My Stepbrother Wants Me-Chapter 210: Almost Publcily Humiliated

Catherine’s POV

Tessa was vibrating in my arms; she still hadn’t gotten over the trauma she had been carrying since those men cornered her. Sje had a right to be mad. I mean... what Lucy did could have led to a more serious case.

But right now, I couldn’t let her dwell in her emotional phase. I had to stop her even though she was currently refusing to listen to anything I was whispering into her ear.

"Stop it, Tess. We can’t do this in the school. People will gather."

"I am done care. Let me go, Catherine!" she shrieked, her voice cracking under the weight of her rage. She truly cared less about creating a scene that could attract a teacher or even the principal. At this moment, few students drew closer but she certainly didn’t care about the crowd that was rapidly forming a circle around us.

Her voice rang out as she yelled and called attention to herself, her finger pointing like a jagged blade at Lucy’s face. "You, stupid, spoilt bitch! How dare you send those monsters after me? What the fuck warranted that? Do you really enjoy seeing people get hurt? If yes, then you’re indeed a pathetic, insecure sociopath!"

"What’s going on? Will anyone share the story?" Someone murmured from the circle and Tessa heard.

With a scoff, she turned back to Lucy and smirked. "Now, come on. Open your mouth and tell everyone about what you tried to do to me."

Lucy looked like she had been struck. She was obviously frightened to see such outrage being let out by a girl she thought was common, someone she had deemed a non-threat. Her eyes were darting back and forth like she was looking for an exit. She never in her wildest dream saw Tessa coming.

For a split second, the power dynamic had completely shifted. The "future Vaughn heiress" was being dismantled in front of the commoners she despised.

But that moment of vulnerability didn’t last. Lucy was many things, but she was a Vaughn by association and ambition, and she knew how to play the room.

The idea must have popped up in her head after she looked around and saw students looking; she knew she couldn’t let them picture her as a scared rat who was driven to a corner because Tessa raised her voice on her. She saw the cell phones coming out, the whispers starting to circulate, and she realized that if she didn’t take control of the narrative right now, she would be the villain of the week.

So she immediately began to clap. The sharp crack-crack-crack of her palms meeting made the hallway go silent. Tessa and I looked at her with confusion.

"What’s she doing?" I mouthed to Tessa but she too had no clue. Her mouth was still left open mid-sentence, as we watched Lucy tilt her head back and let out a short, high-pitched laugh.

"Bravo, Tessa. Truly, a standing ovation for the drama," her voice dripped with a fake, honeyed sweetness that turned my stomach. She wiped an imaginary tear from her eye and took a step forward, reclaiming the space she had lost.

Only for Lucy to make an allegation against Tessa.

"Is this what this is about?" Lucy asked, turning her gaze toward the crowd of students, her voice projected perfectly for the back row. "Is this why you’re making up these insane, psychotic stories about hitmen and threats? Because your heart is broken? Honestly, it’s embarrassing. Many do not know it yet but Tessa has been obsessed with Julian Vaughn for years? She’s been pining after him like a lost puppy, and now that she sees Catherine moving in, she’s losing her mind. She can’t handle the fact that she was never even an option, so she has to invent a conspiracy to make herself feel important."

The crowd shifted. I could hear the murmurs changing tone. The students didn’t know about the men that tried to harm Tessa, but they did know about the high-stakes drama revolving around the Vaughn’s.

A story about a jealous, unrequited crush was much easier for them to digest than an attempted murder plot.

Tessa looked like she had been punched in the gut. "What? That’s... that’s a lie! I never—"

"Oh, please," Lucy interrupted, waving a dismissive hand. "A lot of people have seen the way you look at him. This whole ’assault’ story you are fabricating is just a desperate plea for attention because you know Julian doesn’t even know your name. It’s sad, really. You’re even tried to use Catherine to get close to the family, and when it didn’t work, you turned into a stalker."

Before we could even place our heads around how she was able to suddenly come up with such a lie, Sasha stepped forward and stood in for Tessa, telling everyone that Lucy was lying. Sasha moved through the crowd with a cold, focused energy, her presence immediately drawing eyes. She had been quiet until now, watching the scene unfold from the sidelines, but the sheer audacity of Lucy’s lie had finally pushed her over the edge.

"Shut up, Lucy," Sasha said, her voice steady and echoing against the lockers. "Just stop talking. Everyone here knows that you’re the only one obsessed with Julian. You’ve been trying to force a ring onto your finger since you could walk, and it’s pathetic."

Lucy gave Sasha a mocking look and said, "the one with a shameful history is still trying to get attention. Girl?? I have no dick, I shouldn’t be your target audience."

A few students started to laugh. It was a cheap shot, a direct hit at Sasha’s reputation and her past, and Lucy delivered it with a cruel, polished smirk.

She always did this, use a person’s weakness against them but what she didn’t realize is that weakness can either break or make you. Bringing up Sasha’s history means nothing, she could invalidate everything the girl had to say but not this. Haibo!

Sasha wasn’t done yet. She refused to let the laughter deter her. She took another step toward Lucy, her eyes narrowed. "I don’t care about your insults, what I am after is the truth. I was with Julian. I know him better than you ever will. While we were dating, Catherine and Tessa were friends. I can’t remember Tessa ever acting like she had feelings for Julian. Not once. She was a better friend to me than you’ve ever been to anyone in this building. She never looked at him that way, and she certainly isn’t ’obsessed’ now. You’re making things up because you’re terrified of what she knows."

Lucy’s smirk faltered for a fraction of a second before she doubled down on her arrogance. She looked around and asked the students if they were going to believe a low life whore like Sasha over her.

"Are you serious?" Lucy asked the crowd, gesturing wildly at Sasha. "Are you going to listen to her? Look at who’s talking! A girl who’s been through half the football team and still thinks she has a moral high ground? You’re a low-life, Sasha. You’re a footnote in the Vaughn history, and you’re only defending Tessa because misery loves company. You’re both trash, and trash belongs together."

The air in the hallway turned electric. The insults were no longer just petty schoolyard bickering; they were personal, venomous, and laced with a classist hatred that Lucy had been brewing for years. I felt my own grip on Tessa’s shoulders tighten. I wanted to move, I wanted to intervene, but I was frozen by the look on Sasha’s face.

Sasha was furious. I could see the exact moment she reached her limit. It wasn’t a slow burn; it was a sudden, violent snap. She didn’t yell. She didn’t scream back. She simply moved.

Sasha angrily dragged Lucy to turn to her, grabbing her by the shoulder and spinning her around with enough force to make Lucy’s heels click sharply against the tile. Lucy barely had time to register the movement, her eyes widening in shock as she was forced to face the girl she had just spent the last five minutes belittling.

"Don’t you ever call me that again," Sasha voice dragged out rough.

Before Lucy could even get a sarcastic retort out of her mouth, Sasha’s arm blurred. She sent a resounding back hand slap to her face.

The sound was like a gunshot in the crowded hallway. CRACK.

Lucy’s head snapped to the side, her body stumbling back against a locker. The entire hallway went deathly silent. Not a single student moved. As for Lucy, she just stood there, her hand slowly rising to cover her cheek, while her eyes wide with thd pain and utter, complete disbelief. She had been hit. In public. By someone she considered beneath her.

Sasha didn’t back down. She stood her ground, her chest heaving, her hand still stinging from the impact, staring at Lucywith a look of pure loathing.