152 - The chapter with the visit of the Waldorf

Christian

I hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen, finding Jack and Addison in an uncomfortable silence. Their gazes fell on me as soon as I walked through the door, causing me to stall in my seat.

" What?”

" Were you arguing? " Addison asked.

" Ohhh no... Rose is just frustrated with the situation, I suggested she paint a little to distract herself " I explained " I was supposed to bring her breakfast at the studio.”

" I'll do it," Addison volunteered, getting up.

I didn't argue with the woman, sitting down in the same place as before, accepting the muffin Jack handed me. We sat there, eating in silence for a few minutes, until the sound of the doorbell interrupted us. Jack signaled for me to remain in my seat, getting up to go answer the door.

Frowning, I remained silent, trying to hear something to find out who was at the door, but they were either talking very quietly, or not at all. I stood up, deciding to satisfy my curiosity at once, that's when Addison's voice reached my ears.

" What is she doing here? " the woman growled.

I moved, observing a short, stocky man wearing an expensive suit. His white hair was combed back and he held an arrogant pose while his green eyes scanned the entire environment. But I understood the reason for Addison's surprise, Alicia was next to him, she kept her hair loose, partially covering her face in an attempt to hide the swelling and bruises on her face, caused by my mother-in-law the day before.

" 'Addison, you better calm down,” Jack muttered.

"Yes, you'd better muzzle that woman, Campbell, it's not enough..." I said.

"Waldorf, I'm trying my best to keep my head on straight right now, but if you dare insult my family one more time, I'll show you what a real lunatic looks like," Jack turned to the man in a dangerous tone of voice.

" Your family? What about my daughter? Look at the state this... woman left her in " the man pointed at Alicia.

"This woman acted to protect her daughter, who your daughter happens to have been bullying for no reason since the beginning of the school year." I joined the conversation.

" And who the hell are you, boy? " He growled " And most importantly, do you have any proof of what you're talking about? You better know that I can sue you for libel and slander, and I'm already going to love suing that crazy woman for what she did to my girl.”

" Proof!? Everyone knows that girl has been stalking Rose for years, and for years I've been holding back, but this time she's crossed the line! " Addison raised her voice.

" Me? Look, I'm sorry, but it's not my fault that Rose had sex with the wrong person and he decided to expose it. Even, Christian, I'm sorry to tell you that I warned you that she wasn't the right person for you," Alicia said in a superior tone.

" 'I'm going to…”

" You're going to what? " The girl's father challenged Addison " This is all the fault of the upbringing you gave the girl. From the beginning all my daughter tried to do was to instruct your daughter in the right path, but did you care about that? Never, you preferred to blame my girl for condemning your daughter's promiscuous acts!".

For the first time, my gaze focused on a small ring with a crucifix adorning the girl's finger. She is joking with me that she has come to wear a purity ring!

The doorbell rang again, and I decided to get away from the parental fight, curious to know who else would be there on a Thursday.

" If you call my daughter promiscuous one more time, I'm going to....”

I heard Addison's altered voice as I opened the door, and to my surprise, I found Savannah Hill and some of the sorority girls standing on our porch.

" What are you doing here? " I practically growled.

"Good morning, Davis. Are Rose's parents in?" Savannah ignored my question.

" What? Look, it doesn't matter, it's not a good time…”

I was about to close the door, listening to the discussion become more heated inside the house.

" I assure you it's the perfect time. After Mrs. Miller left yesterday, we had an assembly and made some decisions that you would love to know about, " Savannah smiled.

I stared at her for a few seconds before shrugging, opening the door and letting them in.

"There are countless witnesses to the cowardly assault my daughter suffered yesterday, and don't think I won't take it to the last consequences!" Eric Waldorf vociferated.

" Assault? " Savannah spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to the newly arrived group.

" Sav? Girls, what are you doing here? " Allie frowned.

" Who are you? Davis, who are they? " Jack looked lost.

" 'I remember you,' Addison stared at Savannah.

"They're my sisters. They were all there yesterday," Allie smiled triumphantly, "they can give you a preview of what they're going to talk about when they're called to the stand.”

Savannah and the girls exchanged a quick glance before turning to her supposed 'sister'.

"Oh yeah, we didn't see anything," Savannah explained.

" 'Absolutely nothing,” one of them endorsed, being supported by the other

"What? " Allie's voice came out in a disbelieving sliver " "What are you doing? Why are you lying?”

Jack and Addison exchanged a confused look before the man crossed his arms and turned to the group of girls, looking suspicious of their goodwill.

