Claimed by the Villainess’s Brother

Chapter 14

I sat at our usual spot in the senior high school cafeteria with Elena, our table nestled almost at the back. It wasn’t exactly the most prestigious location, this spot was where the kids the other students called “scholarship parasites” sat. But it was quiet, and we could enjoy our lunch without too much interruption.

Elena was chatting about some new book she’d read, but I was only half-listening. My attempts to concentrate were thwarted by an unmistakable sensation. A burning, intense gaze coming from the middle of the cafeteria, where Lucas and Luna were sitting with Jonathan and the rest of the popular crowd.

Jonathan was deep in conversation with a couple of others, his expressions shifting between thoughtful and amused. Luna sat next to him, her demeanor as icy as ever. Lucas was leaning back in his chair, looking relaxed and at ease. But he might be fooling the others into thinking this, he wasn’t for me.

Not when I could feel his stare like a physical weight.

It was so intense that it was almost like he was trying to burn a hole through me with his eyes. I glanced over to see him looking directly in my direction, his face a storm of irritation.

“I know Lucas is handsome,” Elena said, breaking through my thoughts, “but can you quit staring long enough to hand me my juice box?”

I blinked and reached for the juice box next to mine.

“Sorry,” I said, passing it over. “And I wasn’t staring at him.”

“Thank you,” Elena said with an amused smile. “But did you do something? He’s kind of looking at you as if he wants to strangle you.”

I sighed. “Oh, just ignore him. He’s not right in the head.”

“But you look like you’re expecting him to leap over here any second. What happened?”

I hesitated, a pang of guilt shooting through me.

I had a pretty good idea why Lucas might be so pissed.

I’d volunteered him as one of the student models for the school website’s promotional pictures, without giving him a heads-up. I thought it would be funny, a little revenge for all the times he’d irritated me with his smug attitude. But seeing his reaction now, it was clear he didn’t find it funny at all.

“Nothing,” I finally said, trying to sound nonchalant. “I swear I did nothing.”

Elena frowned, clearly unconvinced. But luckily, she let it go.

After finishing our lunch, Elena and I decided to head outside, hoping to enjoy a peaceful moment on the lawn. We were chatting away when a group of girls suddenly appeared in front of us, their faces twisted with disdain.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” one of them sneered, her eyes locking onto Elena. “The charity case and her loyal mutt.”

Elena’s face tightened, her worry evident as she glanced at me. “Coline, just go. I don’t want you getting involved.”

“Yeah, Coline,” another girl chimed in with a mocking smirk. “Why don’t you leave? This has nothing to do with you.”

I took a deep breath and reached into my skirt pocket, my fingers closing around my wallet. With deliberate calm, I pulled it out and flipped it open, revealing a stack of cash. The sight of it made the girls pause, their sneers faltering into confused stares.

“If I give you this much money,” I said, holding up the cash, “will you go away and leave us alone?”

The girls exchanged glances, clearly caught off guard. Then they nodded, their expressions shifting from menacing to eager. Their eyes were now fixated on the cash.

“Good,” I said, handing the money over. They snatched it up quickly, their disbelief evident as they counted the bills. “Now, shoo.”

Immediately, they scampered off.

Elena looked at me, utterly bemused. “What was that?”

I shrugged, slipping my wallet back into my pocket. “What? I’m in no mood to be pissed today.”

She shook her head, still processing what had just happened. “I have no clue what’s with you today, but enjoy your silent bliss while I go get us some drinks.”

I started to stand. “No, let me get the drinks.”

She stopped me with a firm hand on my shoulder, pushing me gently back down. “Nope. It’s my turn to buy, remember? And,” she added quickly when I was about to protest further, “I’ll be safe. I promise.”

Though reluctant, I nodded, watching her leave before trying to relax. I closed my eyes for a moment, hoping to regain some sense of calm but my peace didn’t last long. I felt someone sit down beside me, and I opened my eyes to find Lucas occupying the spot Elena had just vacated.

I tried to keep my voice steady. “What are you doing here?”

“What’s wrong with being here?” he countered, his tone nonchalant.

I swallowed the retort that came to mind, suddenly remembering the pang of guilt I’d felt earlier.

