High School Again: The President’s Secret Lady Boss - Chapter 148

For a moment, Bianca is silent, taking in what Winter just said.

She then suddenly erupted in a fit of cackles, her mocking mirth filled with disdain and contempt. It was as though there was something funny about it. The way she flipped over laughing made her look like she lost her mind. It was like some sort of a breakdown – the shredding of what made her human.

“Really, now, Winter~! You think you can do it…?!” Bianca scoffed derisively with a crooked grin.

“Just what does a maggot like you can do?! If it wasn’t for those friends of yours, you wouldn’t have gone this far! You’re just a foolish little leech who’s hungry for attention! We shouldn’t have taken in a scumbag like you! You should’ve kicked the bucket a long time ago!”

“You really lost it, Bianca. Is that your best shot…?” Winter muttered vehemently with a frosty look..

“To think that you’re seeing me that way this whole time – do you hate me that much?”

“Hmmm, let’s see… Actually, yes! Yes, I do!”

“Why? I wasn’t doing anything to you. I would’ve still accepted you as one of us-”

“Oh, I really don’t need to explain myself. Besides, you already lost since the very beginning. The whole family is on my side all along, including Uncle Cyrus and Aunt Grace. We stole everything from you, and now, you’re left with nothing. There’s nothing for you to return to at the Middleton estate.”

Winter made a show of being shocked by the discovery, amusing Bianca even more.

Though she already knew all of that, she was still not expecting that she would hear it straight from her mouth. Even before she went back in time, not once did her perfect facade crack in front of anyone – she was always in character, always in control. Now, though, she’s really letting loose. Her inner demons are rampaging, her hatred running wild. In some way, it was similar to how she ended up before.

While Winter lost after falling into sorrow and despair, Bianca would most likely meet the same fate after falling into madness.

“Come to think of it, aren’t you the one who lost her mind here? Just what the hell were you thinking walking around by yourself? Were you asking for a death sentence? You really are foolish,” Bianca continued, and Winter went still.

“Why say so? Are you planning to call on your people to deal with me-”

“That’s right, bitch! And I’m not just talking about mere security here! We have a flock of killers on our plate – assassins from underground organizations, and even illegal traders! And you know what? I’m not going to let you get away this time. Now that I have you here, I’ll make sure to ship you out to the black market! I’ll make a fortune out of you, you wench!”

As Bianca disclosed all of that, it was as if she was finally stripping off the remaining pieces of her humanity. Winter was thunderstruck, locked in her place – had to take a minute or two to let that revelation settle in.

‘The… black market…? And underground organizations…?’ she repeated in her head, shell-shocked by this discovery.

‘I didn’t know about that. Heck, I didn’t have any idea at all. So, the whole family was really…? Then, was this reason why they didn’t want me as the next head? Because I can potentially expose them and end their dealings should I refuse to cooperate?’

Everything does happen for a reason.

There’s a reason why the Middleton family would choose Bianca, who had no blood relation with them at all, over Winter, who was the former head’s biological child. There’s a reason why Cyrus had ordered to kill her off in the previous timeline despite how capable and competent she was. There’s a reason why Grace would put her through many hardships just to make her want to quit.

That’s because she wasn’t raised like Bianca. She wasn’t raised as the heiress that the Middleton family wanted her to be.

As soon as that realization dawned on Winter, she was devoured by fury.

“Oh, so, that’s how it is, huh…?” she hissed underneath her breath, expression dark and malevolent.

“Alright, then. Banish me. Kick me out. Throw me away. I wouldn’t want to be part of a family that’s full of monsters, anyway-”

Before Winter could finish her sentence, she felt pain searing across her face all of the sudden. Her line of vision left Bianca then, her eyes blowing wide open from the impact.

She had slapped her – or more like punched her. It was so hard that she ended up taking a few steps back, got her nearly losing her balance. Perhaps, it would leave a bruise, too.