" 'Girls, giving false testimony is a crime, you must not lie,” he warned.

"Yes, you can say exactly what you saw,' Addison endorsed.

" 'Right, in that case we'll tell you what we saw,” Savannah continued with that smile.

" 'And what was that? " Eric approached the group.

"We saw a mother distraught to discover that her daughter had been stalked, humiliated and repeatedly attacked by two girls who in the most cowardly way possible decided to make her life a living hell", one of the girls answered without even blinking, looking at Alicia's shocked face.

I crossed my arms, watching Alicia's face lose a little color as I stared at the girls with watery eyes

" 'You're my sisters, you shouldn't lie like that, you... “

" First of all, we're not lying, that's exactly what we witnessed yesterday " Savannah approached the girl " And as for being our sister, in our assembly yesterday, we decided that you and Audrey... are no longer welcome in the sorority.”

"What? " she stammered.

"We're tired of you two using the sorority in the name of petty interests, Sigma Sigma beta is against any and all forms of bullying and attacking other students, and we'd like to make it clear that we have no involvement with anything that's happened." Savannah turned to my father-in-law, "And we have a lot to talk about, sir…”

"Wait a minute, you can't talk to my daughter like that," Eric Waldorf chimed in.

"Right, I don't talk to your daughter anymore, just with Mr. Campbell," Savannah returned.

"What is it? " He growled, approaching the girl, who maintained her impeccable pose.

" 'We're only going to talk to Mr. Campbell,' she repeated without lowering her head.

" 'I'm not leaving here while you talk about my daughter,' he emphasized.

Jack seemed about to get involved, impatient with that little standoff, and Addison went into the kitchen.

" 'Actually, go,' a voice made us all turn towards the stairs, where Rose was standing.

She was wearing a pair of jeans and a tied t-shirt, stained with paint, she had fixed her hair and made up to hide the dark circles under her eyes and soon she started down the stairs, coming towards us, looking as unfazed as ever.

" What did you say? " he narrowed his eyes.

" This is my house, right, Dad? " she looked at her father for confirmation " so I want you, and especially the little bitch you call daughter, out of my house. NOW!”

" We'll wait in that room while you say goodbye " Savannah smiled, pointing to the living room, being followed by her friends like a small army.

"Hey, I'm not the one who starred in the adult movie, if there's a slut here..." Allie shot Rose a look.

"It's definitely the girl who broke into my room and practically begged me to have sex, even though I made it clear I wasn't interested." I cut her off, receiving a shocked look.

Eric Waldorf raised both eyebrows before looking at his daughter with a questioning expression.

" 'That's a lie,' she growled.

" 'I want you both out of here, now! " Rose emphasized.

" 'You heard me. Either you leave or I'll call the police,' Jack pointed to the door.

Eric put his hand on his daughter's back, guiding her to the door with a closed expression. Not happy with the outcome of that situation.

" 'And tell your wife we're going straight to the police station to press charges against her. 'It's not going to stay like that,' Eric growled before leaving.

I approached Rose who was looking into the living room, where the sorority girls had settled comfortably, and were chatting amongst themselves, as if they were at an outdoor afternoon tea.

Addison returned from the kitchen with a tray of muffins she had baked for breakfast, and then entered the living room.

" 'Here girls, you deserve it just for putting that insignificant little thing in her place,' Addison declared.

" 'Are you all right? " I whispered to Rose who was still by my side.

" 'No, but I'm curious as to why they’re here,' she took a deep breath.

" "Then we'd better get this over with, girl," Jack approached after closing the door, "What do you have to tell me?”

Savannah exchanged a glance with all the girls who followed her, leaning over to pick up a muffin, nibbling the pastry slowly before finally speaking.

"We can give you everything we know, but with some conditions," the girl who had faced Alicia earlier stated.

" Conditions? " I raised my eyebrows.

"We want to be left out of this, we don't condone or participate in any of this, it's not fair to suffer the consequences of an isolated attitude of three people in the house " Savannah continued.

"That will depend on what you know," Addison narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms as she stared at the girls.

"We have the names of everyone who participated and all the details of how they did it " Savannah began " we know who had the idea, who helped plan it, who participated in the video and who was responsible for spreading the video to everyone.”

" And we are all willing to confirm everything at the university and for justice, but we are not going to take a blame that is not ours".

We all exchanged a brief glance, not sure how to respond to that proposal. This was our best chance to clear everything up once and for all, but at the same time, accepting this proposal was the same as making a deal with the enemy. Maybe we could solve this issue in another way.

In the end, it was Rose who made the decision.

" You can start talking.”