Page 8 of Delilah In Discretion

“These days, people care a lot more about how much money Daddy makes and how important your family is. You would think Killian being your father grants you a pass, but… you’d be surprised to know you were the next target.”

My heart raced as he was only a few inches away. I should’ve been more concerned with what he said, but my mind was still busy processing how close he was.

“W-what do you mean?” I asked, trying to distract myself from my growing nervousness.

Wordlessly, he leaned down to pick up my bag and handed it to me as he spoke.

“Keep to yourself, and you won’t have to find out, sweetheart.” And then he walked away as I watched him silently. Like many times before, he left me thinking—about his actions, his words… and abouthim. It was utterly annoying how much he affected me.

Looking at the clock, I noticed my class started in a few minutes, so I straightened myself up and walked to the room. Once it finished, I texted Kimiko to meet outside so we could have lunch.

As I made my way out of the classroom and walked toward the exit, I flinched as the sound of something banging against a door rang into the halls. I looked around as a few of the students seemed frightened by the sound but weren’t as confused as I was. Gazing down the hall to see a small crowd had formed near the noise, I cautiously walked over.

My hand flew to cover my mouth when the sound rang aloud again, but only this time I could see what it was—or who it was. It was a boy who had short black hair and wore glasses. He slid down the door, and I heard a dark chuckle.

“Pathetic. Do you honestly think I wouldn’t have found you?” A voice with a slight British accent spoke, and my mind told me to run for it, but my feet were unwillingly making their way to the crowd. A few of the students let me get by, as I didn’t hinder their view much, and my breath hitched at the scene.

“It wasn’t hard, honestly... everyone here would know the smell of poverty from a mile away, but you don’t seem to. Oh,forgive me. I must have forgotten. You would know because your father barely makes a cent in his shit business.”

The boy sat against the door as three other guys stood a few feet away, the one in the middle holding onto his sinister smile.

“It’s pitiful, really. Your father works his ass off for mine, and a few years from now… you’ll be doing the same for me. Did you not learn your lesson when you first came to this school? If it didn’t click the second you enrolled when you were a child… I’ll give you a hint.You’re not fucking welcome here.”

The boy attempted to get back up on his feet.

The smile on the face of the guy in the middle was starting to fade, and he lifted his hand and snapped his fingers twice. In an instant, the boys beside him walked over and pinned the boy down as they threw punches at his stomach and a few to his face.

Tears started gathering in my eyes, and when another threw another punch, a small gasp left my lips as I jumped. Unsurprisingly, everyone heard it as the so-called “group leader” turned his head and stared at me. I could feel my heart stopping, and he slowly turned back to the boys and spoke.

“All right…” Immediately, the boys stopped, and the one on the floor sat in defeat. He didn’t look to have anything broken, but parts of his face already began to swell.

The leader then glanced at me for a split second before speaking again. “He’s had enough. For now.”

They walked away from the scene, and the students backed away so the three of them could leave. The crowd started to disperse, but I couldn’t seem to move. My words were trapped in my throat as I watched him sit on the ground. What did I just witness?

“It’s not like high school or grade school... The students there are much more intense…”

“These days, people care a lot more about how much money Daddy makes and how important your family is.”

Was this what Kimiko and Archer meant by fucking “different?” This seemed more like high school and grade school rather than university. Only now, it seemed like there wasn’t an administrator in sight to break up the chaos as they would’ve done in the past.

Bringing myself back to reality, I took one step towards the boy, but the click of my heel made him freeze. He looked up at me, and the look in his eyes held anger, and they were full of vengeance.

“You stay the hell away from me,” he seethed, and I stopped in my tracks with a look of confusion plastered on my face.

I heard the clicks of another person’s heels and a voice.

“Delilah.”

I looked up at Kimi, and she immediately noticed the look in my eyes. She walked over to me and dragged me away from the boy.

“Kimi—”

“Did you let him see you?” she asked quickly, and I responded.

“What do you mean—”

“Did Crawford notice you in the crowd?” I stopped in my tracks and turned her around. She looked into my eyes, and her face softened as she saw the unshed tears in my eyes.

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