9
In the hospital room, Alex, Julian, and Leo were all there, gathered around Celine, who was lying in bed. When they saw me enter,
they all glared at me with pure fury.
Celine, her hand wrapped in gauze where the blade had cut her, flinched as if terrified and hid in Alex’s arms. This only made the
boys more protective and their glares more intense.
“Rory Rhodes, how could you cut Celine’s hand with a razor blade? Why would you hurt her like that?” Leo demanded, his voice sha-
king with anger.
“Rory Rhodes, I saw you ignoring Celine at home, secretly making things difficult for her. I let it slide, thinking you just woke up from
a coma. But I never imagined you would do something like this to her at school!” Alex was livid. “How could I have a sister like
you?”
Even the usually gentle Julian was frowning deeply. “Rory, you’re not a child anymore. How can you still be so willful and reckless?
You’ve gone too far this time.”
“Rory Rhodes, you are going to apologize to Celine right now, and you’re going to swear you will never hurt her again!” Caleb growl-
ed, shoving me forward.
They all stared at me, their faces cold with disappointment, demanding I confess and apologize to Celine. Celine, for her part,
looked at me with smug triumph hidden behind a mask of fear and tearful vulnerability.
My face was a sheet of ice. “I didn’t hurt her. Why should I apologize?”
“You’re still denying it? Celine’s classmate saw you bullying her in the bathroom! When Celine came out, her hand was covered in
blood! You think you can talk your way out of this?” Alex yelled, his face turning pale with rage.
The others looked even more furious.
“Alex, forget it,” Celine sobbed. “I know sister… sister is just angry that you’re all so good to me. She blames me for taking her place
by your side. That’s why she hurt me. I… I’ll stay away from Caleb and the others from now on. Sister, please don’t threaten or hurt
me anymore, okay? Sob…”
I watched Celine’s masterful performance with cold irony. I knew she would pull something like this; I was actually quite pleased she chose to do it by hurting herself. As for being wrongly accused by them… I couldn’t care less.
“Celine, what are you talking about? Why should she blame you?”
“You’re so good, so sweet! You deserve to be treated well!”
“What does she mean, ‘taking her place‘? Does she not remember what she was like? Being willful as a kid is cute, but she’s grown
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Chapter 2
up now. Who would like someone so selfish and reckless?”
“Who would want to be nice to someone who hurts their own sister?”
They spoke one after another, comforting her and condemning me.
Leo glared at me again. “Rory Rhodes, don’t think that just because you saved us, you can do whatever you want. Not to mention you demanded money from us the second you woke up. How many times did we protect you before that?!”
Julian’s face was cold. “Rory, for days now, you’ve been using your coma as an excuse to be jealous of Celine. We all know how
many dirty looks you’ve given her at home, how many times you’ve secretly bullied her. We’ve been holding back because you were
in a coma for three years, and because Celine kept begging us not to say anything. But that doesn’t mean we’re not disappointed.
That’s why we’ve been ignoring you.”
“It’s not that Celine took your place,” he continued, his voice cutting. “It’s that you’re simply not as good as she is. You’re not as
important to us as she is. Do you understand? So don’t you dare hurt Celine just because we’re not paying attention to you!”
Caleb’s voice was a low growl. “Do you understand what we’re saying? If you do, then you will apologize to Celine properly. Swear
you’ll never hurt her again! If you make up for your mistake, we might forgive you this one time. Otherwise…”
“Otherwise, Rory Rhodes,” Alex finished, his voice trembling with rage, “none of us will ever let you off the hook! Now, get over here
and apologize!”
