Chapter 24: Why Is This Woman Trying To Jump Off?!
After everything that had happened, every trace of food and humiliation had been scrubbed away, her soft curls smoothed back into place, and her uniform replaced with a fresh, perfectly pressed set.
She looked far more put together than she had mere moments ago, but she had yet to say a word. Ever since their little... encounter in the bathroom stall, she'd been utterly speechless.
"There, all nice and proper," Verena mused, giving an approving nod. She had to go outside and get fresh new uniforms from the House Magister. "A fresh start, wouldn't you say?"
"I-I'm still confused..."
"If you truly want me to bear the weight of my past sins, then make me suffer properly. But if you want justice, then don't cheapen it with desperate games. If you want self-respect, demand it. And if you want me to pay, then have the dignity to walk away and be the bigger person. Otherwise..." She leaned in, voice dipping into something firm. "You're just handing yourself over on a silver platter, and that's not punishment, darling. That's surrendering."
There was nothing more pathetic than offering yourself to the very person who once trampled on you. No dignity, no self-respect. Just a desperate plea for attention wrapped in misplaced desire.
With that sobering thought, the day dragged on, and soon, classes finally came to an exhausting end.
***
"Goddamn it, real Verena! You absolute raging bitch! You villainous, irredeemable, brain-dead, walking disaster of a human being! If I could punch you in the throat, I would! If I could wake up in another body and drop-kick you into the sun, I wouldn't even hesitate!"