Chapter 2

Melody's POV

Dorian and I had grown up together, but our statuses were worlds apart.

Dad was the driver for his family, whereas Mom was their housekeeper.

When Dorian was ten years old, he secretly sneaked out to prepare a birthday surprise for his mother, Mrs. Harmon.

As the driver, Dad was responsible for driving him and, at his request, brought me along too.

That day, heavy rain poured down, making the roads nearly impossible to drive on. On top of that, we ran into enemies of the Harmons, seeking revenge.

To protect us, Dad was beaten so badly that one of his legs was shattered. Even though the Harmons were very grateful and spent a lot of money to treat him, his leg still ended up permanently disabled.

And because of that incident, I also lost my ability to speak.

Dorian blamed himself deeply and stayed by my side constantly. He told me that the Harmons would cover all my medical expenses until I could speak again.

He also promised me that even though I couldn't speak, as long as he was around, he would never let me be bullied. He would wait—wait until the day I could speak on my own again.

He hadn't lied.

Over the years, he had really done well. Whenever someone mocked me or showed even the slightest hint of malice toward me, he would fight back on my behalf.

But there were also things he didn't understand.

For example, although it looked like the Harmons were paying for all my medical expenses over the years, in reality, Mrs. Harmon only paid for the most basic monthly consultation fees.

The real costs—the big ones—like medication and tests, were still covered by my parents themselves.

Recently, my condition had finally shown slight improvement. My parents wanted to take me to a better hospital, but their income was meager, and they couldn't afford better medical care for me.

After much consideration, they decided they would quit their jobs at the end of the year and transfer me back to a high school in our hometown.

However, between my reluctance to leave Dorian and my fear of a new environment, I had originally planned to stay and finish my senior year here.

But now, I only wanted to escape immediately.

…

That afternoon after school, I went to the Harmon residence as previously agreed upon.

As soon as Mrs. Harmon saw me, she got straight to the point.

"Melody, Dorian has always been protective of you since you were kids. Even if he owed your father a debt of gratitude, that should be considered repaid by now.

"Since your parents will no longer be working for this family, I suggest you go back with them as well."

She was smiling, but her words carried clear pressure.

My expression remained calm as I showed her the transfer application I'd just written on my phone.

Then I typed, "Don't worry. I've already prepared the transfer application. I'll submit it to the school for approval tomorrow and will transfer to my hometown school next semester."

Mrs. Harmon clearly didn't expect me to agree so easily. But almost immediately, she made another request.

"Mel, could you please not tell Dorian about this transfer just yet? He's going to marry Aya in the future, and their relationship has only recently started making progress.

"Plus, it's his senior year, and the workload is heavy. If he finds out about your transfer, it'll more or less affect him.

"Wait until winter break, then you can tell him. That way, he'll have the whole break to get used to life without you, okay?"

I nodded and typed, "Don't worry. I won't tell him."

Once the matter was settled, I stepped out into the snow, ready to leave.

Suddenly, Dorian jumped out from nowhere, holding a large box of candy, startling me. Before I could react, he had already shoved the box into my hands.

"Sorry about what happened today, Mel," he said, ruffling my hair. "My parents have always wanted me to marry Ayanna, but I've kept refusing."

He sighed, looking somewhat helpless.

"But recently, our family's capital chain ran into problems, and we urgently need the Cambor family's help. Ayanna said that if I could win her over, she'd ask her father to help us. So, what happened this morning with the pure dark chocolate in your thermal flask… I'm really sorry."