Reborn As A Rich Heir

Chapter 5

Nero was standing beside me with a scorn on his face that I hardly noticed as I deeply caught up in my thoughts. The only thing that managed to drag me back to reality was the siren that went off, indicating a change into the last lesson of the day. Ms. Doris had dismissed her English class students a few minutes earlier because she couldn't bear to wait those final minutes in the presence of Sophia. She had to give her students some reprieve as none had bothered to speak to one another or even her while under my watch.

Not that I was intensely staring at anyone. My attention had either been on the cat or on her as she taught, further making her nervous. I wasn't naive and there was no way that I didn't notice the mood in the room. At some point I almost stood up to excuse myself to go to the bathroom so that everyone could breather, but I didn't know my way around the school and I was certain that someone would have fainted had I spoken to them.

Those few minutes between the time the students were dismissed and the time it took for the siren to go off were more than enough for word of the infamous Miss. Sophia Astor's return to get around. The halls were suddenly filled with chatter and footsteps as the students existed the classrooms they were in so that they could go to the other ones.

"Let's go. We've spent too much time here. If anyone sees us, they'll think we're trying to break the rules we created," Nero said as he turned to walk away from the hallway that led to the staircase. I nodded reluctantly and followed behind him, motioning for the cat to hurry along after me. I didn't know where to go next but figured that following Nero was the best option. It would have been better if I took my own route because when we reached the hallways where the crowd of students were walking, the influence Nero had over them began to manifest.

I was walking directly behind him and wouldn't have missed the fact that everyone parted from the middle of the path to the side to make space for him to pass. It would have been understandable if they were trying to avoid bumping into him but they moved so far along the sides that they were basically brushing against the walls. His stature wasn't so large that he needed all of that space, but he received it nonetheless.

I was still walking behind him when I took to observing the students. There was a tint of fear and deep respect in their eyes; none of which changed when they averted their eyes to me. In fact, you could say that they had more respect for Nero but more fear for me because the moment they sat their eyes on my face and then my tie, remembering that they heard about an old yet new face around, they realized that it was Sophia Astor they were watching walk down the hallway.

I turned my head away and down at the cat strolling beside me because I couldn't bring myself to bear the looks I was receiving. The students made me as uncomfortable as they were and I hated to think that I would go through the same thing for the next three days. I was grateful that there was only one lesson left, as Nero relayed to me, and I would go on to the dorm rooms afterwards where I won't have to worry about any looks I would receive from the students.

I couldn't understand how Nero could walk straight forward with his head raised high. Then again, his family had more power than anyone else in the entire world. As heir to his family's fortune and business, he had to behave that way to gain the respect he deserved. Thinking on that point, I had to do the same as well to keep the respect to Sophia's name intact but I couldn't.

It's not as though I was being made fun of or mocked by the students but I couldn't take my eyes off the cat. Well, at least that's what I thought because as I walked down the hallway, I heard a few giggles behind me. I wasn't certain if I heard the name Sophia being mentioned or not and I couldn't confirm it because I suddenly found myself bumping into the softness that was Nero's back. He abruptly stopped walking because he, too, had heard my name being mentioned after the giggles, but that was not the only thing that he heard.

"... all of that fortune and not a single shred of beauty," it was two girls who were walking away from us who were having their small talk, unaware that the space they were in was so quiet that even a whisper could be heard.

"At least she used it to change her face up a little. She's more presentable now, but it's a shame that none of that was godsent-"

"You!" Nero's voice was so loud that I was startled into taking a step away from him. I was still disoriented because I had hardly been paying attention to my surroundings, bumped into him, and had the misfortune of being close to him as he yelled out in what I managed to recognize as rage.

It was safe to say that I wasn't the only one who was startled. Everyone around us was caught by surprise because they had tried desperately to not catch his attention. But no one was as shocked as the two girls who were evidently gossiping about me behind my back and in earshot.

When I saw Nero moving to walk... or rather, to march around my figure towards the two girls, I reached out my hand just as the cat lunged aside to avoid being stepped on. I took ahold of his arm to hold him into place. I didn't know what I was doing or why I did that, but the fury on his face prompted me to act out for the girls' sake. I noticed then that another person had stepped up to take ahold of Nero's other arm and turned my hand to see Matt walk in front of him.

"As prefect, I cannot allow you to do whatever it is you intend to," Matt began, his red hair swaying above his shoulders as he stopped in front of Nero. I took to noticing the height difference between the two, with Nero being the shorter one who had to turn his head upwards to look at the person that was blocking him from stepping forward.

"Get in my way, will you? Whose side are you on, Matt? You can't seriously be thinking of protecting these worthless swines," said Nero in a tone that dripped with malice. I didn't know what to make of the situation. I glanced at the two girls for a second and saw them nearly cowering where they stood. They had mocked me, or of Sophia, but the genuine fear on their faces which was different from what I saw earlier expressed their deepest regrets.

"Yes, I am thinking of doing that. It's my duty, Nero. Just let it go. You're the only one who's upset over this," Matt responded as he averted his gaze towards me. Nero did the same as well, and for a brief moment I was confused as to what to do next. It didn't take me long to catch on to what was happening, however, and my grip on Nero's arm tightened as I frantically nodded.

"R-Right... it's not that big of a deal. I'm not mad about it. Forget it even happened," I said, trying to make Nero see that I really wasn't upset or made about the girls making fun of my appearance. I didn't change anything about myself so what they said were rumors and nothing but that. There was no truth in their words so it made no sense for them to be punished over some words.

Nero was more than bewildered. On any other day, being the vindictive girl that Sophia was, I would have been more infuriated over those rumors than he was. He hadn't intended on acting out with any violent behavior towards the girls. All he wanted to do was put them in their place by threatening to use his authority ruin their families. But looking at my face and realizing how calm I was, he saw that destroying their lives over simple rumors may have been too harsh.

Almost violently, he pulled his arm away from my hold and clicked his tongue as he glared at Matt. Matt simply looked down at him in annoyance for the few seconds it took for Nero to decide that he had had enough. He turned and hurried down the hallway and away from us. I had noticed that the students had stopped to watch the scene unfold and Matt heaved a sigh before telling them with a gentle voice to move along to their lessons.

A fight rarely broke out at the school, let alone amongst red- ties but they did what Matt asked without wasting any other second. The respect they had for him was far different from the one they had towards Nero and Sophia.

"I tried my best to come find you the second we were dismissed but it seems I was too late," Matt said and I shook my head.

"I'm certain something like this would have happened even if you were around. We can't keep people from talking," I said, failing to notice that the prefect was watching me very closely. Before he intervened, he had been amongst the crowd and didn't make his presence known so that he could observe me and Nero together. He had learned so much about our apparent history during the one lesson he was away from me and the way the students watched us as we walked down the hallways proved that what he had heard was the truth.

He didn't know anything about Sophia up until that moment but he could definitely see that there was a difference between my personality and the way I was perceived by the students. He didn't know whether or not to embrace himself for any trouble that might arise in the last few days of the term because the female Nero had suddenly shown up. He didn't know what to believe because I was made out to be a vicious, rich girl but what he saw said otherwise. I was kind and timid and nothing like the person he had heard about.

Because of that, he decided that he would keep a close watch on me and Nero for the next few days by spending as much time as possible with me. This wasn't to appease his uneasiness but rather of the students he had the duty to watch over.