THE CONTINENTAL HEIR

2. Humiliated

When Lucian couldn't take his gaze off Veronica, Billy moved closer to her with a smirk playing on his lips. "Why are you standing there like a frozen fool?!" Billy voices ridicule while placing his hand across Veronica's shoulder. Lucian felt his throat tighten with no response.

"Do you think someone as pathetic as you deserve someone like Veronica Montez? It is funny how you think she was dating you when she was mine all along," Billy chuckled proudly.

"W…what are you talking about?" Lucian's voice was small. He couldn't believe what Billy said; he knew how corny and deceiving he was. "That's a lie. You're forcing Veronica to say those words!"

Billy laughed, and Veronica rolled her eyes, irritated at Lucian's behavior of not accepting the truth to end his humiliation.

"Nobody is forcing anyone here, Lucian. It is you who is forcing yourself not to accept the reality that you're a failure," The crowd rumbled with laughter—making Lucian's body crawl with a shiver, electrifying the hair at the back of his neck.

Billy descended the stage, walking towards Lucian. "Do you know why Veronica never comes to see you?" Billy's voice growled. Lucian felt his legs moving back by themselves, and when the wall behind him wouldn't let him move any further, He just watched Billy's bulky figure eat the space between them.

"That's because she is with me every night while you dream of her," another laughter rumbled from the crowd.

Veronica has always told Lucian she loved him and promised never to leave him. Her words were his comfort. He could remember the sincerity in her voice. Was she fooling him?

"T… That's a lie!" Lucian yelled at Billy, shifting his gaze to Veronica, hoping and praying she would deny the accusations, but her facial expression didn't deny Billy's words. It was all true.

Lucain's gaze fell to the floor, and In a blink of an eye, he was broken, feeling dizzy with shame and pain. He wished the ground would open and swallow him, ending his bleeding heart and the rage running through his veins, the same rage he had bottled up all his life since the age of ten, the same violence he had turned away from.

Lucian had a principle: never to choose violence, no matter the situation he found himself in at the University. He knew that the bastards who always picked on him were not poor like him. They could easily buy their way out of any trouble they found themselves in, but Lucian couldn't. That is why he avoided violence so as not to get expelled from the University he had worked hard to get into.

These principles made him look weak, and Billy constantly picked on him because he knew he wouldn't fight back.

"Hey!" Billy yelled, snapping Lucian out of his thoughts. Billy's hands held Lucian at the collar, and his other pointed at him. "I was talking to you, and you dare keep me quiet!" Billy slapped Lucian so hard that the crowd gasped in surprise. Lucian's gaze fell to the floor with his heart bleeding, cursing under his breath.

Billy shoved him to the wall. "You are pathetic, Lucian," he pulled at his hair, forcing Lucian to stare at Veronica, who smiled at him. "She is way out of your league, and people like you don't deserve to have any girlfriend." With that said, Billy punch Lucian, sending him down to the floor.

"He is such a coward!" Someone from the crowd spat at him.

"How can someone like him exist?" Another female voice sneered.

"I'm happy Veronica realized what a pathetic boyfriend she has been dating."

The crowd were all murmuring among themselves.

Lucian crawled to his feet, wiping off the blood from his lips. Billy turns to him with a frown pasted on his face. "How dare you stand up!" Billy yelled, throwing another punch, but to his surprise, Lucian's left hand stopped his fist midway. His eyes were cold, deviating from any emotion he had once had.

The crowd gasp at the sight. It was the first time Lucian had ever defended himself against people like Billy, who were also making his life miserable, and this made anticipation grow among the crowd.

Still trying to overcome his surprise, Billy felt the force of Lucian's fist, which sent him crashing to the ground. The crowd gasped, and Lucian paced towards Billy's body, sending another blow into his face. Lucian was about to repeat the process when a group of familiar faces held him. It was Billy's friend circle, and Lucian struggled between their grips.

"Let go of me, You bastards!" Lucian screamed, but the five people increased their grip on him, preventing him from hitting their leader.

Billy staggered to his feet, wiping the blood from his lips. The veins on his face were visible from anger. "How dare you lay your filthy hand on me!" Billy rages, sending a blow to Lucian's gut, and he gasps in pain, struggling against the hands holding him. He couldn't break free, and Billy continued to throw punches to his body.

After a few minutes, Billy's hands were tired, and his fists ached with pain. The murmuring crowd just stood and watched, with nobody daring to intervene.

"Get him out of here!" Billy spat at Lucian, who was groaning in pain. Billy's friends nodded in response and dragged Lucian outside, away from the crowd and away from any prying eyes.

When they were far from the hall, they let go of Lucian, who fell to the ground. Lucian immediately shrank into a ball and tried to cover his head, but it didn't do him any good as Billy's friends continuously punched and matched his entire body.

Lucian knew the consequences of picking a fight with Billy meant fighting his gang members also, but He was tired of being weak and taken advantage of, and even though these people planned on beating him to his death, Lucian was glad he threw that punch at Billy.

"Is he still breathing?" One of the bullies asked when Lucian lay unconscious on the ground. He was not moving even when they constantly kicked at his body. When the other comrade noticed this, one reached for Lucian's neck to check his pulse but found none.

"N…No, I…I think he is dead," he replied, and his face turned pale. "W…we killed him!" he staggered back at the realization.

The rest of them panicked, staring at Lucian's body. "What are we going to do?" One asked while his gaze fell to his shaking fist stained with Lucian blood, and when none of his colleagues provided an answer, he covered his face with his palm, trembling with fear.

"I'm too young to go to jail!" He screamed, shaking his head. "It is just a small beating. Why did this bastard have to die!" he yelled at Lucian's unconscious body.

"Get hold of yourself," Sammy Billy's best friends sneered at the rest of his colleagues, who whimpered in fear. "We didn't kill another body; rather, he had an accident," Sammy said in a warning tone, and the rest became muted realizing they wouldn't be going to jail since Sammy's father was a powerful and influential cop.

Most of their families were wealthy, but unlike Sammy and Billy, they were considered the top in their class since their parents held more power and influence compared to any other student at Xive University.

"What of the people who saw us dragging him out of the hall," one of the boys bold enough to speak, and he received a slap from Sammy.

"No one will dare speak up about it! As far as I'm concerned, we only dragged him out of the hall, and since he was dumped by his girlfriend, Lucian left with shame, understand?!" The rest of the team nodded in agreement. If anyone came asking about it, they were all going to say the same, and without much evidence, the cops would classify it as a hit-and-run.

"Dump his body by the road," Sammy instructed, and the rest dragged Lucian's body and dumped it by the roadside.

….