NEW BEGINNING...? Part II
1823 Words
Only after they disappeared into the crowd did Nate release the breath he'd been holding.
Daniel sat back down with a frown.
Adam lowered his voice.
"Young Master... I think they were trying to provoke you."
Daniel scoffed.
"More like bully him."
The word lingered in Nate's mind.
Bully.
It sounded strangely foreign.
Ever since enrolling at the university, he'd always kept to himself, avoiding unnecessary attention and staying away from the rich students and their endless drama.
Now...
Whether he wanted to or not...
He had become one of them.
Nate reached the restroom and pushed open the door.
Before he could step inside, someone grabbed his arm and yanked him backward.
His eyes widened.
Angela.
She stood directly in front of him, the same pleasant smile still resting on her face.
Her friends spread out behind her, quietly blocking the hallway.
Nate frowned.
"What do you want?"
Angela tilted her head.
"Can't a classmate congratulate a newlywed?"
"I've already been congratulated."
"So you have."
Her smile widened.
"But we wanted a private conversation."
The girls behind her burst into quiet laughter.
Nate let out a slow breath.
"I'm not interested."
He stepped to the side.
Angela caught his wrist.
His patience snapped another notch.
"Angela."
His voice was calm.
Dangerously calm.
"Move."
Instead of listening, she looked him up and down.
"So..."
"Which one are you?"
Nate stared at her.
"The husband?"
Another girl giggled.
"No."
"I think he's the wife."
More laughter.
Another voice joined in.
"Maybe he's just the Blackwoods' newest pet."
"I wonder how much they paid you," Angela said with a mocking smile.
"I mean... what is a broke, barren Beta worth these days?"
One of the girls covered her mouth dramatically.
"Maybe there's something special about him we don't know."
Angela's eyes sparkled with fake curiosity.
"Tell us, Nate."
"What's your secret?"
Silence.
Nate slowly pulled his wrist free.
"I've heard enough."
He turned to leave.
Angela grabbed him again.
"I said move."
This time, his voice carried an edge.
Her smile disappeared.
"What are you going to do about it?"
Nate met her eyes.
"Grow up."
The words landed harder than he intended.
Angela's face darkened.
Without warning...
SLAP!
The sound echoed through the hallway.
For a moment...
Everything went silent.
Nate's head snapped to the side.
His cheek burned instantly.
A sharp metallic taste spread across his tongue.
Blood.
He slowly looked back at Angela.
She still had her hand raised.
His heartbeat thundered inside his ears.
Then...
She reached for his arm again.
That was the final straw.
Acting on pure instinct, Nate shoved her away.
Hard.
Angela stumbled backward, crashing into the girls behind her.
Three of them lost their balance and fell to the floor with startled cries.
Nate didn't wait.
He turned and walked away, his jaw clenched so tightly it hurt.
Behind him...
Angela's smile slowly returned.
Nate's footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Fast.
Controlled.
He refused to look back.
His cheek throbbed with every step, the sting refusing to fade. He lifted a hand and lightly brushed his fingers against it before looking down.
Blood.
A thin streak of crimson stained his fingertips.
He clenched his jaw.
Not because of the pain.
Because he had let her get under his skin.
The cafeteria came into view.
The moment he stepped inside, Daniel and Adam looked up.
Daniel was the first to notice.
"Nate..."
His smile vanished.
"What happened to your face?"
Adam was already on his feet.
His eyes immediately settled on the angry red mark spreading across Nate's cheek.
For the first time since Nate had met him, Adam's expression hardened.
"Young Master..."
Nate shook his head before either of them could ask another question.
"Let's just go."
He had barely taken another step when a series of gasps rippled through the cafeteria.
Then came the whispers.
"They're back..."
"That's him."
"Oh my God..."
Nate frowned.
His phone vibrated inside his pocket.
Once.
Then again.
And again.
He pulled it out.
Dozens of notifications flooded his screen.
Messages.
Mentions.
Tags.
His heartbeat slowed.
Almost unwillingly, he tapped the first notification.
A video filled the screen.
It had already been uploaded to one of the university's student forums.
The footage began just as Angela stumbled backward.
There was no slap.
No insults.
No harassment.
Only Nate shoving a frightened-looking Angela to the floor.
The angle made him look violent.
Cold.
Aggressive.
The caption read:
BLACKWOOD HEIR'S HUSBAND ASSAULTS FEMALE STUDENT ON CAMPUS.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
The comments refreshed faster than he could read them.
I knew he was hiding something.
Money really changes people.
Poor Angela.
He's abusing the Blackwoods' influence already.
Imagine attacking a girl.
Each comment felt heavier than the last.
None of them knew what had really happened.
None of them cared.
"Nate..."
Daniel spoke quietly.
Nate couldn't answer.
A familiar voice suddenly drifted across the cafeteria.
"It still hurts..."
Everyone turned.
Angela had returned.
Her friends surrounded her as though escorting a wounded hero.
One girl supported her by the arm.
Another glared openly at Nate.
Angela lifted her head.
Across the crowded cafeteria, her eyes met Nate's.
For the briefest moment...
She smiled.
Not a wide smile.
Not a victorious one.
Just a tiny, satisfied curve of her lips.
Then it disappeared.
