The Bad Girl's Good Side

Chapter 23: Kill Me Now

💦VERY IMPORTANT💦

Okay, so, a lot of you guys have already forgotten Stanley. Well if you check chapter 55 of TGGBS, you'll get an explanation. But just to paraphrase it, Stanley is the guy who used to bully Hailey in the absence of her older brother and Hailey hates him. He also "helped" with the whole 'stop Luther' team mission, but he betrayed them in the end and Tristan was beating him up before Hailey was shot saving Tristan.

Hope that sums everything up.

Anyway, back to the chapter!
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Chapter 23:
Kill Me Now

"Sam told me that you go to Caltech," I break the dreadful silence pervading in the car as we drive to fetch my car.

I recall the day Sam told me that Tristan is a Caltech student-I was astounded. I know that he is highly intelligent and I understand how he got into Caltech, not to mention that he comes from a wealthy family, so the school had to accept him. I just wish he would have told me about his application to that school. I would have loved to be next to him when he received his acceptance letter, to embrace him tightly in congratulation and to kiss him out of happiness.

But life happened.

"Yep," he nods without offering me a glance.

"What are you studying?" I prod further to fight the palpable tension in the car.

I never asked Sam about what Tristan is studying but I was, and still am, interested. I was just confused at his choice of university because I remember him telling me that his father wants him to major in business so that soon he could take over the company and continue the Wilder legacy.

"Structural Engineering."

"Not business?" I scrunch my eyebrow to show my bewilderment. "I thought your dad wanted you to go into the business field."

"He did," only now he looks at me after stopping at a red traffic light. "But I told him that if he doesn't allow me to study what I want, then he'll have to wait for Evan to reach 18 so he could take over the company."

At the mention of his little brother, I suddenly feel nostalgic. I miss my family, without the secrecy, and I miss being at the Wilder's mansion. I miss the twins and how we'd stay up late watching animation movies. I even miss Lizzy scolding Evan and Emily for staying up late with us.

"So he agreed to that?" I ask Tristan, who nods in response.

"He had no choice," he casually shrugs. "He has to retire soon because of his medical condition -"

"Medical condition?" I gasp with worry. "Is he okay?"

Even though I wasn't that close with Mr Wilder, I still care about him because he ended up becoming family as well.

"He's okay," he laughs at my worried state. "He just has a minor heart problem. The doctor said that he's condition's going to worsen as the years go by and that he has to withdraw from stress. So he has to pass down the company soon."

"That's sad," I say with a sad pout.

Tristan laughs at my reaction, immediately making me forget about the worrying topic and making me concentrate on his laughter. The sound makes me nostalgic, taking me back to the days we'd hang out and joke around all day long.