Daddy’s wild girl

Chapter 35

The hallway was thick with a silence so heavy it felt physical. Every student stood frozen, their breath hitching as they watched the unthinkable: Ethan, the untouchable king of the school, sprawled on the floor.

Ethan’s hand flew to his jaw, his fingers coming away stained with a smudge of crimson. He looked up, his eyes wide with a shock that quickly sharpened into a jagged, dangerous edge. He wasn't used to pain, and he certainly wasn't used to it coming from her.

"Is this your way of saying thank you?" he barked, his voice echoing off the lockers. He stood up slowly, looming over her, his presence usually enough to make anyone wither.

"Thank you?" Bella’s voice was a jagged blade. She let out a short, hysterical scoff that sounded more like a growl.

"Yes," Ethan snapped, stepping into her space, trying to reclaim his dominance.

"Oh, f**k you, you bloody cunt!" Bella screamed.

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. No one spoke to Ethan like that. No one. Ethan’s face contorted, his hand squeezing into a white-knuckled fist. The insult hit him harder than the pliers had.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" he roared. He lunged forward, his fingers snagging the collar of her shirt, his face inches from hers.

But Bella didn't flinch. Instead of the fear he expected, he found a wall of pure, unadulterated rage. She jerked her body back with a strength that shouldn't have been possible for a girl her size, shoving him away with such force that Ethan actually stumbled. He stared at his own hands, stunned by her resilience.

"Don’t f*****g touch me," she hissed, her voice low and vibrating with a primal threat. "Or I will gauge your eyes out. I mean it."

For a split second, a twisted shadow of a smile danced on Ethan's lips. He liked the fire; he liked the hunt. But the smile died as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a deep, dark frown.

"Hey! How dare you talk to Ethan like that?" one of the boys from the crowd shouted, stepping forward to defend his leader.

Bella didn't even hesitate. She spun around and launched the metal pliers. They flew through the air with deadly accuracy, striking the boy in the chest and sending him crashing to the floor. The message was clear: she wasn't just after Ethan. She was after the whole system.

"This is a warning to all of you!" Bella yelled, her gaze sweeping across the hallway, pinning every student in place. Her eyes seemed to glow with a strange, golden intensity. "Try me, and I will f*****g kill every one of you monsters!"

She didn't wait for a response. She turned on her heel and marched away, the crowd parting like the Red Sea.

She nearly ran into Reyes at the end of the hall. He looked at her disheveled state, his eyes full of concern. "Bella? Are you okay? What happened here?"

"I’m fine," she said, her voice like ice. She didn't slow down, didn't look at him, and didn't stop until she was out of sight.

Reyes’ expression darkened. He turned toward the center of the hall, where Ethan was wiping blood from his lip. Reyes moved like a predator, closing the distance in seconds and grabbing Ethan by the collar, slamming him back against a locker.

"I told you one thing," Reyes growled, his voice a low, lethal vibration. "Stay away from her. You owed me, Ethan."

Ethan didn't look intimidated. Instead, a slow, mocking smirk spread across his face. "Not anymore," he said.

Reyes’ eyes twitched. "What do you mean?"

"I stayed away. I used your favor," Ethan said, his voice dripping with malice. He reached up and casually peeled Reyes’ fingers off his collar. "But she just attacked me. She started something new, Reyes. And now? I’m going to end it."

Ethan gave him a chilling, fake "eye smile" before turning his back and walking away, leaving Reyes standing in the middle of the wreckage.

Back in her room, the adrenaline finally began to leak out of Bella’s system, leaving behind a hollow, aching void. She looked like a madwoman. Her hair was a tangled mess, her clothes were damp and wrinkled, and her chest was heaving.

"Ahhh!" she screamed, a raw, guttural sound of pure agony.

Molly jumped up from her bed, rushing over to her friend. "Bella! What’s wrong? What happened?"

Bella collapsed onto the floor, the tears finally breaking through. She wasn't just angry anymore; she was heartbroken by the weight of it all.

"I f*****g hate him," she sobbed into her hands, her body shaking with the force of her grief. "I hate him so much."

Molly didn't need to ask who "him" was. She wrapped her arms around Bella, pulling her close as the girl trembled. "I know," Molly whispered, her voice a soothing contrast to Bella's raw sobs. "It's okay. We’re going to figure this out. Everything will be fine, I promise."

But outside those four walls, the rest of the school was in a state of high alert.

Amelia paced her room like a caged animal, her high heels clicking sharply against the floor. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with a mix of terror and confusion.

"That b***h saw me, right?" Amelia snapped, turning to her friends. "She looked right at me."

Lila and Sophia nodded quickly, looking just as shaken. They had watched a girl they thought was at the bottom of the pool walk through the front doors like a ghost seeking vengeance.

"We tried to kill her," Lila whispered, her voice trembling. "We pushed her in. How is she here? And why did she go for Ethan instead of us?"

"What do you think she has planned next?" Sophia asked, hugging her arms to her chest.

Amelia’s gaze hardened. The shock was wearing off, replaced by the desperate need to protect her own skin. "I don’t know," she hissed. "But I have to put an end to her before she puts an end to me."

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the boys' dorm was thick with tension and the smell of expensive cigarettes. Ethan sat in his leather armchair, leaning back with a nonchalance that didn't match the dark bruise forming on his jaw.

A group of older students stood before him, shifting uncomfortably. They were waiting for orders. They wanted a green light to tear Bella apart for what she had done in the hallway.

"Boss," one of the boys stepped forward, trying to sound tough. "What do you want us to do to that b***h? Just give the word and she's done."

Ethan stopped mid-puff. He lowered his cigarette, his eyes turning cold as they locked onto the boy.

"What did you just say?" Ethan asked, his voice dangerously low.

The boy swallowed hard, his bravado flickering. "I... I said, what do you want us to do to the new student? For hitting you?"

"No," Ethan uttered, standing up slowly. The height difference alone was enough to make the boy flinch. "What did you call her?"

"Uhm... a b***h?" the boy stammered, looking around at the others for support. He found none.

Before the boy could blink, Ethan’s fist connected with his jaw. As the boy fell, Ethan reached down, pressing the glowing cherry of his cigarette against the back of the boy's hand. A sharp cry of pain filled the room.

"Never in your life call her that again," Ethan hissed, leaning over him. He looked up at the rest of the group, his expression terrifying. "In fact, I don’t want any of you touching her. You don't look at her, you don't speak to her. You leave her to me. Is that clear?"

The students nodded frantically, backing away toward the door. They scrambled out of the room, leaving Ethan alone in the silence.

He sat back down, taking a slow, deep drag of his cigarette. He watched the smoke curl toward the ceiling, his mind filled with the image of Bella’s glowing eyes and the weight of her hand against his face.

A slow, dark smirk spread across his lips.

"I will ruin you, Bella," he whispered into the empty room.

It wasn't a threat of death. It was a promise of something much slower, and much more personal.