Page 7 of Be My Traitor

“She’s never asked about him,” I said. “She doesn’t need to know. The two of us are fine just as we are.”

“Even so, Milly. As a mother, I can see how important a father figure is to Louis. I know how great a mum you are, how much you’ve always wanted to do your best for Amber. Don’t you think you owe it to her to tell Lucas what happened? Maybe he’s got a good explanation for why he walked out on you. You should give him a chance.”

“You’re a better person than I am, Ivy,” I said. “You always have been. I don’t know if I’m brave enough to even face Lucas, let alone tell him about Amber.”

“Of course, you are,” Ivy said. “And you’ve got me to support you. I mean, whatever you decide, I’ve got your back. But if I were you, I’d tell Lucas about his daughter sooner rather than later. It’ll only get worse the longer you leave it.”

Chapter 4

I’d always loved my job, but walking into the Academy the following Monday was the hardest thing I’d ever done. Knowing that Lucas was officially head meant that I was bound to have to deal with him and I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do about Amber.

I’d thought about what Ivy had said all weekend. I’d barely been able to sleep because I was so stressed about what might happen if I told him about Amber. Would he want access to her? Would he fight me for custody? Amber and I were a perfect little family, just the two of us. Lucas had the power to ruin all of that.

Or what if he wanted nothing to do with us? I didn’t know what would be worse – Lucas deciding he wanted Amber in his life or Lucas turning his back on us again. Whatever he did, nothing good could come from telling him he had a daughter. Ivy might be the person I turned to for advice all the time, but on this occasion she was wrong. I was keeping my secret. It was only a matter of time before Lucas got bored and left town again.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

I heard the sounds of an all-too-familiar chant filtering through the hallways and I hurried in the direction of the sound. I pushed my way through the crowd that had gathered in one of the classrooms to the clearing at the centre where two girls were trying to tear each other’s hair out.

“That’s enough!” I forced myself between the two of them, making them step back. “You are young ladies! This behaviour is unacceptable!”

I got my first good look at the two girls and shook my head in disappointment. “Fenella Knight. I expected better of one of my cousins. We are Knights. We don’t lower ourselves to these petty squabbles.”

“It’s not my fault, miss,” Fenella protested. “Chantal was bullying Daisy. You always told us that it’s a Knight’s duty to stand up for the underdog. Daisy’s younger than Chantal. She can’t stand up for herself.”

“Is this right, Chantal?” I turned to the other girl in the fight. “Were you bullying Daisy?”

“No way, miss!” Chantal’s eyes were overly wide in that trying to look innocent expression that told me Fenella was telling the truth. “Daisy and me are best friends, aren’t we Daise?”

She reached over and grabbed a younger girl, pulling her towards us. I couldn’t help but notice the way the girl winced and I wondered what exactly Chantal had been doing before Fenella stepped in.

“Daisy?” I spoke gently, hoping the girl would speak up for herself, but knowing it was highly unlikely she would.

“Chantal’s right,” Daisy said softly. “We’re friends. We were just messing around when Fenella decided to interfere.”

“Oh comeon!” Fenella groaned. “Stand up for yourself, Daisy. You’re a Knight too! We aren’t afraid of anything.”

If only,I thought.

“All right, girls,” I said. “I’ve heard enough. Fenella and Chantal – you’ve both got detention for a week.”

“But miss,” wailed Fenella. “I’ve got hockey practice. I’ll be kicked off the team if I miss it.”

“You should have thought of that before you started fighting,” I said. “The pair of you should consider yourselves lucky I’m not marching you into Mr Donatello’s office to be suspended. But if I find you fighting again, make no mistake. I’ll make sure you receive a very harsh punishment. Do you understand?”

“Yes, miss.” Fenella and Chantal both looked miserable at the news, but they had no idea how lucky they were. King Academy had a zero-tolerance policy towards violence. If Jenny was still head, I’d be marching them both to her office where they’d be lucky if a suspension was all they got. It was only because I couldn’t bear being around Lucas that I was giving them detention instead.

“All right, everyone.” I clapped my hands, gazing round at the crowd which was still there, enjoying the drama. “Classes are about to start. You’ve all got places to be, so I suggest you go there before the bell rings and you’re late.”

Daisy made to follow the others out, but I pulled her to one side. “A quiet word, Daisy?”

“I’ve got class, miss.” The girl looked incredibly uncomfortable, but I wasn’t going to let her off. If she’d stood up for herself, Fenella wouldn’t be risking her place on the hockey team.

“This won’t take long.”

I shooed away a couple of straggling students and closed the door to the classroom so we could talk in private.

“I don’t believe for a second that you and Chantal are best friends,” I said. “In fact, I think Fenella told me the truth about everything. Am I right?”

---