Winning the Heir Who Bullied Me Chapter 51

“So,” I start, glancing at Eliza. “Wanna talk about it?”

She looks up from the map in her hand, a little distracted. “Hmm?”

We're in the woods surrounding Camp Aramoni, doing the scavenger hunt.

As soon as we dropped our luggage, Eliza was eager to get back out and take on Peter's challenge.

June opted to stay back and sleep some more. After checking her insulin levels on the new pump and fussing over her for a minute to ensure she was fine, I reluctantly agreed to leave her alone, trusting she would be fine for a couple of hours.

“Talk about what?” Eliza asks as she reverts her focus to the map of the camp. Peter wasn't joking when he said the counselors set up a mean scavenger hunt game.

It's a combination of solving riddles that lead to little puzzles that then lead to the objects we need to find.

So far, we've found two items out of ten. Although I'm having a blast, Eliza seems a little intense, which is uncharacteristic for her.

“How seriously you're taking this?”

She shrugs, then mumbles. “True north is false, and false is a lie. What the hell does that mean?”

“Eliza.” I nudge her.

She smiles sheepishly. “Sorry, I just…” She shrugs again. “If Peter wins, he'll tease me forever.”

I raise a brow. *“Forever*? As in ‘till death do you part?’”

Her face instantly reddens. “I didn't… I mean, I–we, he–”

I laugh, putting an arm around her shoulder. “You are literally the most adorable thing ever.”

She groans and rests her head on my shoulder. “I like him,” she admits with a sigh.

I grin widely. “Could've fooled me.”

She swats me weakly. “Don't be sarcastic.”

She raises her head and shrugs. “It's so weird. I only came here to please my dad, but…” She shrugs helplessly.

“The horse race was the most alive I've ever felt, and when we danced at the ball, it felt like something out of a fairytale. And when he looks at me…” She groans and plops to the floor.

I join her in the grass. “You poor, love-struck little thing,” I coo.

Eliza shoots me a weak glare, and I giggle. “If it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure he likes you too.”

Her eyebrows raise. “You think?”

“You challenge him,” I say. “And if there's one thing I know about Peter Ashford, it's that he likes a challenge.”

She chuckles softly. “If you say so.”

I stroke her braided hair lovingly. “I say so.”

She looks up at me and smiles slyly. “So, now that I've spilled my guts about Peter, wanna return the favor?”

I retreat my hand. “About what?”

She wiggles her brows. “Nathan.”

My face burns. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Eliza rolls her eyes. “Don't play coy. You look at that boy like he hung the moon in the sky.”

“That is not true,” I laugh self-consciously.

“Oh yeah? Well, he was staring at you while you danced with Lucas during the ball,” she says. “Even Peter noticed. And the way he saved you at the horse race? You two are literally magnetic. And then he goes and does what he did for June.”

I narrow my eyes. “I shouldn't have told you that.”

“What you shouldn't do is deny reality.”

“Okay,” I stand, dusting my hands. “If we sit here yapping all day, Peter will win, and he'll taunt you”—I smirk– “for the rest of your lives.”

Eliza giggles as she stands. ”Fine, evade. I'll let it slide for now.”

She turns back to the map. “Now, what the hell do you think this means?”

I glance over her shoulder. “If true north is false, and false is a lie…” I frown. “Doesn't that mean true north is true?”

Eliza checks the compass we were given and points to our left. “That's true north.” Then, she reads the rest of the riddle out loud. “If true north is false, and false is a lie, then south holds the truth—give it a try. But look not in one, for the answer is two. Both north and south will give the right clue.”

She looks up at me and shrugs. “Looks like we’ll have to split up. You take true north, and I'll take south?”

I nod. “Okay. Meet back here in 10?”

Eliza nods. And with a little wave, we separate.

I head north, looking about for any of the other items.

After about five minutes, I hear a twig snap behind me.

I roll my eyes.

“Stay away from our side of the woods, Pe–” I freeze when I turn around, and instead of Peter, Lucas smirks at me, leaning against a tree.

“Stay away?” He presses his hand against his chest. “I'm hurt, April.”

I take an unconscious step back, my heart racing. “I thought you were someone else.” I glance around me, regretting separating from Eliza, wondering how long it'll be before she comes looking for me.

“Why would you concern yourself with a useless last son when you could have”—he gestures to himself– “the heir who stands to inherit the most?”

I swallow. “I don't care about that.”

Lucas chuckles and takes a step towards me. I take another step back, and a small curse falls from my lips when my back hits a tree.

“You don't care about money and influence?” His voice takes on a low quality that makes my skin crawl. “Aren’t you just a breath of fresh air?”

“I sh-should go,” I stammer as he comes even closer. “My friend is waiting for me.”

He chuckles roughly and braces his hand against the tree above my head. “But the fun hasn't even started.”

His eyes slowly rake down my body, and although I'm wearing a long sleeve and decent shorts, the way he leers at me makes me feel naked.

I try to move, but his other hand braces at my other side, trapping me between him and the tree. Again, I’m reminded of Professor Lincoln at the coffee shop, and I have to clamp my lips together to stifle the instinctive whimper.

“I find camping boring, don't you?”

I swallow the fear climbing up my throat and say nothing.

“It would be more fun if I had someone to play with,” Lucas says, bringing one hand down and running it through my hair.

“What do you say, April?” He leans forward, aligning his body with mine. “Play with me?”

I close my eyes and say a useless prayer that this is all an awful dream. Lucas Ashford is not Elias Lincoln. This will not end with him getting fired and disgraced.

In this scenario, I don't think anyone is coming to save me. I have to get myself out of this.

So I open my eyes and meet his gaze, trying to ignore how much his hateful eyes look like another pair of green eyes I adore.

“No.”

The look of confusion on Lucas’ face is almost comical. I bet he’s never been told ‘no’ in his life.

Fucking narcissist.

The look of confusion quickly fades, and a small squeak escapes my lips when he moves, pressing me hard against the tree with his body.

His eyes take on that feral quality, and my heart climbs into my throat.

“You’ll find, April,” he says lowly. “That no one tells me no.”