Chapter 6

Having seen how Luca managed to intimidate everyone, I immediately said, "Harvey!"

My beef with Shae was mostly just a bunch of verbal spats, but my grudge against Harvey was very real. All of the spots where I'd gotten hit yesterday—including my face, arms, and chest—were still hurting a little.

Nodding, Luca looked at the guys and asked, "Who's Harvey?"

Everyone glanced at each other, but no one said anything.

Luca frowned. "What's this? Are you trying to protect him?"

"No, that's not it," I said as I stared at the crowd in confusion. "Harvey isn't here."

"What do you mean?" Luca looked at me.

"He was here a moment ago, but he's not here now…"

There weren't all that many people around. I'd scanned the crowd and saw no sign of Harvey anywhere.

I wasn't the only one reacting this way. The rest of the guys were just as clueless. It seemed like no one knew where Harvey was.

What was going on? He was standing right there not too long ago!

Shae was just as baffled. After looking around several times, she suddenly took out her phone and made a call. Once the call connected, she quickly asked, "Where did you go, Harvey?"

After hearing his response, she became quite angry. Frowning, she exclaimed, "What did you say? You snuck off when Kevin got hit?"

Everyone exclaimed in shock. Nobody expected that. Meanwhile, Shae got angrier with each word she said.

"What's wrong with you? Why do we need to be afraid of him when there are so many of us? And why didn't you tell me when you ran off…"

No one knew what Harvey said, but Shae dropped the call in a huff and said to the guys, "Since Harvey's gone, you're all going to listen to me! There's only one guy over there. I don't care if he's a wolf or a hound or whatever. I'm sure it won't be a problem if you all just gang up on him!"

No one spoke. They all ducked their heads, too scared to even look at Luca. After all, a man's reputation preceded him.

"Go on! Get him!" Shae kept urging.

Feeling quite astonished, Luca turned to me. "Who's that psycho?"

"The reason… for everything that happened!"

I wobbled back onto my feet, still feeling a little dizzy. I almost lost my balance. Isabelle quickly reached out to support me, but I shook my head at her before slowly walking up to Shae.

"What are you trying to do?" Shae exclaimed, looking visibly nervous. She shot looks at the guys beside her. "Come on! Get him! Hurry up!"

No one moved. With Luca standing right there, they were all too scared to even make a sound—apart from Shae, the psycho, of course. She was genuinely unafraid and could even stand there with her chest puffed out.

Soon, I'd walked up to Shae.

"Give me back my money!" I growled icily.

It wasn't really the 3,000 dollars that I cared about. I wouldn't bat an eyelash spending 300 thousand or even three million dollars, if I had to—but only if the money had been spent on someone who deserved it.

Someone like Shae didn't even deserve a single penny! I was going to make her hand it back!

Thinking she had numbers on her side, Shae refused to back down. "How many times must I tell you that just because I accepted a gift doesn't mean I agreed to go out with you? I didn't force you to give me the money. Why should I give back?"

I couldn't take it anymore. I smacked her right across the face.

Although I didn't want to lay a hand on a woman, I couldn't resist slapping Shae when I saw her shameless expression.

"Return my money!" I snarled.

Clutching her cheek, she stared at me in shock, as if she couldn't believe I would hit her.

"Return my money!" I repeated, my voice as cold as ice.

I raised my hand again. If she didn't react this time, I was going to give her another slap.

Shae looked around, but no one came to her aid. Bursting into tears, she pulled out her phone and got into Venmo.

"Fine! If you want the money, take it back! It's just 3,000 dollars! Like I care about it! A stingy guy like you will never find a girlfriend! Just you wait. I'll get back at you for this!"

The blubbering Shae transferred 3,000 dollars back to me, hurling insults at me the whole time, but I didn't care, so long as I got the money.

The money was the only thing that mattered. Everything else didn't matter.

"Are you happy now? That was my money!" Shae shrieked.

Putting her phone away, she began running down the hill, still crying her heart out.

I simply snorted in derision. I was no longer interested in her and was more than happy to never have anything to do with her again. All the foolish things I did in the past would just blow over with time.

I didn't even bother to look at Shae as she left. There was no reason for me to waste even a second of my time on someone like her.

That being said, I did feel a sense of relief. It was as if I'd finally put an end to the past and started anew.

The other guys continued to exchange looks in silence.