“Oh, dear,” Bianca said emotionlessly – expression harsh, cruel, and unsmiling.

Then, there was silence.

One heavy silence stretched in their midst.

For a moment, they simply continue exchanging looks – neither uttering a thing nor even making a sound. Bianca then lifts up her chin conceitedly, pleased and satisfied at the sight. Winter is at a complete loss. Her eyes are as wide as saucers, mouth slightly agape.

It hurts.

It really hurts.

In the end, Bianca was still able to shake her to the core. She’s clearly more than delighted that she gets to do such a thing to Winter – to see such a disconcerted reaction from her.

“What’s with the silence, Winter? You ought to rejoice…” she mocked, smirking cynically.

“Don’t you like my assignment for you? I’m sure you’d love your new home so much you’d never leave it. Now that I’ll be the next head of the Middleton family, I can make use of a useless scrap like you however I want to-”

“You really are awful.”

Bianca fell quiet after sensing how thick her voice seemed with animosity and malice. Winter growls at her, gaze dim and hooded with intense repugnance.

If looks could kill, she’d be a corpse by now. That says a lot since the deadly glare she’s giving her isn’t even that of a murderer – rather, it’s that of someone who’s about to witness an execution, burning and chilling at the same time. Even without her doing anything, there’s already this insane air of menace around her, and for a moment there, she feels like she’s going straight to hell.

Tension builds up. The temperature drops.

And time seems to still.

That’s until Winter flashes a wide, amused grin out of nowhere, confounding Bianca.

“Nonetheless, what a fantastic speech! I’m so moved – quite literally! You’re really in it…!” she enthused cheerfully before turning to the side and nodding her head at something on the wall beside them.

“You may have gotten away with everything before, but don’t think you can still do it this time.”

It takes Bianca a few sharp intakes of breath before her words sink in her head. As soon as she catches sight of the thing that Winter is looking at on the wall, she gapes in shock, perplexity, and disbelief, her eyes flying wide open.

Taking her turn to be disconcerted, she finds herself frozen still at that very moment, looking as if her soul has just left her body.

“T-That’s… N-No w-way…”

It turned out that something as small as a speck, glinting formidably, was actually eavesdropping on their conversation the whole time – there is a hidden camera on the wall that has been secretly placed out of Bianca’s sight. This is what Winter means when she says she’ll end her at once. It may be extremely rare of her to show her true colors in front of someone, but all she really needs is one single chance to make it last forever.

No more scheming and pretenses. No more secret motives and hidden agendas.

Now that Bianca’s intentions have been recorded, Winter no longer has to hold back, either.

“What’s with the long face, Bianca? You don’t wanna appear too unsightly in front of everyone at the party, do you? After all, you’re the peerless beauty with overflowing charms – or so how you always call yourself.”

And with that, she did not only turn the table on her –

She has also pulled the last straws.

—

On the nearing peak of the evening at the Lexington’s cruise ship party, all of the visitors, employees, and event facilitators who’re present are left astounded by an unannounced screening – one that features an ongoing confrontation between two distinguished personalities.

It’s a heated exchange where dark secrets and harrowing thoughts are exposed.

“Come to think of it, aren’t you the one who lost her mind here? Just what the hell were you thinking walking around by yourself? Were you asking for a death sentence? You really are foolish.”

The raw footage had suddenly begun to play on every TV screen at the banquet hall, lobbies, corridors, and lounges before spreading like wildfire on different social media platforms. No prior notice has been made or even a brief synopsis that could explain what kind of monstrosity was taking place.

“That’s right, bitch! And I’m not just talking about mere security here! We have a flock of killers on our plate – assassins from underground organizations, and even illegal traders! And you know what? I’m not going to let you get away this time. Now that I have you here, I’ll make sure to ship you out to the black market! I’ll make a fortune out of you, you wench!”

All they knew was that everything was being filmed live without Bianca Middleton’s knowledge.