Chapter 23

I breathe sigh of relief as Vedant finally walks away. His questions about the competition and my new phone leave me unsettled. I turn and head to the bathroom, needing to catch my breath before my next class.

I stop in my tracks when I see Alice and her friends already occupying the space by the mirrors.

Alice speaks. “I’m just so embarrassed. I thought Vedant was going to ask me to be his mate in front of everybody and instead he embarrassed me to go chasing after some internet slut.”

I take a step back, hoping to escape before they notice me, but Alice’s gaze locks on mine. I take another step back, but Alice smiles cruelly.

“Oh, don’t leave now Chiara. We were just getting to the good part.

Alice reaches out and grabs my arm, yanking me further into the bathroom before I can bolt. “We were just talking about pathetic sluts who don’t realize that I’m supposed to be Vedant’s mate. Sound familiar?”

Alice’s friends laugh as Alice pushes me back against the wall. “It seems like your attempts to catch his eye have fallen as flat as your chest, but I’m not surprised.”

“I don’t want him,” I gasp as my back makes contact with the hard wall. I fight the urge to point out that her own attempts have been as of yet unsuccessful.

Her hand rears back and my cheek stings as she slaps me across the face. I blink, but don’t let my tears fall.

Hey eyes glint. “No one wants a pathetic freak.”

She rears back again, but before she can make contact, the warning bell rings out across the school, signaling that it’s almost time for class.

“Shit. You’re going to make us late.” She steps back and looks around at her friends. “Well, come on!”

They file out of the bathroom, and I breathe a sigh of relief as the sound of their footsteps get further away. I examine my face in the mirror. My cheek is red, but I’ve dealt with worse in the past.

Another moment passes and I hear the sound of a stall door opening and then footsteps, signaling someone’s approach. Lynn appears behind me in the mirror.

She looks at me sheepishly. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. Are you okay?”

I nod. Getting mad at Lynn for staying quiet wouldn’t do any good. Alice would only start to target her more and Lynn doesn’t deserve that.

“It’s okay.”

She smiles meekly at me as we step out of the bathroom. I really am glad that Lynn is my friend. The second bell rings, but I don’t change my pace, we’re already late.

Lynn looks around to ensure we’re alone before leaning close, her voice a whisper. “So about what happened at the competition…” She trails off.

I sigh. I should have expected this. Lynn is the only person I had told about my fake identity and Felix.

“Yeah. It was intense.”

She nods. “I just can’t believe that the person you’ve been talking to this whole time online turned out to be-” She freezes.

I let my gaze follow hers and feel the blood drain from my face. Standing at his locker just down the hallway, is Vedant with an unreadable expression on his face.

I try to arrange my face into a more casual position. Lynn had been whispering. It’s possible that he hadn’t heard.

He starts walking toward us. He definitely heard. My heard pounds in my chest, but I don’t look down. I can’t give him another reason to be suspicious.

Lynn could have been talking about anyone. Everyone is online. It’s perfectly feasible that I had been talking to someone else online.

I shoot a glance at Lynn hoping that she’ll think of something to say to make our conversation seem innocuous, but the moment I see the expression on her face I know that I’m on my own. I’m not surprised, but it does put me in a bad position.

I do my best not to let my panic overwhelm me as Vedant comes to a stop in front of me. He pauses for a second as if unsure of what to say, or how to act. After a second, his expression hardens.

“You’re Iris.” It’s an accusation.

My heart beats faster in his chest and his words send me spiraling, but I do my best to keep my expression controlled. I manage to hold his gaze when I speak.

“I’m not.”

I look around. The hallway is still empty, but I lower my voice as I continue, just in case. “I’m your fated mate. I think you would know if I was the girl you were searching for.”

Vedant looks taken aback by my words. He wasn’t expecting me to acknowledge our bond. He pauses for a moment as if he’s thinking, but he shakes his head.

“That doesn’t mean that I know anything about you.”

“Vedant, I’m not her.”

Vedant looks at Lynn and then back at me, his expression intense. “Then explain what she meant.”

He starts to raise his voice, but he looks around and quickly lowers it. “Who have you been talking to online?”

Even when he thinks that I might be the girl he promised himself to at the competition, he is still worried about being tied to me. He is afraid someone will overhear. My decision to keep my online identity secret from him was the right choice.

“I made a friend playing games online,” I lie quickly.

“I don’t believe you,” he growls. “That doesn’t explain what Lynn was saying. This person turned out to be who?”

I take an instinctive step back at his change in tone. He’s mad. If he finds out that I’m Iris who knows what he will do to me.

I wrack my brain for another lie. “Not who, but what. It turns out that person I’ve been playing with is actually a famous streamer. We never used face cams so I didn’t know that the person I’ve been playing with had another account with a large following.”

The look in Vedant’s eyes tells me that he’s still not convinced. I try to think of something else to say, but come up blank. I can’t say anything to contradict my story, but I also don’t have anything else to add.

If Vedant doesn’t believe what I’ve said then I’m back into a corner. I watch his face cycle through a few different expressions as he considers my words. Eventually he speaks.

“I’ll come home with you today after school.”

My jaw falls open at his words, but I quickly fix my expression, shaking my head. “What?”

“You got a new phone so I can’t check that, but if you are Iris there will be evidence of the account on your computer.”

I study the serious look on Vedant’s face. He’s serious. I mentally thank the goddess for giving me the foresight to replace my computer as well.

Vedant continues. “Iris also told me that she printed some of the pictures I sent her of my garden. If you’re the same person, you’ll have the pictures in your house.”

I blink, surprised that he remembered that. Looking at reminders of my relationship with Felix hurt too much so I had also gotten rid of most of the physical reminders of our friendship. I might be able to convince Vedant after all.

Still, letting Vedant into my home is risky. I remember my punishment, grateful for it for the first time. “You can’t come over after school. I need to clean the building.”

Vedant’s expression tells me that my excuse is not going to work. “I’m the one who issued the punishment. I can excuse you just as easily. I am coming to your house and that is final.”

With that Vedant turns and walks away.