My Words Are Law

The Sinister Sundew (1)

The weekends passed quickly and Amaryllis began to bite her nails anxiously as Mr. Rowland's class is fast approaching again.

She'd been thinking since Sunday if what she did was a little too forward. Should she not have admitted that she'd seen through his actions..? Did she move too soon?

She regretted it.

She truly regretted it!

She should have done it during finals when the semester's about to end..! Then she wouldn't have to bear with his intimidating presence.

After the lesson, Mr. Rowland asked the pairs to sit together and continue the project for the remaining thirty minutes.

Half an hour... Amaryllis conditioned herself and waited for Chryses to come, but the sound of the chair that should have cluttered by now to signal his arrival never came. When she turned to look at him, he was still in his seat, busy typing away on his laptop.

Did he not hear the instruction..? Even if that was the case, it was impossible to ignore the shuffling of chairs and feet across the floor.

He wants her to go to him, is that it..?

It was suspicious, but Mr. Rowland was already eyeing her with a stern look. She doesn't have any choice. She stood up, briskly walked towards her partner, and plopped on the chair beside his. Kace and Samantha were just behind them. She'd nodded at Samantha in recognition but the latter didn't respond. Just as expected.

She smiled dryly as she proceeded to adjust herself on the chair when Kayce snorted in derision.

"So you're not sick now?"

Amaryllis frowned but didn't say anything to him. Instead, she spoke to Chryses to inquire about their project.

"I sent you my part this weekend. Did you see it?"

"No." His immediate brief response startled her. No? Was that it..? Just 'NO'? No explanations..?

"I sent you a text that I e-mailed you my progress," She added, looking at his focused expression and then at the monitor in front of him. She couldn't see anything through the privacy screen, but it seemed like it was a lot of complicated stuff by the look on his face.

"My internet provider scheduled a maintenance," he finally explained.

"Oh..." The whole weekend..? And what about this Monday..?

"Also, I've been busy..." He turned her way with a smile. "...with things."

"Oh," Amaryllis uttered again, feeling awkward at seeing his usual smile. If the rumor is true that he is involved in running his family's business, then it must be company matters.

"Wow. You're really fun to talk to," Kayce commented in the background.

She really was going to ignore him again, but a glimpse of the shameless smug look on his face made her patience snap.

"At least I know how to mind my own business," she shot back. He'd been nitpicking her increasingly as the days went by, as if he was going to shrivel and die if he didn't demean her every time he saw her.

Kayce's face turned a shade darker when a nearby classmate snickered at his side after hearing Amaryllis come back. His mouth opened as if he was going to reply, but nothing came out, and his lips snapped shut in the end.

She relaxed and took his reaction as a sign of a temporary truce. Not wanting to see his face any longer than necessary, Amaryllis snapped her neck in front and heaved a sigh before gazing at Chryses. Is this entertaining to him?

"You were being too mean to her, Kayce." Chryses glanced at the guy with a hint of disapproval. "She didn't even do anything bad. In fact, I remember you told me she helped you before?"

Hearing him speak as if he wasn't the instigator made her almost blanch.

The students around them couldn't help but overhear Chryses' words, and it didn't take long before they began whispering among themselves while glancing at the guy behind her, who could only utter a few vowels out of bewilderment.

It certainly must be surprising to be betrayed by the person who advised you to act like that.

Amaryllis felt a bit bad that Kayce fell victim to Chryses' fake facade. It hadn't been that long since she'd been one, too, so she could sympathize with him. However, she didn't go around lashing at people unlike Kayce and that was something Amaryllis could never forgive.

"Anyway, I'll have to leave early today. Let's continue our project later."

Amaryllis nodded at her partner. "...Sure." No matter how big of a lie his personality is, surely he isn't the type to lie about these things.

She was too innocent to realize that when a predator is challenged, it returns the favor two folds. She'd only learned about this a week later when she called Chryses to ask about his worrying consecutive absences in class.

"I'm sorry. There was too much work at the company lately."

Ah... So it really was about company matters.

"Is that so..?" Amaryllis muttered. What else could she say? His reason was perfectly valid. After all, if she was Chryses, she'd also prioritize things that generate money.

"I'm waiting for a few important reports at home, so I can't go out, but during the intervals, we can work on the project. What say you come over?"

For the first time in her life, she doubted if her ears could actually hear properly.

What were the last words he said..? Can opener? Corn lover? Game... Game over?

Her brain is tripping. "What..?"

"Because work will only get busier from now on, I might not be able to go to school for a while. Anyway, I'll send you my address."

"Wait- Address? What... What for-? I-"

"Mm. That's right. Please wait for my text later. We'll be passing a major accomplishment next week, right?" Chryses smoothly interrupted her while she was still fumbling to complete her thoughts.

"Yes, but I-" Amaryllis' brows wrinkled in frustration when he jumped in before she could finish her words once again.

"Let's do our best! I'm looking forward to your visit. I'll have to hang up now. Have a nice day, Amaryllis~."

"Wait- Taylor? Hello- Tay-" The beeping tone was the only answer she got. He'd hung up on her...

She stared at her phone in disbelief. Everything happened so fast. She couldn't make heads or tails of what had just transpired in their conversation. A few seconds later and a message popped up.

The content was Chryses' address as he'd promised.

Oh my god, he wasn't kidding. She tried to reply, suggesting to meet at other places but her messages were left unread. And when she tried to call him again, the line was busy. She tried dialing his number at different times, but the result was the same. Whether it was lunch, dinner, midnight, morning, early morning hours, or brunch –It was busy.

Unattended...

Out of reach.

After the incident in the bookstore, she thought he'd finally give her peace, but in reality, he'd been busy scheming to do the opposite. He must be laughing at how gullible she was.

That was very low of him to trick her like this...

***

A/N: Hello! Hope you guys are doing well~

Don't forget to share, and thank you for voting! Lol. XD