Chapter 2

Wyatt's POV

Wendy couldn't hold her laughter in anymore. She doubled over laughing, clutching her waist. "You don't like it? But back when you were little, you were always the one laughing the hardest."

I clenched my fists. Years of pent-up hurt came pouring out all at once. When I was little, I was afraid of being left out. So, no matter how much they teased or pranked me, I would still trail after them, grinning like an idiot.

When I was eight, they tricked me into going up the mountain to look for herbs to cure Mom's cold. But while I wasn't paying attention, they snuck down the mountain and used the pocket money in my bag to buy candy and toys.

By the time the police found me, I had spent the entire night on the mountain, cold, hungry, and barely clinging to life. Yet, the first thing I did when I opened my eyes was smile at them. "I-It was fun. But next time, could you please not leave me behind?"

Memories came flooding back. My eyes welled up with tears, but Wendy and Shane only laughed even harder.

Only Shelly sounded a bit impatient. "You're a grown man. Can't you take a joke? Everyone else is having fun, but you're the only one sitting there with a long face, as if someone wronged you."

Just then, Dad, who was supposed to be away on a business trip, suddenly showed up in his car. "Get in. Since it's your first day, I'll show you around town."

I pointed to my heavy luggage. "But Dad, I haven't put my things away yet."

He frowned. "I didn't say you were coming with me. There isn't enough room for three people in the back of the Bentley. You'll have to sacrifice yourself."

His words stunned me for a moment.

"Just kidding!" Dad adjusted his sunglasses and said, "You're my son. How could I possibly leave you behind? Just leave your luggage with the guard for now. Hurry up!"

I hurriedly dragged my luggage into the security booth, barely able to move. Even when my knee knocked against the corner of the desk, I was too rushed to feel the pain.

Just this once. If this wasn't another prank, and Mom and Dad genuinely wanted to take me out with them, I would forgive them.

But when I returned, they were nowhere to be seen at the entrance.

Shane then sent me a message. "Haha, you fell for it again! This wasn't my idea. It was Wendy's. She said you're simple-minded. You'd just do whatever you were told. Turns out she was right!"

Then, he sent me a video. In the video, he had his arms around my parents, while Wendy was near him. Shelly was being the responsible adult, carrying everyone's bags and buying ice cream. That shop was supposed to be the secret place Shelly and I shared.

"Good for you." After replying to his message with the words I had always used to placate him, I walked straight to the admissions office.

"Hello, I'd like to withdraw from this university," I said.

The teacher across from me looked up in surprise and adjusted her glasses, as if she hadn't heard me clearly. "What?"

I repeated, "Miss, I'd like to withdraw from the university."

Before even entering the admissions office, I had already opened my email and accepted the full-scholarship offer Haldin University had sent me two weeks earlier.

Back then, Mom and Dad had said Haldin was too far away. They didn't want me to be so far from home. Wendy and Shane had also warmly invited me to attend Northvale University. That was why I had never changed my first-choice university.

But now, I had no place in this family. And there was no place for me in this so-called friendship. If that was the case, I had no reason to keep staying where I was.