That day, I walked home with Rachel like we usually did.
She was more open with me than before, and I wanted to figure out what really caused her to fall to her death in my previous life.
Everyone believed I had shoved her down the stairs. Even Nathan thought that, since I had gotten into so much trou- ble before. But I didn’t do it. I never even touched her. She leapt down by herself, crying.
I started to wonder if something bad had happened in Rachel’s family that made her want to end her life.
“Rachel, if anything is bothering you, you have to tell me. If you’re in trouble, just let me know and I’ll help you fix
it!”
At first, Rachel looked shocked, and then her eyes filled with tears.
She definitely had a problem.
She was just about to talk when a bunch of thugs suddenly appeared from the alley, swinging metal rods they had bro- ken off school desks.
When I was little, I learned some self–defense to protect myself, so I was able to fight them off. But Rachel wasn’t as lucky. I saw a rod about to hit her, and without thinking, I jumped in front of her.
Everything went dark after that.
When I opened my eyes again, my head and back were burning with pain. My whole body was covered in mud, but the sight in front of me left no room for shock.
Rachel was lying next to me, completely naked.
“Hey, Rachel, what happened to you?” My voice shook. I didn’t waste time and started looking for the phone that was lying close by.
I only wanted to reach Nathan as quickly as I could. But my phone was smashed, totally unresponsive.
Just then, a blinding light flashed straight into my eyes. I instinctively lowered my head and squinted.
The sound of police sirens mixed with Nathan’s furious shouting. I felt someone shove me hard, making me stumble onto the nearby stairs.
“Stella, I really believed you’d changed, but it turns out you were just waiting for today to cause trouble, weren’t you?” Nathan’s eyes burned red with rage.
I looked at him in shock before slowly realizing he had gotten the wrong idea.
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08:53
Chapter 3
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“Nathan, no, you’re wrong. It wasn’t me.”
Nathan lifted Rachel up. “You were the one holding the phone, and you’re still trying to deny it! Delete the photos right now–or I swear I’ll deal with you when we get home!”
I watched him walk away, my vision blurring with tears.
“It really… wasn’t me…”
In the end, all the energy in my body vanished, and darkness swallowed my sight again.
I dreamed of the past, when Nathan had been just as furious with me.
When Rachel fell from the building and I was taken away for questioning, Nathan struck me for the first time with a loud slap.
“How could you do something like this?
“I’m so disappointed in you.
“I wish I’d never had a sister like you.”
His eyes looked heartbroken, his expression almost emotionless from the pain.
I couldn’t blame him. After all, only Rachel and I were on the rooftop then. Nobody would think that a female student about to graduate would just end her life out of nowhere.
Even though Nathan thought I was guilty, he still hired the best lawyer for me. Since there were no security cameras on the rooftop and no solid proof showing I pushed Rachel, and my fingerprints weren’t on her either, the police couldn’t prove I forced her. But they still suspected I might have convinced her to jump.
Eventually, the case was classified as an accident. Nathan gave a lot of money to Rachel’s mother, but she still showed up at school daily, causing scenes. Because of this, Nathan decided to withdraw from school, and he brought me with him.
I completely messed up his life. If it weren’t for me, he could have had a successful future.
No matter what rumors spread outside, to Nathan, it was his sister who caused the death of the girl he loved. From that moment on, nothing could ever be the same.
I opened my eyes from sleep and found myself in a familiar bedroom.
Nathan was sitting beside the bed, keeping watch over me. His face looked worn out, with dark circles making him appear even paler.
When he noticed I was awake, a spark of relief flashed across his eyes before he hugged me tightly.
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08:53
Chapter 4
