Chapter 4

The instant I hit the ground, everyone around me stopped what they were doing. At the same time, two high-pitched voices rang out.

The first was a grating cackle that came from Shae, who was thrilled to see that I got knocked down. She was hopping around happily, even clapping her hands.

The second was a furious shriek that came from the young woman who darted out from behind—Isabelle!

I couldn't believe she'd followed me all the way here. The moment she saw me falling down, she couldn't stop herself from charging over. She was holding onto a tree branch that was still covered in fresh leaves. It was clear she'd just grabbed it off one of the trees.

She moved very quickly. In the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of me and raised the branch to bash it against Daryl's head.

Although I didn't like her romantically, I'd known her for a few years now, so I was quite familiar with her. She was someone who had never once raised her voice when talking to others. Even a shout was enough to startle her, let alone a fight.

Standing at only a few inches above five feet and weighing about 90 pounds, she was half the size of Daryl. She looked like she could be knocked over with a feather.

Yet, someone like her dared to attack Daryl.

Obviously, there was no way she could win against him.

Daryl recognized her and knew that she was the one who'd had a crush on me for a few years now. Catching the branch, he frowned and asked, "What are you doing?"

Isabelle didn't answer. Her eyes were full of fear, her whole body trembling. Even though she could barely keep her balance, she still stuck her leg out to kick Daryl.

I was still on the ground, my head spinning, but when I saw her almost suicidal act, I couldn't resist shouting, "What are you doing? Stop!"

Isabelle obediently stopped, but she continued to glare at Daryl. After a short pause, she questioned, "W-Why did you hit Elliott? You're like a brother to him…"

I had the same burning question, so I stared at Daryl, wanting to know the answer myself.

However, he simply lowered his head without saying anything.

At the same time, Harvey and Shae came over.

Compared to yesterday, Harvey was practically glowing with confidence. He had a smug grin on his face as he came sauntering over with his hands in his pockets. Shae looked just as haughty and smug, her footsteps light.

The guys I'd taken down earlier had already been pulled back onto their feet. They were now crowded around me, glaring menacingly.

Isabelle instantly started to panic a little. She rushed over to me and stretched her arms out to protect me.

"Move aside."

I knew what she was trying to do, but she definitely couldn't stop them anyway.

"No… I won't…" Isabelle said weakly, her body still shaking.

She was obviously scared to death, but she didn't budge at all, like a leaf stubbornly clinging to the branch in spite of the wind.

"You're Isabelle Carter, right? Elliott mentioned you before. You've had a thing for him for ages, yeah?" Shae gave Isabelle a once-over. "You're not too shabby yourself. I'm sure plenty of guys would love to date you. Why are you so foolishly obsessed with him?"

"Y-You don't understand anything…" Isabelle clenched her jaw.

"No, seriously, what's so good about him anyway? Can you tell me? I'm dying to know!" Shae said with a look of astonished curiosity, as if liking me was the most absurd choice in the world.

"You… wouldn't understand…" Isabelle gave the same answer.

"Why are you wasting your breath on her?" Harvey snapped before Shae could say what she wanted to say.

"Get the hell out of the way, or we'll beat you up, too!" he snarled at Isabelle before raising his leg for a kick.

I quickly reached out to pull Isabelle away, not wanting her to get injured for no reason. But alas, she was such a stubborn young woman. She planted herself in front of me, refusing to move.

Right at the most pivotal moment, Daryl abruptly stuck his hand out, blocking Harvey's kick.

"What are you doing?" Harvey immediately withdrew his legs.

"We had an agreement," Daryl said grimly. "As long as he bleeds and gets knocked to the ground, it'll all be over. Aren't you breaking the terms by going further?"

"But I didn't even get to hit him yet!" Harvey protested with a frown.

"It's the same if I did it myself. You got what you wanted, so there's no reason to keep fighting. If things go on, it might escalate until the police get involved. That wouldn't look good, right?"

"You sure are looking out for him, huh?"

