CHAPTER FOUR: HIS TENDER SIDE
1286 Words
“Where are you coming from?” Roberto unleaned from the door and asked as Luana tried to sneak back into the house.
Her heart skipped at the sound of his voice. She screamed and slipped, twisting her ankle. Luckily, Roberto was fast enough to catch her before she crashed to the floor.
She stayed frozen, staring up at him. He stood tall, handsome, and masculine, clearly not someone her age but for those few seconds, she couldn't help but admire his beauty.
Realizing herself, she quickly pulled away from his arms. “I’m... I’m sorry, Sir.”
He didn’t respond. He simply helped her to the nearest couch and began massaging her leg with ointment.
She stared at him differently as he did so. this man, powerful and cold on the outside, yet here he was, gently tending to her swollen ankle.
After a few moments of silence, Roberto finally broke it. “Never go out late again.”
She nodded slowly as he packed the ointment back into the first aid box.
“Thank you,” she mumbled.
He paused and looked at her, then continued.
“Thank you for saving me at the pool,” she added.
Another silence crept between them until he asked,
“What were you doing at the pool all alone when you know you can’t swim to save your life?”
She was surprised. “The principal had said it all. Everyone else said it too. And I couldn’t even defend myself,” she muttered. “Why do you care to ask… when I know you won’t believe me?”
Roberto sat upright and looked into her eyes. “I don’t buy that.”
Something shifted in her heart. That was the first time anyone had ever given her the chance to explain herself.
Tears brimmed in her eyes, but before she could say anything, Cecilia barged in.
“Oh my world, you're back!” she announced with mock surprise. “I thought you’d spend the night at your boyfriend’s house. Why can’t you stop disgracing yourself and just be a good girl?”
Roberto stood up to leave. “Go back to your room,” he said to Luana.
As he walked away, Cecilia leaned close to her sister and whispered cruelly,
“I’ll make life a living hell for you. I promise.”
---
The next morning, Cecilia came down to the dining room, neatly dressed for school.
Her parents greeted her with kisses on her cheeks.
“Good morning, Uncle,” she said sweetly to Roberto, as the maid pulled out a seat for her.
As they began eating, Luana came downstairs and greeted everyone, but not a single reply came.
The disgusted looks on their faces as she approached clearly told her she wasn’t welcome at the table.
So, with what little pride she had left, she turned to leave the house, ready to walk to school on an empty stomach.
“Come back and eat,” Roberto called.
“I’m okay, Sir. I...”
“You don’t leave the house in the morning without eating,” he said firmly.
She paused. Looking at the faces of her family, she feared they might lash out at her but they didn’t. They wouldn’t dare disobey Roberto’s command.
Quietly, she sat down at the table, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
“You can’t believe my daughter Cecilia got the highest score in her class during the last exam,” Elisabetta said, starting a conversation with Roberto who seemed more interested in his tea than her bragging.
“Cecilia has always been a good girl. She doesn’t miss classes, and she’s always the best in her grade,” she went on, shooting a sideways glance at Luana. “Unlike Luana, who can’t stop disgracing this family. She’s poor academically and too proud to let Cecilia tutor her.”
Her voice continued ringing until Luana gently got up without touching her food.
“I’m okay,” she said softly and bowed before leaving.
The moment Cecilia finished eating, she stood up and announced,
“Goodbye, Mom. Goodbye, Dad.”
“Oh my angel, I’ll miss you,” her mom gushed.
“Don’t miss me too much, Mom.”
“Come here,” Elisabetta pulled her in and kissed her forehead.
Her father called the driver. “Drive her safely.”
“I will, Sir.”
“Goodbye, Uncle,” Cecilia said and moved in for a hug, but Roberto’s cold expression stopped her halfway.
He wasn’t blind. He had noticed every single action and reaction at the table. He lost his appetite so he stood and left.
---
As Luana trekked to school, an onyx-colored Bentley suddenly pulled up beside her.
The glass wound down, and she was shocked to see Roberto inside, the same man who had been at the dining table just minutes ago.
“Hey small girl, why didn’t you join your sister in the car?” he asked.
“The car is hers,” she replied, struggling with two heavy school bags.
“Two bags? For what?”
“For my sister and me.”
Roberto scoffed to himself. Why be wicked when you have a car and still make someone else carry your bag?
“Get in. You’re late.”
“Sorry?”
He didn’t repeat himself, he just gave her a look.
“Oh, umm… thank you, Sir,” she said and got into the car. The driver zoomed off toward the school.
The moment Luana stepped down from Roberto’s car, all eyes turned on her. But it wasn’t admiration rather it was contempt.
Whispers floated through the air.
“Has she started sleeping with old men?”
“She’s disgusting.”
“She’s always after sugar daddies. What else can she do right?”
“Isn’t that an old man she got down from?”
“Of course. Who else drives a Bentley if not one of those city men who toy with girls?”
The side-talks pierced her ears. Their murmurs echoed inside her chest. She bent her head and rushed to class, trying to swallow the humiliation.
Just as she tried settling into her seat amidst pointing fingers, the principal stormed in.
“Luana! Come with me,” he barked.
She quickly dropped Cecilia’s bag on her sister’s desk and followed him.
The principal begins to roar the moment they got to his office. “You undisciplined student! Because of you, the school lost donations worth millions of dollars! Do you realize the probability of Mr. Roberto supporting this school again is very slim? Now tell me, what will happen if he refuses to donate later?”
Luana stood frozen, completely stunned. Why was he blaming her? Why now?
“Sir, what did I do? I don’t—”
“Shut up!!” he thundered. “I don’t want to hear whatever you have to say. Listen carefully to your punishment.”
He pulled out a file and scribbled in it. “I won’t warn you again. If your name enters this file the fiftieth time, I’ll have you expelled.”
Her eyes brimmed with tears. She couldn’t believe this. She wasn’t the one who told Roberto to pull out of supporting the school. She hadn’t even been there when the decision was made.
“Luana, you have to clean up the theatre hall and the entire chemistry laboratory before you set a foot out of this school!”
“Sir… Sir, please…”
“Shut up! One more word from you, and you’re expelled. Now roll out!”
With a heavy heart and eyes burning with unshed tears, Luana turned and walked out to carry out the punishment.
- Writer
