End the Stupid Bet, Win My Stage

Holding the warm container of food, Alora headed for the private room that Caden was in.

Just as she was about to open the door, she heard the voices of his friends.

"My God, you're taking this too far, Caden. I mean, you almost killed that guy because of Alora. There's no way she'd ever doubt you now."

Alora froze in front of the door.

Even if she knew that the fight was just an act to win her over, there was still a tiny glimpse of hope deep down that he might have genuine feelings for her.

But that hope got dashed again!

"The competition's deadline is coming up fast. I understand why Caden did that. He needs Alora to be very distracted so Brielle can win."

"Granted, but that was no reason to beat Jacob up like that. Given that we were the ones who posted the photoshopped pictures. We paid him to take the fall and you were only meant to give him a few punches."

Alora's heart stopped.

Even the photoshopped image was planned by Caden too!

"You could have killed him for nothing! Mason scolded.

A heavy silence filled the room.

Caden finally spoke.

"He said some words that were triggering to me. He had it coming."

"C'mon, I was there, he didn't exactly say anything that was out of line from what we rehearsed. Also, I even feel this scandal won't do much damage to Alora. You should have allowed us continue with the original plan, we should have taken pictures of you two at the prop room. It would have been more effective."

Caden's voice turned cold.

"I would have been in it too! Do you think I want a sex scandal on my name?"

Hearing the fury in his tone, his friends didn't say anything more.

Outside the door, Alora retreated, her face turning pale.

The container in her hands felt so heavy.

How could he do this to her so heartlessly?

They had originally planned to take real naked pictures of her?

The only reason he didn't allowed that was because he'd been in the pictures too!

How could he hurt her like this?

Alora dumped the container into a trash can, the pain she felt was turning into anger.

How could he treat her like this?!

Even if he loved Brielle so much, was that enough to destroy Alora's life?!

***********

The following day, Alora headed for the shop outside the school.

She had to buy some essentials for her trip to London. As she pushed her cart, she dropped some items into it. And just as she rounded up an aisle, she saw Brielle.

Immediately, she backed up and hid behind some tall rack of products. She wasn't exactly hiding because she was scared.

She just didn't want to have an altercation with Brielle. She had just a few days left, she wanted to leave, peacefully and start her life all over again.

Just as she was about to turned her cart and go the opposite direction, she heard her name.

"Didn't you say that girl, Alora wouldn't be a problem?"

Alora frowned.

She had noticed that Brielle was with an older woman.

Why was Alora's name being mentioned?

"She won't be a problem, mom. I already told you, I'm using Caden to make her unable to get the spot. That's all."

"I don't know, my dear. I have a bad feeling about this. You know how hard it was for you to secure a relationship with Caden, we should be focusing on making sure you two get married. We need his family's wealth. So sending him to go play with another girl's heart seems quite tricky."

"Mom, he doesn't give a fuck about her. Actually, he enjoys playing with her. Let's just say I'm killing two birds with one stone. He'd get rid of Alora from the audition and by doing so, he has proven how much he loves me. He'd never leave me."

Alora's lips parted. She was aware that Brielle was from a low background but she never knew that had made her so money-hungry.

Brielle didn't genuinely care about Caden, she was just using him.

Alora scoffed.

Caden and Brielle truly deserve each other. Two liars and deceitful creatures!

*************

When Alora got back to campus, her phone was ringing nonstop.

Caden had been calling all day. She had been ignoring his calls but he won't stop calling.

Alora didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to see him anymore.

She headed for the dean's office to get her transfer letter.

As she was leaving the office, a black BMW stopped in front of her.

The door swung open.

"Alora! What the hell!"Caden began.

She made to ignore him, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his car, shutting the door.

"Let me out!"She thundered, angrily.

"I knew it, you're mad at me. Why have you been ignoring my calls?"

"We have nothing to talk about."

"Is this about the pictures. I already punished him for you. I got in so much trouble because of it and you're mad at me?"

Alora huffed.

He really does know how to pretend.

He spotted the transfer document in her hands.

"Are you.are you leaving this school?"

Alora got nervous.

Her plan was to leave without telling him, to outsmart him and leave him wondering what went wrong in that fucking plan of his!

"It's none of your business."

He seemed to be in total disbelief.

"What about.what about the Tisch spot? Aren't you preparing for that anymore?"

She looked at him, straight in the eye and announced.

"I actually had no zeal to compete for that spot."

His eyes dilated.

There, she said it.

She stared at the reaction on his face.

What would he do now knowing that he no longer had to pretend to like her?