Dark Intention

Chapter 10

Alex

I looked at my brothers. I was furious. How dare she disrespect me like that?

"Shouldn’t you go after her and give her what for, Chris?"

“Mmm.”

“Alex.”

Chris snapped his fingers. I looked up.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, you should go after her and give her a piece of your mind. She can't get away with disrespecting you like that.”

“I know. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

“You sure will, bro.”

I stood up and stormed out of the dining hall. I marched furiously to our room. It was silent inside, so I tried the door.

Locked.

“Vivian! OPEN THE f*****g DOOR, NOW!”

No answer.

“OPEN THE f*****g DOOR RIGHT NOW! I PROMISE I WON’T PUNISH YOU IF YOU DO!”

Still nothing.

“FINE! HAVE IT YOUR WAY! YOU’LL BE SEVERELY PUNISHED FOR THIS, VIVIAN!” I yelled, storming away.

I needed to calm down before I broke the goddamn door down to get to her. She not only disrespected me—she locked me out of my own damn room.

I went to the training room to take out my anger on the punching bags and combat dummies, trying to let go of the tension weighing down my shoulders.

---

Vivian

I slowly came to, still lying on the floor. The room was dark, and I was alone. Then I realized I had been lying against the door. No wonder he couldn’t get in.

Good.

When I came here, I never expected this. I thought he was going to help me stand up to my bullies. Now, he feels like one of them.

I’m sick of him calling me a w***e. I’m not. I’m a virgin—and I’m not going to stoop so low as to give him the satisfaction of sleeping with me. He has girls throwing themselves at him—he doesn’t need me.

I used to believe he wanted to help me. We started training, and I thought it was the beginning of something better. But now, all he does is mock me with his brothers, degrade me, humiliate me. It hurts.

I just want to leave. I’m going to be the laughingstock of the school—again. Not because of the bullies, but because of him and his brothers. They’ve made it their mission to ruin my life.

He has no idea how much his words hurt. They cut deep.

I don’t even know if I’ll make it to Christmas—let alone through my exams. They make me do all their schoolwork, help with meals, and clean up after them like I’m staff. I barely have time to do my own homework, and I’m falling behind.

I need to get out of here—if I even have a home to go back to. He never told me what he said to my parents. I never asked. He gets angry at the slightest thing.

I’m dreading tomorrow. Friday—the last day before the week-long half-term break. Eight weeks in this hellhole was more than enough, even without Alex breathing down my neck.

I slowly, painfully got up off the floor, made my way to the en-suite to freshen up, then slipped into bed and wrapped myself in the duvet, closing my eyes.

---

Alex

After a few hours of venting in the training room, I was almost calm. I showered, but I still didn’t trust myself to face her yet. I crashed in one of the spare rooms to sleep it off.

The next morning, as I stepped into the hallway, I saw Vivian.

And I saw red.

Before she could leave the room, I grabbed her and threw her back inside. She landed beside the bed. I stalked toward her. She looked up, clearly afraid, and began crawling back.

Oh no, not this time.

My hand struck her face.

“You stay there until I’m done. Do you understand?”

She nodded.

“Yes or f*****g no, Vivian?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Good. Now tell me—why the f**k did you disrespect me?”

“I didn’t…”

My fist connected with her face.

“I didn’t, I swear.”

I hit her again. Why wasn’t she fighting back? Hadn’t I taught her to fight back?

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I just wasn’t comfortable with you touching me in front of your brothers and…”

I slapped her hard.

“You disrespected me in front of them. You do what I say. You let me do what I please. Got that?”

She nodded.

“Did you get it or not?” I shouted.

“Yes!” she cried.

Pathetic. Weak. I didn’t want to see her cry.

“Get dressed and meet me for breakfast. We have an hour. Don’t be late,” I snapped, slamming the door behind me.

I’d never hit a woman before. I didn’t know what was happening to me—but I had to get a grip. This wasn’t me.

---

We ate in silence. I saw my brothers smirking at the damage I’d done to Vivian’s face. My fists clenched. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. I was becoming one of them—cold, heartless.

“Ready?”

They all nodded. I grabbed Vivian’s hand and she flinched.

I felt guilty. But I didn’t show it. I had a rep to protect.

At school, everyone stared. They pointed. Whispered. No doubt about Vivian’s bruised face. Jacob passed by, laughing.

“I guess I don’t need to bully her anymore. Who knew her savior would turn into her bully? Nice job, Alex. You’ve outdone yourself this time.”

My fists balled up.

Is that what Vivian thought of me?

“Come on, bro. He’s not worth it.”

I nodded, letting them pull me away before I did something I’d regret again.

The anger simmered all day. I hadn’t meant to lose control—but I had. And Vivian had run off.

We couldn’t find her anywhere. Eventually, our driver told us he’d taken her to the local park—she’d asked to be left alone.

I ordered him to drive us there immediately.

He pulled up to the park and pointed. She was sitting on a bench overlooking the pond—just where he’d left her.

I walked over to her. One look at her face told me she didn’t want to come with me.

But she had no choice.

I’d made sure of that.