Temptation

Chapter 27

« L'eau fait pleurer, le vin fait chanter. »

«Water makes one cry, wine makes one sing.»
~~~~~

A black car and two suited men waiting in a parking lot never had a good ending. I was familiar with this routine. A particular conversation wasn't safe to be discussed at school, even in my townhouse, for some reason. So, Mark would send these guys to drive me somewhere safe to talk. It's usually this office thirteen minutes away from campus.

We entered the high elective floor. They directed me to a meeting room with plain white walls, a long table with ten seats. A pile of papers was waiting for me. The screen projector turned on, and who I expected appeared.

Mark was silent. I knew he was waiting to explode, but I wasn't scared of what stupidity he would bring to the table. We haven't talked since the last time, and I was still sour; he didn't even check on me when I told him I wasn't mentally okay.

"Sit down."

I sat down quietly, and I wasn't in the mood to argue. The conversation I had earlier with Julian took all my energy.

"First, I'm glad you passed all the tests."

I stared at him instead of answering him. Was I supposed to say thank you? Regardless, I wasn't thankful.

"Why am I here? I have things to do."

"I'm afraid your "things" need to wait. Why we are here for is more important." He reprimanded me.

"I just learned that Julian De Elvero is going to be the Valedictorian of Trinity Fox." He continued.

"And?"

"And? Is that your answer to that? Are you even taking this situation seriously?"

"If you asked for more information, you will also know that I will be the next Salutatorian," I stated.

"Which will need a lot of work."

"Isn't that what you want?" I crossed my arms and leaned back on the chair.

"I want you to work hard to be the first, not to be second!" He raised his voice.

"And I am working hard to reach my best, and I know you want me to be always extraordinary, but that is the best you will ever get. Since the first day I got here, you told me this is high school! As long I graduated, I was okay. I needed to enjoy my life as a teenager. Well, I am not enjoying life. Now everything has changed. I understand this is my last year, but if you wanted me to be the Valedictorian, you should have told me since the first year, not now! Because it's too late! I am just an average kid trying my hardest to be on top for my father with the worst mental health, but you don't care!"

"These are excuses for your failure, and I will not tolerate them. Let this be clear, if you are not the next Salutatorian of Trinity Fox, you will be forced to say Goodbye to Royal Inc."

I sarcastically laughed and got up from the chair and leaned over the table to watch him mouth those words.

"That's exactly what I meant, now every single stupid thing that will not even count is ready to be the cause of my downfall. It feels like you don't want me to be up there. When you told me that last week, I starved and isolated myself from my friends to study because you frightened me. I was scared to lose the only thing my dad left for me, and hell, I'm still scared. But you are using it against me like I'm not the company's heiress; it is going nowhere. Only if I'm dead will I give up this place. I will be the next Salutatorian of this school because I am competing and fighting for my father's work. Not because of your threats."