Harvey didn't try to attack me anymore. Instead, he declared, "Fine. I'll do it out of courtesy to you, but there's one more thing. He needs to remove that post from the university forum. It's causing serious issues for Shae."

Nodding, Daryl said to me, "Delete the post, Elliott."

The university forum was pretty mysterious. No one knew who the admin was, and this guaranteed fair treatment for all the users. All posts would stay up forever, unless the poster themselves deleted it.

I lifted my head and asked, "Why?"

"Once you delete the post, this matter will be settled," Daryl said with an earnest expression.

"I'm asking you why you did this!"

Blood was still dripping from my head, rolling down my face before sinking into the ground below. My head was still spinning, but I forced myself to keep my eyes open and look at him.

As if he'd been hit with a sense of guilt, Daryl lowered his head again. "Harvey promised to get me into Drakeway Group as well…"

"And here I was wondering whether your grandma had been abducted!" I roared. "You freaking betrayed me just for a job?"

"You and I are alike, Elliott. We both grew up without our parents. But at the same time, you're better than me. You're smarter, and you're better at work. You won't have a problem sustaining yourself!" Daryl did his best to explain his decision.

"I suck at studying. I don't even know if I can graduate with a college degree. I have no skill, either. It's going to be hard for me to find a job. My grandma's illness has been getting worse lately. Just her medication alone costs a fortune."

Daryl didn't have his parents, either. He only had an ailing grandmother. That was one of the reasons why we became friends. We were both orphans without parents, so neither one of us looked down on the other.

"Didn't you say you wanted to join a gang? You said that kind of life brought in a lot of money," I said in confusion.

That had always been Daryl's biggest dream. He kept saying that being a student was holding him back. Sooner or later, he'd rise to the top and be a big shot in his own right.

Daryl shook his head. "It's not that easy. There are plenty of gangs around, but how many actually make it big? And besides, who would choose this path if they had another choice? If I get into Drakeway Group, I'll be set for life…"

He lowered his head again. "Just delete the post, Elliott. I'll apologize to you and buy you a meal, okay?"

"Daryl, if you'd come right out and asked me to delete the post, I might've done it for your sake."

I stared at him, the guy I'd been best buddies with for over a decade now. It felt like my heart had shattered into a million pieces. All I felt was sorrow and grief.

"Did you really have to trick me into coming here and attacking me?"

"You injured one of their guys yesterday… so they want revenge," Daryl reluctantly said.

One of the guys behind Harvey did have a bandaged head. It was the guy I'd hit in the head with the power twister yesterday.

"So you hit me in the head, too, huh?"

I felt my right cheek, where a chunk of my skin had been scraped clean off. Just the slightest touch made me wince in pain, but nothing hurt more than the ache in my heart.

The wind blew against my face, whipping my hair around. Everyone else was standing tall. I was the only one on the ground, looking like a complete joke.

I was the biggest, most pathetic joke in the whole world!

Isabelle stared at me, her eyes swimming with tears. She was obviously worried sick about me.

She was the only one present who truly cared about me.

"Delete the post, Elliott!" Daryl said again.

"And if I don't?" I looked up, my eyes blazing.

"We'll just keep hitting you until you do, then!" Harvey remarked with a grin as he cracked his knuckles.

Daryl stopped Harvey once more before snapping at me, "Don't be stubborn, Elliott! If you keep this up, you'll only be making the situation worse—"

"Hey, Daryl," I cut him off. I'd just recalled something.

"Back when you were still dreaming about joining a gang, you once told me about the Five Kingpins of Avendale. You said they were known as the Fort of the North, the Gale of the South, the Hound of the East, the Lamb of the West, and the Wolfe in the middle.

"According to you, being able to join any one of the five would guarantee a good life, right?"

"Yeah. All five of them have both money and connections. They've monopolized a lot of the businesses. Anyone interested in this kind of life would kill to join one of them…" Daryl said before asking me a question, looking quite puzzled. "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

Instead of answering him, I asked with a dark expression, "About the last one—the Wolfe in the middle—the guy's name is Luca Wolfe, right?"