Chapter 5

When Harvey regained consciousness, he found himself in the hospital emergency room.

The curtain beside his bed was drawn, but he could still hear Jacob's irritated voice from the other side.

"Taylor, have you lost your mind? You nearly got yourself killed trying to save Harvey! Do you realize how close you came to being hit by that truck?"

Several other classmates quickly chimed in.

"Exactly, Taylor! Don't tell me you've fallen for Harvey. Why else would you risk your own life to save him?"

A brief silence followed before Taylor's cool voice broke through.

"You're reading too much into it. I only saved Harvey because we pulled that prank on him with the school badge before, and today we misunderstood him again. I was worried he'd hold a grudge and find some other way to sabotage Jacob's admission to Curwell University."

After a long pause, Jacob finally asked in a subdued voice, "Is that really all there is to it?"

"What else could it be?" Taylor replied impatiently. "Do you honestly think I'd fall for someone like Harvey? Someone who's lazy, frivolous, and has no interest in studying?"

Someone who's lazy, frivolous, and has no interest in studying.

Her words cut straight to Harvey's heart. So, that was what she thought of him.

Yet the same Harvey who had once lost an entire night's sleep simply because Taylor complained that he was too noisy felt nothing this time. His expression remained unchanged as he closed his eyes and let out a slow breath.

So, that was why Taylor had saved him.

Fine. At least he no longer had to feel indebted to her.

Fortunately, neither Harvey nor Taylor had suffered any serious injuries, and both were discharged from the hospital shortly afterward.

…

The next day was the deadline for students to move out of their dorm rooms.

With graduation over, even the usually strict dorm supervisor seemed to have softened. For once, she made an exception and allowed female students to enter the men's dormitory.

Harvey and Jacob shared a room. While Harvey was halfway through packing his belongings, he noticed Taylor walking in with several other girls from their class. They looked around with undisguised curiosity.

"Wow! So this is what the boys' dorm looks like? I've never been inside one before!"

"Oh, my God! Whose stinky socks are these? Hurry up and put them away!"

Harvey pretended not to notice them and continued packing. He was halfway through when one of the girls, Selena Lopez, suddenly let out a surprised gasp.

"Wait! What's this?"

Harvey paused and looked down, only to realize that he had just pulled a gift box containing a silk scarf from his wardrobe.

It was a designer silk scarf from a prestigious brand, worth a small fortune.

His roommate, Daniel Harrison, immediately recognized it and blurted out, "Wait a second, Harvey! Isn't this the scarf you were planning to give Taylor? My God, that must have cost a fortune!"

Taylor stiffened.

She suddenly remembered her birthday the previous year, when Harvey had prepared 18 gifts for her, only for her to reject them without a second thought.

"Sorry, but I don't like cheap things," she'd remarked.

She still remembered how the light in the young man's eyes had dimmed for a brief moment. But in the very next second, he lifted his head and smiled.

"Okay, then! I'll get a part-time job and save up until I can afford something you'd actually like!"

After that, Harvey started setting aside money every single day.

Knowing that Taylor came from a wealthy family and wore nothing but designer clothes, he wanted to buy her something that would meet her standards.

It had taken him six whole months to save enough to spend several thousand dollars on the silk scarf. He knew it might not seem like much to someone like Taylor, but it was a gift he'd chosen with all his heart.

Taylor's fingers curled involuntarily, but before she could say anything, a scream suddenly rang out.

"Ah!"

Jacob cried out in pain, snapping her out of her thoughts. She immediately rushed over to him.

"Jacob, what's wrong?"

Apparently, he'd accidentally scraped his arm against a nail sticking out of the desk while moving his belongings, and blood was now streaming down his arm.

"There's so much blood!"

The other girls panicked, too, scrambling to find something they could use to stop the bleeding. But with the dorm room almost completely cleared out, there was hardly anything left.

Then, Selena suddenly suggested, "Why don't we use the silk scarf Harvey bought?"

Taylor froze and instinctively looked up at Harvey.

She had expected him to refuse outright. Instead, he simply took the silk scarf out of its box and handed it over, his expression indifferent.

"Do whatever you want with it."

With Harvey's permission, the girl immediately took the scarf and moved to wipe the blood from Jacob's arm, but Taylor stopped her.

Looking directly at Harvey, she asked slowly, emphasizing every word, "Harvey, didn't you spend months saving up for this?"

She clearly remembered the determination in his eyes when he'd promised to buy her a gift. Yet now, he was agreeing so easily to let someone use that very scarf to wipe up blood?

Harvey's hand paused. Before he could respond, another scream rang out.

"Ah!" Jacob let out a muffled cry of pain.

Taylor immediately forgot about everything else. Without a second thought, she snatched up the silk scarf and pressed it against his wound.

By the time she realized what she'd done, the once-white silk was already stained a shocking crimson.

Watching the scene unfold, Harvey let out a quiet laugh. He finished packing his remaining belongings, picked up his box, and headed for the door.

"Ah!"

But just as he reached the doorway, Jacob suddenly let out an even more agonized scream, his face turning deathly pale.

"It hurts! It hurts so much! There's something on this scarf! It burns whenever it touches my wound!"

Taylor froze. The next second, she sprang to her feet, grabbed Harvey by the wrist, and glared at him, her face livid.

"Harvey, what did you put on the scarf?"