"Who else should I beat up?" Luca asked me.

I pointed at a few of the guys, saying, "They are the ones who attacked me yesterday."

But it didn't seem realistic to hit them all one by one.

Thankfully, Luca came up with an idea. He had them form two rows, facing each other, and instructed them to slap each other. Anyone who didn't do it hard enough would get pulled out of the line and taught a lesson by Luca himself, which was definitely not something anyone wanted to experience.

To avoid being the unlucky one who got the personal lesson, everyone did their best. Unsurprisingly, if one guy slapped the other hard, the harder the other would slap him back. This vicious cycle went on and on as the sound of slaps filled the air.

In next to no time, all of their faces had swollen up.

"Is that enough?" Luca asked.

"Yeah," I said with a nod.

When I got ganged up on yesterday, every single one of them had kicked me about seven or eight times. Now that they'd slapped each other over a dozen times, I could call it even.

"Go back and tell Bernard that I'm the one who attacked you guys. If he's got a problem with it, he can come at me!" Luca flashed a grin before waving them off.

They lifted up the still unconscious Kevin and hurriedly left Duke Hill.

The wind still whispered through the treetops. Only Luca, Isabelle, Daryl, and I remained.

Daryl knew it was his turn. He kept his head bowed. Clutching the power twister, I slowly approached him.

I looked at him, the guy who'd been my closest friend since childhood. We'd even braved numerous dangerous situations together. I still couldn't understand why he would stab me in the back just for a job.

I raised the power twister, bringing it up to smash it against his head.

Daryl didn't try to avoid it. He knew he couldn't anyway. He simply kept his head down and waited for the blow to drop.

To the end, I still couldn't bring myself to bash him in the head. I stopped just inches away from his head and said through my teeth, "Back when we were coming up here, you asked me to head back first and said you could handle things yourself. Was it because you regretted your decision?"

"A little, but you didn't," Daryl said, his head still down.

"What about now? Do you regret it now?" I questioned, my jaw still clenched.

After a short silence, Daryl lifted his head and said, "Stop asking about these unimportant things, Elliott. If given the chance, I'd make the same choice. I really needed that job. But of course, since things didn't work out, I won't be getting the job anyway. I'm also losing you as my friend.

"If you want to hit me, go ahead. I deserve it. I won't fight with it."

In the end, I simply pummeled him with a few punches and kicks. I was already showing a lot of grace by not using the power twister.

"Leave!" I snarled, my eyes wet as I glared at his bruised face. "From this day onward, Daryl, we're no longer friends!"

No one else knew the extent of my bond with Daryl. I was completely heartbroken.

Throughout all those years, we were two orphaned guys who relied on each other, looked out for each other, and supported each other.

We knew that if one felt hungry, he had a guaranteed meal with the other. Even if all we had was a sandwich, we'd share half with the other, no questions asked.

We were loyal friends who stuck together through it all. He'd been just as important to me as Callum was.

But he ended up betraying me in a way I never saw coming. How could I not feel hurt, betrayed, disappointed, and heartbroken?

I could choose not to repay him in kind, but it was impossible for me to ever consider him a friend again.

Therefore, it was best to just end our friendship. The blow he gave me today was proof that our bond had ended for good.

Daryl's lips parted, as if he had something to say. His eyes were misty as well.

"I'm sorry, Elliott."

That was all he ended up saying before slowly walking away.

As we parted now, I knew we would probably never sit down for a chat and have a drink together again.

I watched as he left, my nose prickling. It felt like my heart was being ripped into pieces.

My injury, combined with the emotional turmoil, made my vision darken. I stumbled.

Isabelle swiftly reached out to hold me steady.

"She's a good one, this one—very observant. I think she's way better than the other one earlier. Shae, is it?" Luca chuckled at me.

He'd already figured out the situation.

Isabelle flushed, her cheeks looking like rosy apples. Still, she continued to hold my arm, afraid that I would fall by accident.

I glanced at her, thinking to myself that she was truly gorgeous, especially with her smooth skin and clear features. Even though she was dressed quite simply, it didn't hide the fact that she had a captivating figure.

If only she had a more outgoing personality. It was such a shame.

"Harvey's the only one left, right? Shall we look for him now?" Luca asked.

He clearly wasn't the nosy type, so he didn't pay any further attention to Isabelle and me, quickly focusing on the main issue at hand.