SINFULLY YOURS

Chapter 17: Chapter 17. Downright Baffling

Chapter 17. Downright Baffling

Rosa Lin’s POV

”What did you just say?”

His voice boomed all over the cafeteria. Silence fell. The whispers died down instantly. I could feel everybody shifting in their chairs. The girls who had surrounded the girl who had spoken instantly packed up their bags and left, leaving her alone to her doom. Her head moved around, watching each and every one of them in disbelief before turning back to look up at Mr. Don, who was slowly approaching her with a dead glare in his eyes.

”I-I-I’m sorry. I—I didn’t mean that. I was—I wasn’t... I wasn’t referring to you. I was—”

”If you have nothing meaningful to say, I would advise you to keep your mouth shut,” he snapped, interrupting her.

She closed her mouth. I saw her hands tremble. Her eyelids fluttered as she swallowed hard, bowing immediately.

”Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I-I won’t say anything. I promise,” she said.

”Good,” he said.

Then, he turned around, glaring at everyone else in the hall. Everyone instantly avoided his gaze.

”Anybody else who spreads false rumors about her will face my punishment.”

His voice boomed. I blinked in confusion, watching him. He turned back to the girl. The girl was already packing her things; she didn’t need him to say anything else. She turned around and scurried out of the cafeteria as quickly as she could, her body still shaking.

I remained frozen, watching the entrance after the doorbell jingled to signify her departure. Everybody else quickly turned back and focused on what they were doing, acting like they were trying to forget the incident that had just happened.

I just sat back in my chair, watching him with wide eyes, shocked that he actually did that. I thought he would begin accusing me again, like he did in the office. God, I do not understand this man.

I watched him as he slowly and calmly turned around with both of his hands in his pockets. The displeasure was evident in his eyes as he stared at the ground, returning to our table.

Me? I was frozen, still sitting and watching him approach us. He stood by the table beside the chair where Tim had sat before, gazing at the surface for a while. I saw him close his eyes and breathe out.

Then, he turned to look at me.

”Sorry about that,” he said.

I blinked and folded my arms before avoiding his gaze. He pulled out the chair and sat down, drawing it closer until he was sitting right beside me.

I glared at him. ”Can you please move away?”

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. ”Why? I want to talk to you,” he added.

”I don’t want to,” I replied, drinking a juice I had bought for myself earlier before his.

He looked at me for a while and chuckled.

”You see, this is the reason why you are so short.”

PFFFFT!!!

I spat out the drink and glared at him. He smirked .

”You hold grudges so much, and it’s not good for your health. Don’t you know that grudges hold a certain weight that can stay in your chest for ages, making it impossibly hard for your biology to expand and stretch the way it should? That weight in your chest is too heavy for your body to carry, so you should really let it go,” he said, smirking at me.

I heard Mia snicker opposite us as she took her seat, struggling to fight the laughter bubbling up inside her.

I glared at him with annoyance.

He smiled. ”Come on, just take the drink, okay?” he said, moving it back toward me.

”I said I don’t want it.” I pushed it back toward him.

He folded his fingers together. ”You’re not going to thank me for helping you right now?”

”What makes you think I needed your help?” I snapped.

”I see. Still being cocky, huh?”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. ”What do you want, Mr. Don?” I asked, surprised by my own boldness.

He smiled. ”I’m surprised you are this bold. Thought you would have been quiet, but it seems you’ve grown up a little bit. What did I miss all the while I’ve been away?”

”Ask yourself that question,” I replied and tried to eat my food.

I felt his eyes raking all over my face.

He moved the drink closer. ”Take this. It will help you digest the burger well.”

I closed my eyes and groaned.

Mia’s chuckle came out audibly now. I looked up at her with a dry look. Funny, yeah. Great.

”So you are really going to keep refusing me?” he asked.

I didn’t reply, stuffing my mouth with the burger so I wouldn’t have to answer him. I just wanted him to be gone. I kept filling my mouth until my cheeks were completely puffed.

I felt his hand against mine. ”Okay, will you stop? You are going to choke yourself. You know your mouth is not large enough to contain all that, shorty.”

I tilted my head to glare at him with my cheeks full. He chuckled and reached toward my face.

”Oh my God, don’t you look so cute right now? You look like a cute little chipmunk.”

Mia gasped and choked. I saw the water she had been drinking spill from her mouth as she patted her chest, covering her mouth to keep her laughter from escaping. God, she was failing terribly. Mr. Don kept his focus entirely on me, acting as though she wasn’t even there.

