2

With the watch gone, I had no way to contact Lucas.

By my count, his bomb disposal mission wouldn't be over for another six hours.

At noon, I walked into the school cafeteria.

The moment I stepped in, the noisy room fell silent.

Everyone stared. Students picked up their trays and moved away.

I went up to the counter and handed my student card to the cafeteria worker.

"The steak meal, please."

She swiped it, and the machine let out a warning beep.

"Your card's been frozen. It won't work."

She tossed the card back to me and gave me a cold look.

Behind me, Celine laughed.

"People who bully their classmates don't get to use school resources.

"The student council has decided to cut you off from every service on campus."

She walked over with a tray, flanked by her followers.

"That's the price of justice.

"Get on your knees and beg Lucas for forgiveness, even if he's not here. Then maybe I'll let you have a bite to eat."

The students around us whooped and jeered.

I ignored her and pulled out a black card.

"If I can't eat school food, I'll buy my own."

I called the head chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant off campus.

"Send your service team to the school cafeteria right now.

"I'm buying every signature dish you have today. Bring it all here."

Ten minutes later, four refrigerated trucks pulled up outside the cafeteria.

A team of 12 uniformed servers filed in, pushing carts.

Premium caviar, Australian wagyu, and white truffles covered a long table.

The head chef stood respectfully beside me and laid my napkin across my lap.

"Please enjoy your meal, Boss."

The cafeteria was so quiet you could hear people breathing.

Celine's face flushed red, then drained of color.

"Who are you trying to impress? You probably hired these people with Lucas's money!"

She pointed at me, teeth clenched.

"Go break open her locker!

"Let's see how much stolen stuff she's hiding in there!"

At her signal, a few student council officers ran toward the lockers at the end of the hall.

I set down my knife and fork, dabbed my mouth, and followed them.

By the time I got there, they'd already pried the door open with a crowbar.

My things were all over the floor.

Celine was crouched down, pulling a shirt out of a garment bag.

Lucas had worn that shirt on a job two weeks earlier.

A tear ran across the stomach, surrounded by a large patch of dried blood.

"Oh my God! That's so much blood!"

A girl nearby covered her mouth and screamed.

Celine's face lit up with something close to glee. She reached into the bottom of the bag and pulled out a bloodstained combat knife.

She held the knife and the bloody shirt up over her head.

"Everyone, look at this!

"This is proof she's been torturing Lucas!

"She cut him with a knife! She's insane!"

Now the crowd was furious. Some students started rolling up their sleeves.

"Beat her to death! Do it for Lucas!"

"Somebody that vicious belongs in a psych ward!"

I watched Celine wave that ridiculously expensive custom knife around like a toy.

I watched these idiots take Lucas's badge of honor, something he'd nearly died for, and call it proof that I was a bully.

I'd had enough.

I strode over, eyes fixed on Celine.

"Get your dirty hands off that knife."

Celine lifted her chin, sure of herself, and pointed the knife at me.

"What? A murderer wants to destroy the evidence?

"This knife is enough to convict you, and I'm handing it over to campus security right now!"

One of the guys with her reached for the bloody shirt, eager to impress her.

"Why are you even talking to her? Grab the shirt too before she destroys it!"

His fingers were an inch from the shirt.

I swung with everything I had and slapped him across the face.

The slap echoed down the hallway, and a red handprint rose on his cheek.

Total silence.

No one had expected me to lash out, not in a situation like this.

The guy held his face and glared at me.

"You... you hit me?"

I pulled out a wet wipe and slowly cleaned my hand.

"I hit you because you don't deserve to touch anything of his.

"That shirt is none of your business."

Celine was so furious she laughed. She threw the bloody shirt on the floor.

"The evidence is right here, and you still attack people in public? You think you own this school?"

She pulled out her phone and began typing furiously.

"Since you don't know what's good for you, don't blame me for what happens next.

"Tonight, I'm going to show you what real despair feels like."