Chapter 129 A Forced Apology
The silence in the room felt heavy, almost suffocating. You could hear the faint noise of the fluorescent lights overhead and nothing else.
Professor Sterling stood near the heavy oak door, his shoulders completely slumped. His face had lost all its usual color, leaving his skin looking ash-gray and tired. His hands hung uselessly at his sides like he had simply run out of energy to hold himself up. He looked ten years older than he had when he first walked into the office twenty minutes ago.
Slowly, he turned his body toward Xiomara. His voice sounded flat and exhausted.
"Apologize."
Xiomara blinked, staring at him as if he had just spoken a foreign language. "What?"
"Apologize to Mrs. Thorne," Professor Sterling said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Right now."
Xiomara’s face twisted into an ugly expression of pure shock. "Professor, you can’t be serious. You’re taking her side?"
"I am completely serious, Xiomara."
She shook her head rapidly, her styled hair flying around her face. "I am not apologizing to her! She ambushed me. She attacked me, she humiliated me in front of everyone, she—"
"She exposed you," Professor Sterling cut in. His voice cracked like a whip across the quiet room. "She didn’t ambush you, Xiomara. She exposed your lies. Your manipulation. Your sheer cruelty."
A bright, blotchy red flushed up Xiomara’s neck and onto her cheeks. "She set me up! It was a trap!"
"She recorded the exact words that came out of your own mouth," the professor replied, staring at her with cold disappointment. "That is not a setup. That is plain evidence."
Xiomara’s hands curled into tight fists at her sides, her long nails digging hard into her palms. Her chest heaved up and down as her breathing grew heavy and loud. She spun around and glared at Veyra, her eyes practically burning with hatred.
For a long moment, she didn’t say a single word. She just stood there, fuming.
Professor Sterling didn’t back down. His gaze remained hard, his voice dropping an octave into something cold and unyielding.
"Apologize."
Xiomara’s jaw tightened so hard Veyra could hear her teeth grinding together from across the room. She looked down at the floor, refusing to meet anyone’s eye.
"I’m sorry," she muttered. The words were barely a whisper, completely swallowed by the quiet room.
Veyra tilted her head, keeping her expression completely neutral. "What was that? I couldn’t hear you."
The red on Xiomara’s face deepened into a dark crimson. "I said I’m sorry!"
"Still didn’t hear you properly," Veyra said calmly.
Xiomara’s hands began to shake with rage. She raised her voice, almost shouting it this time. "I’m sorry!"
Veyra shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "That’s not good enough, Xiomara."
Xiomara’s eyes snapped open wide, full of disbelief. "What do you mean it’s not good enough? I said the words!"
"I mean you aren’t actually sorry," Veyra told her, stepping a little closer. "You aren’t remorseful at all. You’re just scared because you got caught. I know how your mind works. If I let you walk out of this restaurant right now with a half-hearted mumbled apology, you’ll go straight to social media. You’ll leak a spun version of the story. You’ll twist the narrative, leave out what you said, and turn me into the villain like you always do."
Xiomara opened her mouth to argue, closed it, and then opened it again, but no sound came out. She was completely trapped and she knew it.
Veyra pulled her phone out of her pocket, tapped the screen to wake it up, and held it up between them so Xiomara could see the audio file saved on the screen.
"Should I post this raw recording straight to the medical university student forum?" Veyra asked, keeping her voice mild. "Should we let the whole campus, the faculty, and the board hear what the top scorer really sounds like when she thinks nobody is listening?"
All the color drained out of Xiomara’s face in an instant. Her eyes locked onto the screen, wide with genuine panic.
"No," she breathed out.
"No?" Veyra repeated.
"Please don’t do that," she begged, her voice shrinking until she sounded like a frightened child. "Please. I’ll do whatever you want."
Veyra looked down at her, her voice dropping all tone. "Then apologize properly."
Xiomara stood frozen on the spot.
Her hands were visibly trembling now, all the fiery attitude drained right out of her. Her skin looked pale as a sheet, and tears of frustration were welling up in the corners of her eyes.
She took a deep, shaky breath, trying to steady herself.
Then, slowly and stiffly, she bent forward at the waist. She dropped into a deep, formal ninety-degree bow. Her back was kept straight, her head facing down toward the floor tile.
"I am sorry," she said. Her voice didn’t waver this time. It was loud and clear. "I was completely wrong. I insulted you. I lied about you. I actively tried to destroy your reputation. I am deeply sorry."
The heavy words hung in the air between them.
Veyra stood there and looked down at Xiomara’s bent form. She could see Xiomara’s knuckles turning stark white where her fists were clenched tight at her thighs. Her entire body was shaking with suppressed rage and embarrassment. She was absolutely miserable.
But she had said every single word.
Veyra nodded slowly, letting the silence stretch for a few extra seconds just to let it sink in. "That’s much better."
Xiomara straightened up. Her face was still stark white, and a single tear had spilled over her lower lash line, though her expression was tight with anger.
She turned slightly toward Dorian, her tone dropping into a flat, monotone line. "I’m sorry to you too."
Veyra shook her head immediately. "Nope. That’s definitely not good enough."
Xiomara snapped her head back toward Veyra, her eyes wide with fresh outrage. "What?!"
"You need to apologize to Dorian properly," Veyra said, pointing a finger toward him. "The exact same way you just apologized to me."
A dark, embarrassed flush rushed right back into Xiomara’s face. Her hands curled into tight fists again, her nails practically puncturing her skin. For a second, Veyra thought she was going to refuse and walk out.
But Xiomara looked at the phone in Veyra’s hand, swallowed her pride, and forced herself to do it.
She bent forward at the waist again, dropping into the exact same stiff, ninety-degree bow right in front of Dorian. Her head was held low.
"I am sorry," she forced out through tight lips. "I insulted you. I called you terrible names. I treated you like you were beneath me and didn’t deserve respect. I was wrong."
Veyra could practically feel the toxic heat radiating off her. Inside her head, Xiomara was obviously screaming. Her jaw was clamped shut, her teeth grinding hard enough to break, and her stomach was churning with pure hatred.
Dog, Xiomara was probably thinking to herself right now. Hired hand. Shadow. You’re absolutely nothing, and I hate you.
She straightened up slowly, refusing to look Dorian directly in the eyes.
Dorian stood tall, his stance relaxed and his face perfectly calm. "I accept your apology," he said simply.
Xiomara forced her lips into a tight, fake smile that didn’t reach her eyes at all. "Thank you."
Veyra stared at Xiomara for one more second, letting her know that she hadn’t fooled anyone, but deciding that she had gotten what she came for.
"You can leave now," Veyra said, dismissing her with a simple flick of her hand.
Xiomara didn’t wait a second longer. She spun on her heel and practically sprinted toward the exit door, her heels clicking loudly against the floorboards.
Professor Sterling let out a long sigh and turned to follow her out into the hallway.
"Professor," Veyra called out before he could reach the handle.
He stopped in his tracks. He turned back around to face her, his posture completely drained and his face full of cold impatience.
"What now?" he asked, sounding like a man who just wanted the day to end.