I narrowed my eyes into sharp slits to show my displeasure. He just smiled. God, I wanted to explode right now. I slowly began to chew the burger so I could swallow.

”Rosa,” he said calmly, ”your mouth is full. You should take it easy. Don’t rush it. I’m for real.”

I saw genuine worry in his eyes.

”Come on, you shouldn’t be rushing food like that.” He took the fruit drink, twisted open the cap, and brought it closer to my mouth. ”Take this, it will help you wash it down.”

I gave him a sharp glare. I wanted to say something, but because of my stuffed mouth, I couldn’t. I jerked my head away and pushed his hand down, knocking the drink aside and waving my hand to show I didn’t want it.

He chuckled. Mia’s laughter was getting a little bit too loud now, and I gave her a sharp, warning glare.

She caught my eye and blinked. ”Oh,” she said, shaking her head quickly and patting her cheeks before clearing her throat. ”Yeah, um, sorry. Um, yeah, I uh... appreciate your kind gesture right now, Mr. Don,” she said, though I could still see her lips twitching as she looked at him.

She was still entranced by this man’s looks. Oh my God, where is my defense mechanism when I need it? I thought.

”Look, you hurt her feelings, okay? So, you can’t easily be forgiven,” Mia said. ”But of course, I will forgive you because, you know, I don’t hold grudges like her, and—”

I glared at her with my jaw dropped in sheer disbelief. When she saw my expression, she blinked and quickly corrected herself.

”—Oh, yeah. That’s right! No, none of us can forgive you. Not at all! You hurt her and you did her so bad, and that’s why she is angry with you. So don’t think you can just come here and try to win her forgiveness with this nice little fruit drink and that cute face of yours,” she said, pointing at him.

Mr. Don stared at her, a wide grin spreading across his face as amusement danced in his eyes.

”You think I’m cute?” he asked, pointing to himself.

Mia blinked rapidly.

Oh my God, I thought, slapping my palm against my forehead. This was a disaster in the making.

Mia chuckled and smiled at him nervously. ”No, sir, that... that’s not what I meant, that...”

I waved my hand at her, turning away in complete secondhand embarrassment. ”Just forget it, Mia. Keep quiet.”

Oh God, Mia. She had always been this way—getting completely derailed by good-looking men and losing all sense of reason. Why the hell did he have to look so damn good?

I felt his heated gaze burning into the side of my cheek.

”You know, if there’s anybody who should forgive someone, it’s actually me who is supposed to forgive her.”

My eyes widened. I snapped my head back to look at him. He frowned lightly.

”What? You hurt me first.”

My eyebrows shot up. ”I’m sorry, what?”

He chuckled. ”Really?” He leaned in closer. ”Why are you trying to act so stubborn?”

I stared at him, utterly bewildered. ”When did I ever hurt you?”

”Well, for starters, you walked out on me back at the office.”

My eyes widened into saucers. Oh my God, you’ve got to be kidding me.

”I didn’t walk out on you!” I snapped. ”You kicked me out!”

I pointed an accusing finger at him, but he reached out and caught my hand.

”No, I didn’t,” he said, holding my gaze.

I saw the playful glint in his eyes. He was doing this entirely on purpose. I yanked my hand out of his grip. He threw his head back, laughing out loud in genuine amusement.

Wow, this man just wants to annoy me. He really wants to piss me off. And God, it was working, because I genuinely wanted to claw those gorgeous eyes right out of his head.

”You know, you actually look so cute when you’re pissed.”

”Aww,” I heard Mia coo from across the table, making my face flush instantly hot.

I tilted my head slowly to give her a murderous glare. She quickly looked away, staring out the window on the far side and pretending to wave at someone outside. Yeah, right. Great save.

I turned my attention back to him. Honestly, at this point, I was completely dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t even know how to react. I was just overwhelmed, confused, and thoroughly caught off guard.

First of all, he was a professor and a dean. The sheer confidence, the calm sincerity, and how casual he was sitting down here with Mia and me having this weird little banter was completely unexpected.

And second of all, it was him. I couldn’t understand him at all. I tried to reconcile the man sitting beside me—smiling at me like I was some cute, harmless kitten—with the man back in his office who had looked like the devil incarnate.

It felt like they were two completely different people wearing the exact same face.

The way his moods switched so effortlessly was downright baffling.