Chapter 1

The moment I heard the truth, my heart trembled violently.

Over the past month, Lena Shaw had been beaten up or falsely accused countless times.

I had tried my best to help her avoid harm, but there were always moments I failed.

Unable to endure it any longer, I suggested that we should transfer schools.

At the time, Lena had just been splashed with ice water, her delicate face pale and pitiful, and she helplessly grabbed my hand.

“Harry, I don’t want to go to a strange place alone.”

Lena and I had been childhood friends—we had gone to and from school together since nursery, and that had never changed for more than 10 years.

Besides, I had secretly admired her in my heart.

So in a moment of impulse, I promised her, “Don’t be afraid. Wherever you go, I’ll go with you.”

But until now, I finally learned that everything she did had been a carefully staged act just to drive me away.

I couldn’t help but wonder—did Lena hate me that much?

The voices in the private room continued, “Harry’s truly devoted to you. You’re sending him to another school now—aren’t you afraid he’ll fall for someone else?”

“Him?”

Lena let out a mocking laugh, as if she had heard the funniest joke on earth.

“For me, he even dared step in to stop a group beating. Even when he got bruised and battered, he never took a single step back. You think he’d stop loving me?”

Someone muttered quietly, “But what if? Harry doesn’t seem like someone easy to mess with.”

Lena’s tone was lazy. “There are plenty of pretty girls at First High School. Have you ever seen him spare any of them a glance?”

Her tone inevitably carried contempt.

“All he ever did was follow me around. Even a lapdog wasn’t as clingy as him.”

Sharp, grating laughter erupted in the private room, like a slap across my face.

I wanted to leave, but my feet felt rooted to the floor, forcing me to listen—and hurt.

Someone clicked their tongue in amazement.

“This is the first time I’ve seen someone personally push away a man who liked her. Respect, girl.”

“But if you didn’t like how clingy Harry is, couldn’t you have just told him? He doesn’t seem like the type who would keep pestering you.”

Lena clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Harry is too stubborn. If I said it outright, it wouldn’t be that easy to make him leave.”

Then her tone shifted. “Besides, Michael always felt inferior and sad when he saw him. He only got better when I stayed by his side. For Michael’s sake, this is the only thing I can do. Harry will just have to suffer for a while.”

The moment she said that, everyone immediately understood.

Lena decided to pretend she was being bullied exactly one week after Michael transferred to First High School.

Someone laughed and scolded Lena, “You little fox—he’s only just came to our school and you already have a liking for him?”

“But Michael really was handsome, with a really gentle personality. It’s normal for a girl to be attracted to him. Unlike Harry—cold and stern, always keeping people a thousand miles away. No matter how handsome he is, it doesn’t help.”

Their wild commentary about me surged like waves, one after another.

And the Lena I had secretly loved for years didn’t stop them, didn’t refute them—she even agreed occasionally.

I stood outside the door, my heart sinking deep into an endless abyss—empty, heavy, and suffocating.

For a moment, I wanted to open the door and demand answers from Lena.

Ask her why she lied to me.

Ask her whether she ever felt even a moment of guilt or softness watching me get beaten while protecting her.

Ask her if she ever thought about our more than 10 years of friendship before doing all this.

But in the end, my mother’s voice echoed in my ears. ‘Don’t do unnecessary things.’

A person wouldn’t change overnight.

I turned around and left that private room.