Page 56 of Vendetta

“Is that right? Tell me Landry, are you also going to let him fuck that pretty little cunt of yours?”

I slap him right across the face, the sound echoing in the dimly lit hallway.

“Fuck you!” I seethed, “It’s none of your business what I do or don’t do. You made it very clear where you stood, and I promised to stay out of your life. So stay the fuck out of mine!”

His head slowly turned back to face me, a bright red mark blooming across his cheek. It felt like an eternity passed before he finally spoke.

“I want you to leave Ivybrook,” he growled, his voice lower and eyes darker than I had ever witnesses.

His words stabbed me like a knife, my gut coiling as I forced myself to harden my gaze while trying as hard as I could not to cry.

“No,” I responded. “I apologized. I told you that I was sorry, and I told you that I would stay away. But you do not get to try to scare me away. News flash, Cashton—You don’t run this school, asshole. So stay out of my way, and I’ll stay out of yours. You’ve done enough. Bexley told me everything, about how you essentially drugged me during my Communications presentation, and how you rigged the games to make sure that you could abduct and torment me. I know everything. I guess your best buddies have looser lips than you thought. You’ve done enough, now let me be.”

His jaw clenched, the vein in his neck pulsing as his fists clenched. He didn’t know that I had found out. I’m not sure exactly who Bexley had spoken with, but she had learned all about the lengths that Cashton had gone to make my time at Ivybrook miserable. And throwing it in his face that his friends weren’t as loyal as he thought was a satisfying win.

His hand wrapped around my throat—Not hard enough to cut off my air, but still firm. Panic rose through me at the look on his face, nothing but pure wrath as his eyes bore daggers at me.

“You know what, Landry?” he practically whispered, his voice turned dangerously low. I gulped under his hand, my handstrembling at my sides where I forced them to stay rather than fighting his hold.

“Stay. Spread your legs around Ivybrook, and see if I care. Wear that perfect mask of yours. Because do you know what you are under all of your facades? Nothing. You are nothing. And I think that deep down, you know that. So fuck whoever you want, do whatever you want, because you mean nothing to me, Landry.”

I forced myself to hold back tears and keep my face stoic, not willing to show this man just how much he had gotten under my skin.

Without another word, he released his hold on me, turning and walking back towards the direction of the ballroom. I watched him leave, waiting until I was completely alone before sinking down against the wall and letting the tears silently flow.

CHAPTER 29

LANDRY

“Do you guys have any special plans or are you just staying home tonight?” I asked Bexley, placing my phone on speaker and setting it on the kitchen counter as I pressed the rolling pin into the dough for my home-made pasta. I had ordered a pasta maker for myself as an early Christmas present, one of the only ones I would be receiving, but it wouldn’t be arriving until the new year.

“Just staying in, nothing crazy. I wish you could be here with us,” she responded.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m making some pasta and then I plan on binge watching some rom-coms and taking a long bath. But tell your parents I said happy New Year and that I miss them!”

“Will do!” she chuckles, and I hear her turn away from the phone to relay the message as they send well wishes back.

“I’ll let you go. Have a great evening! Love you!” I speak into the phone.

“You too! I’ll call you at midnight,” she replies before we hang up.

It was New Year’s Eve, and my only plans were to make myself dinner for one and then curl into bed until midnight came around. I had the entire estate to myself, the house feeling twice as lonely without the typical staff. My father must have given them the holidays off, not needing to keep them from their families since he was out of town and it was only me staying here over the break.

I hadn’t had any more communication with him after his last email about being gone, glad for some alone time to recoup and relax before the start of the new semester.

The heated indoor pool had kept me occupied, along with reading some of the books that Olivia and Bexley had recommended—And of course some online shopping as well. I had also made good use of the kitchen, the massive space much easier to work around than the one provided by the campus dorms.

I hit play on one of my favorite true crime podcasts, placing the headphones over my ears as I listened to some twenty-year-old unsolved murder, while plating my pasta and making my way to the couch. Being alone throughout the holidays wasn’t the most ideal scenario in the world, but it was still better than some of the alternatives.

Olivia, TJ, and Nate were attending the New Year’s Eve party at Cashton, Zayn, and Kaptan’s house. I had once planned on going, until everything had gone down between Cashton and I. Olivia had once again begged me to come and said she wouldconvince him to agree, but I had told her that I needed some time away from everyone to clear my head. At this moment, I couldn’t imagine anything worse than being stuck in the same proximity as Cashton. That is, until I heard the lock on the front door clicking.

My heart stalled, my body going rigid as I heard the front doors opening, followed by the sound of a bag being dropped on the floor and footsteps making their way through the foyer. My face blanched.

“Dad?” I hesitantly asked as my father walked into the living room, his face coming into view. “What are you doing here?”

“My connecting flight was cancelled because of this damn weather.”

The thunder boomed outside as if to prove his point, the rain assaulting the living room windows. My breath caught in my lungs, my heart pounding as I tried to figure out how to proceed.

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