She lowered her gaze and gently rubbed her shoulder.
"I was only trying to congratulate him," she whispered.
"I didn't think he'd push me..."
Several students immediately gathered around her.
"Are you okay?"
"Should we call the campus clinic?"
"That was horrible."
"I can't believe he'd do that."
Nate stood frozen.
The real victim had become the villain.
And the villain...
Had become everyone's sweetheart.
Something tightened painfully inside his chest.
It was heavier than fear.
Heavier than anger.
Heavier even than the suffocating weight he'd felt on the day of his wedding.
This...
This was the life he'd married into.
A life where the truth no longer mattered.
Only appearances.
Daniel looked ready to explode.
"That's a lie!"
He took one step forward.
Nate grabbed his wrist.
Daniel turned back in disbelief.
"Nate?"
"It's not worth it."
"But she's-"
"I said..."
Nate swallowed the lump forming in his throat.
"...it's not worth it."
Adam stepped closer, his voice calm but edged with restrained anger.
"Young Master, give the order."
Nate looked at him.
"For what?"
"I can handle this."
For a second...
Nate almost said yes.
Almost.
Instead, he slowly shook his head.
"No."
Adam frowned.
"But-"
"No."
His voice was firmer this time.
"We're leaving."
Neither Daniel nor Adam argued.
The three of them walked through the sea of whispers.
Every step felt heavier than the last.
Every pair of eyes seemed fixed on Nate.
Every whispered sentence cut a little deeper.
No one tried to stop them.
No one asked for his side of the story.
Their minds had already been made up.
The afternoon sun hung low in the sky as they stepped out of the university.
The whispers didn't stop.
Some students openly pointed in Nate's direction.
Others pretended not to look while secretly recording him on their phones.
Their voices followed him all the way to the parking lot.
"That's him..."
"The one from the video."
"I heard he attacked Angela for no reason."
"Money changes people."
"So that's the Blackwoods' son-in-law?"
Each sentence dug a little deeper.
Nate kept walking.
Head held high.
Shoulders straight.
As though none of it mattered.
Daniel glanced at him several times.
He knew that look.
Nate only wore it when he was forcing himself not to fall apart.
Adam hurried ahead and opened the rear door of the waiting sedan.
Nate climbed inside without a word.
Daniel slid in after him.
Adam quietly closed the door before taking his place in the driver's seat.
The moment the doors shut, silence settled over the car.
No whispers.
No judgment.
No curious stares.
Only silence.
Adam started the engine and slowly pulled away from the university.
For several minutes, no one spoke.
Daniel stole another glance at Nate.
His friend hadn't moved.
He sat staring blankly out of the window, his reflection faintly visible in the glass.
The angry red mark on his cheek had darkened into an ugly bruise.
A tiny streak of dried blood remained near the corner of his mouth.
Daniel's chest tightened.
"...Nate?"
No response.
"Nate."
This time, Nate blinked.
"Hm?"
"You don't have to pretend with me."
The words were soft.
Gentle.
Almost careful.
Nate let out a quiet laugh.
A hollow one.
"I'm not pretending."
Daniel didn't answer.
He simply opened his arms.
For a second, Nate stared at him.
Then...
Everything he had been holding together came undone.
He leaned forward, burying his face against Daniel's shoulder.
His body trembled.
The first sob escaped before he could stop it.
Then another.
And another.
Soon, quiet sobs filled the back seat of the car.
Daniel wrapped both arms around him without saying a single word.
There was nothing he could say.
No joke could fix this.
No reassurance could erase what had happened.
So he simply stayed there.
Holding his best friend together while he fell apart.
From the front seat, Adam watched the reflection in the rearview mirror.
His grip on the steering wheel tightened.
A knot of guilt settled heavily in his stomach.
He had been assigned one responsibility.
Protect Nate.
And on his very first day...
He had failed.
If he had ignored Nate's order...
If he had followed him anyway...
None of this would have happened.
Adam lowered his eyes.
"I am sorry, Young Master," he whispered, barely loud enough for himself to hear.
His phone suddenly vibrated in the cup holder.
The screen lit up.
FIRST YOUNG MASTER
Adam's expression stiffened.
For a long moment, he simply stared at the name flashing across the screen.
Then he answered through his earpiece.
"First Young Master."
A calm voice came through the line.
"Report."
Adam glanced once more into the rearview mirror.
Nate was still crying quietly in Daniel's arms.
The bruise on his cheek stood out like a fresh wound.
Adam took a slow breath.
His voice was steady.
But inside...
He already knew what was coming.
"Young Master Nate was assaulted on campus."
A long silence answered him.
Too long.
Then Derrick spoke.
"...Who?"
Just one word.
Cold.
Controlled.
Far more frightening than shouting.
Adam swallowed.
"The student responsible is Angela Trinz."
Silence filled the line once again.
Finally...
"I'll handle it."
The call ended.
Adam slowly lowered the phone.
He had worked for the Blackwoods long enough to recognize that tone.
Someone had crossed a line they should never have crossed.
He looked into the rearview mirror one last time.
At Nate.
At the bruise.
At Daniel quietly comforting him.
Then he returned his eyes to the road.
Only one thought echoed through his mind.
Angela Trinz had no idea what she had just started.
- Writer
