherine clenched her jaw.

"I’m not apologising to her. I’m not bowing down to some guy she picked up on the streets."

Duncan looked at her sharply. "What exactly caused this whole drama, Catherine?"

She looked away.

"Nothing serious. Just that I confronted her about being... involved with a guy. And that she left home."

Valerie shook her head. "This is a mess."