As if reading my mind, Lucas leaned closer. “Why did you do it?”

My heart skipped a beat. “Do what?”

“Volunteer me for the photoshoot,” he clarified, his tone deceptively light.

I kept my face neutral and lied smoothly, “Because it suits you. Handsome looks, wonderful personality and extraordinarily intelligent, you have all the qualities a St. Therese International student should possess.”

His lips curled into a knowing smile. “I could say the same thing about you.”

My heart skipped a beat, realizing he had just indirectly called me beautiful.

Before I could process that, he added with a smirk, “That’s why I also volunteered you as a model.”

My breath caught in my throat, and I stared at him in horror. The thought of being in those pictures filled me with a dread I didn’t want to admit out loud. I wasn’t good at posing. I always felt awkward in front of the camera. The idea of everyone seeing that… of being out there like that was mortifying.

I felt a flush of anger rise up. Insult after insult came to my mind but they couldn’t make it past through my clenched teeth.

I leaned in closer, my voice trembling with barely contained fury. “You did what?”

Lucas remained infuriatingly calm, leaning back slightly as if he were enjoying the show. “You heard me.”

“You can’t just—” I started, but the words caught in my throat. My fists balled tightly in my lap as I tried to maintain some semblance of control. “I didn’t agree to this!”

“Neither did I. But that didn’t seem to stop you, did it?”

“That’s completely different! I was just—”

“Just what?” he interrupted smoothly.

I glared at him. “Did I really offend you by leaving you that night at the hotel? Is this why you’re doing this to me?”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Maybe? You’re trying to ruin my life with a ‘maybe’?”

“Maybe it’s a shame to just a have a one-night stand with you? You were quite lovely that night.”

His words hit me like a slap to the face.

I had to remind myself I wasn’t one in a million like Elena.

That I wasn’t special. That I wasn’t the only girl that Lucas would see.

This lunatic was just toying with me. I was just a pawn in whatever game he was playing. I was also the best friend of his sister’s rival. And I wasn’t doing his sister any favors by siding with the girl who would take her unrequited love away.

“See you at the photoshoot tomorrow,” Lucas said, before he got up and walked away, just as Elena returned, holding our drinks. Her gaze flickered between my livid expression and Lucas’s retreating figure.

“What’s wrong?” she asked cautiously, setting the drinks down and sitting beside me.

I could barely keep the anger from bubbling over.

“Lucas volunteered me to be one of the models for the school’s promo pictures,” I muttered, my voice trembling with frustration.

Elena’s eyes widened in surprise before she quickly tried to calm me down. She knew how I felt about having my pictures taken.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she said. “it might not be as bad as you think. Maybe it’ll be fun, and we’ll get through it together.”

I stared at her, my anger momentarily overshadowed by confusion. “What do you mean ‘together’?”

She hesitated for a moment, then admitted, “I was just recruited to be a model too.”

I stared at her, shocked.

This didn’t make sense. No one ever offered Elena anything like this, to put Elena in a spotlight for fear of Luna. The whole thing just feels like a setup, and a new wave of suspicion crept in.

“Elena,” I said slowly, “who exactly recruited you?”

“I know it’s strange,” Elena tried to deflect. “But, maybe they’re just trying to include more students? I mean, who knows why they make these decisions?”

“Who recruited you, Elena?”

She hesitated, then sighed. “It was Luna.”

Luna.

Of course.

“It seems like Luna’s trying to make amends,” Elena continued with a relieved smile, her optimism shining through. “I’m actually glad she’s having a change of heart. Maybe we could even be friends.”

I stared at her, trying to suppress my frustration. If only she knew that Luna’s so-called “change of heart” was probably just another scheme. But Elena’s tendency to see the best in people was hard to shake.

I took a deep breath.

This was something I couldn’t just walk away from now, because this wasn’t just about me anymore.

“Looks like we’re doing this photoshoot,” I muttered, forcing a smile on my face. “Who knows? It might be fun.”

But even as I said it, the knot of unease in my stomach tightened. I had a feeling that whatever Luna and Lucas were up to, it wasn’t going to be as simple as a few pictures.