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Chapter 3

Vivianne Sinclair

The air thickened with silence the moment I stepped into the principal’s office.

Dad sat across from the principal, his face burning with fury.

He rose to his feet the moment he noticed my presence, and as he turned to face me, the next thing I felt was a loud smack across my cheek.

My eyes sparked as my hand flew instinctively to cover my burning cheek.

“How dare you embarrass me like this, Vivianne?! Have you become this shameless?!”

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I held it back. My heart ached.

“I gave you everything, and this is how you pay me back?”

I scoffed. Everything? Acting like a good father here, huh? Give me a fucking break, please! When did he ever know that I exist?

I locked eyes with the principal briefly, my fingers tightened beside me as I lowered my gaze.

“Ms. Sinclair…”

My breath caught in my throat the moment the principal's voice echoed in the office.

This wasn't going to go unpunished. I could handle anything else but expulsion.

“You do know what you did is against Stormbridge Academy's code of conduct, right?”

I nodded, biting into my lip.

“And if this gets to the public, it will not only put the school's reputation at risk, but would also worry the parents who has kids here.”

I remained silent.

“This act cannot go unpunished.”

“According to Stormbridge’s rule, you are hereby expelled from the Academy with immediate effect.” he said, tossing an expulsion letter before me.

My knees buckled beneath me, and my jaw almost reached the ground.

I blinked.

“Si…Sir…” My voice cracked, tears welled up in my eyes.

“I…I…” I stuttered, but no words came out.

Dad looked away with disappointment as I turned to him. Not that he would stand up for me anyway.

“You can't do this, Sir. I didn't do…” Tears streamed down my cheeks as my voice trailed off.

“You have thirty minutes to vacate the Academy's dorm.”

I swallowed nothing, clenching my fingers on my backpack as I stared silently.

“Excuse me. I'm busy.” The principal said, turning away from us.

My dad stood and left without another word.

For a second, I thought of going on my knees, but seeing the look on his face… that his mind was already made up, I gave up. He wasn't going to listen to me anyways.

With a heavy heart and without another word, I reached for the expulsion letter before walking out of the principal's office.

I paused in front of the office and my grip tightened on the letter as I was welcomed by Noah.

Right… Noah wasn't summoned too. Not even the principal would dare summon Mr. Boulevard’s son, knowing that the Academy stands a chance to lose its biggest fish… their largest shareholder.

He stood before me, staring with guilt written on his face... As if he regretted it. But I wasn't going to be fooled for the second time.

Why would he feel guilty when he made everything happen?

“Vivi…” His voice trailed off as I walked past him without a glance.

*****

Students hung along the walkway, whispering, laughing, and throwing insults at me as I dragged my suitcase down, but I held my shoulders and head up high.

I paused as I approached the parking unit and spotted Bailey walking towards dad's car. She paused and looked back at me, a smug smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

I joined them in the car, and the ride home began.

I stared out at the window as the car zoomed past the city.

Back home, I headed inside before dad and Bailey, ignoring my stepmom who was sitting in the living room, heading upstairs to my room.

Dad walked in at that moment.

“Vivienne…”

I stopped on the staircase.

“You can stay here today. You're moving out first thing tomorrow morning.”

My grip tightened on my suitcase, and I let out a scoff.

“I can't let you cause any more trouble for this family. I won't let you ruin Sinclair's reputation.”

Throwing me out now and talking reputation? The same reputation my mom built for him? The same company my mom helped raise to the top twenty successful companies in New York before she died?

The next second, my phone pinged with a text. An alert of ten thousand US dollars popped on the screen.

“That should be enough to sort yourself out.”

I huffed. Ten thousand dollars? Will that even pay a year's rent?

I turned to him, blinking back my tears.

“Did you ever see me as your daughter?”

He scoffed, placing his hands on his waist.

“You have never treated me as a daughter. You've never looked at me with love. You've always neglected me—”

“All I asked of you is to be like your sister! If you were just as good as Bailey, I would've loved you!”

“All you do is cause trouble. You are useless, Vivianne! You should never have been born!”

My heart wrenched painfully, but I composed myself. No! They must not see me in tears.

I looked at Bailey, and she smiled softly… as if saying ‘look, I took everything from you’.

I wanted to yell at him… to defend myself and insist on staying here, but fuck it! Staying around these people was already messing with my head anyway.

I lifted my phone to my face and sent the money back to him.

“Save your money. I'm sure you'll need it later when Sinclair group finally goes bankrupt.”

Thankfully, I have some money saved for emergency.

Colours drained from his face.

“How could you say such a thing, Vivienne?!” My stepmom spoke for the first time, her wrinkled face burning with fury.

I looked at her, a smirk touching my lips. “Why? Are you scared you and your daughter would end up on the street if anything goes wrong?”

She tightened her jaw.

“I won't have you speak to my mom like that!” Bailey snapped as she stepped forward.

“What? Scared you'd be bullied in school once you become poor?”

“You are crossing the line, Vivianne!” Dad gritted out, and I scoffed.

“Sinclair group will never go bankrupt… I will make sure of it!” Bailey declared.

“Sure. I'll be waiting.” And with that, I left for my room to get my remaining things.

I'm going to make them all pay. Noah and his friends, Bailey, and dad… I will make them regret everything…