Chapter 4 Please Don't Blame Stephen
1173 Words
Stephen's eyes went wide.
He should have pushed her off—but for some reason, he didn't.
Maybe it was her long lashes or the shy look in her eyes. Maybe it was how good she smelled.
Either way, his brain stopped working, and his heart was about to pound right out of his chest.
The air went completely silent. Everyone just stared.
Lorna felt like she'd been slapped—hard, and multiple times.
'This woman—right in front of me—she's actually bold enough to throw herself at Stephen?'
She'd barely been able to stomach how Stephen kept defending that little b***h earlier. After all, Laura was the i***t who threw the hot water first, and Elizabeth was technically his adopted sister.
But now, they'd actually kissed.
The last thread of sanity in Lorna's mind snapped.
She stormed over in two steps and yanked Elizabeth to her feet. "You little bit—"
Elizabeth smiled to herself.
'There she goes, finally can't hold it in anymore.'
"Laura, didn't I already forgive you? Why did you push me again? You made me fall down." Elizabeth cut her off, one hand over her lips, her eyes growing red.
Lorna stopped mid-sentence, all that rage stuck in her chest. Then she heard the fake innocent tone—the one that sounded sad but was really just shifting the blame. Her heart dropped.
'Oh, no.'
Everyone had already turned to look at Laura.
Sure enough, Laura was jerking her hand back, panicking. "It wasn't me. She fell on her own. That's right. She did it on purpose. Eliza, you set me up. You set Lorna up. And now you're setting Stephen up. You're so evil."
Laura finally realized—even as dumb as she was—that she'd been played.
'She provoked me on purpose. Then she pretended to fall, just to get close to Stephen. I have to expose this bitch.'
She told the truth, then looked at her classmates with hope—they usually got along so well—waiting for them to take her side.
But Laura's expression froze soon.
Because what she saw—sadly—was that no one believed her.
They just looked at her with disgust.
"Enough, Laura. You think we didn't see you? Your hand hasn't even moved back yet."
"We totally misjudged you before. You threw hot water in Eliza's face. What wouldn't you do?"
"And now you push her, then lie and blame her."
"You're the evil one."
"That's not what happened..." Laura had no way to defend herself. She turned to Lorna once more, begging for help.
She said, "Lorna, you believe me, right? Eliza fell on her own. She's trying to seduce Stephen."
Lorna gritted her teeth.
'Of course I believe you.'
No one knew better than Lorna how good Elizabeth was at playing pitiful. This whole situation—Elizabeth probably planned every bit of it.
But Laura was way too stupid. She got played and couldn't do a thing about it.
So what did Lorna even need her for?
Just then, Elizabeth said, "I'm so sorry, Lorna. I really didn't mean to kiss Stephen. But... if you're angry, just blame me. Please don't blame Stephen."
Elizabeth's eyes met Stephen's—he'd just gotten back on his feet. She nailed the look: guilt mixed with shyness.
Lorna was about to lose her mind. But she still had to act gracious and say it was fine.
After all, the person who caused all this was her dear, best friend.
Stephen looked at Elizabeth. His heart softened without him meaning to. "It was an accident. You're a victim, too. You don't have to apologize."
Then his cold, sharp gaze landed on Laura. "Since you didn't learn your lesson, nobody's begging will save you now."
He turned and made a phone call.
Right after, two bodyguards showed up—right as Laura watched in terror. They grabbed her and started dragging her out.
"No! Where are you taking me?" she shouted.
The bodyguards didn't say a word.
Laura thought about the rumors surrounding Stephen. People said he'd taken back the Briarhold lands all by himself, that he was ruthless and cold.
She'd only gotten close to someone like him because she was Lorna's best friend. And he'd always been decent to her.
But now, Laura saw what he was really like. She was terrified and struggled hard. "Lorna! Lorna, help me!"
'We're best friends. Lorna has to believe me.'
But in Laura's desperate eyes—the ones clinging to Lorna like a lifeline—Lorna just looked disappointed.
She said, "Laura, you went too far this time. I'm really disappointed in you. I... Forget it."
Lorna didn't finish. She just made a face like she couldn't bear to watch Laura get dragged away. But if you looked closely, her eyes were ice-cold.
Stephen had settled things. He then turned to leave.
The moment he moved, someone tugged his sleeve.
It was Elizabeth.
Lorna watched her warily.
'What trick is she pulling now?'
Elizabeth just pressed her lips together. "Stephen, you forgot. Your back still hurts. Let's go to the nurse's office."
Stephen hadn't expected her to remember.
As the heir to the most powerful Iverson family, he'd lost count of how many times he'd been hurt.
His parents never asked. To them, that was just part of becoming the heir.
Lorna never asked either—because he didn't bring it up, and she acted like she didn't notice.
For the first time, someone actually cared that he was hurt.
A warm feeling spread through Stephen's chest.
He opened his mouth to say yes—but Lorna cut him off. "I'll take Stephen there."
'No way. I'm not leaving those two alone in a room again. If that happens, Elizabeth will definitely try to seduce Stephen again.'
"I'm Stephen's girlfriend. You're a young girl. It wouldn't be appropriate." Lorna hit the word "girlfriend" hard.
She made herself clear.
Elizabeth was just a girl. If she still pushed to go along, she'd look shameless.
Elizabeth's eyes turned red instantly. "Stephen got hurt because of me. I feel terrible about it. That's why I wanted to go with him. I didn't expect Lorna to misunderstand. But Stephen and I are adopted siblings. Lorna, don't you trust Stephen even that much?"
'Adopted sibling—such a perfect label. What am I going to do? Say out loud what I really suspect? That I am afraid they'll get together as adopted siblings? That's disgusting.'
Lorna could already imagine what people would say about her.
She held it in under Stephen's questioning gaze and forced herself to smile bitterly. "Of course not. Fine, Eliza. You two go."
Elizabeth tugged Stephen's sleeve and left the building—while Lorna's glare practically tried to skin her alive.
When they got to the nurse's office, the school nurse was busy. "Just grab the medicine and put it on yourselves."
She handed the burn cream to Elizabeth, then looked at Stephen. "Take your shirt off."
- Writer
