Chapter 167
Maybe it was that one look—one glance that lingered for a lifetime.
From that day on, I had a quiet crush on Jonathan.
Yes, he was just as cold and aloof as everyone said. But the version of him I saw that night, distant yet ultimately decent, made me believe there was something good underneath the surface.
Who would’ve thought that, years later, I’d end up marrying him, and that my impression of him would flip completely.
Thank God I only liked him back then. I never fell too deeply, never let myself love him with the kind of pure, wholehearted devotion he didn’t deserve.
I went quiet, lost in thought. Jonathan pulled me closer, studying my face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I muttered, shoving the memories and the ache that came with them back down where they belonged.
A sudden wave of regret surged through me. If I had to lose my memories, why couldn’t I have forgotten him completely?
Then maybe I wouldn’t feel like this now.
I took a deep breath, yanked my arm from his grip, and spoke with sharp clarity, “Let me be clear: if he’s around, I’m not. If I’m here, he’s not. I am not letting him walk away from this without consequences.”
Alicia couldn’t hold back anymore. She marched up, her voice shrill.
“Elise, this is too much! He’s my friend. You never brought this up before, but now that he’s here with me, suddenly you’re making a scene? You’re just doing this to get back at me, aren’t you?”
I shoved her aside without hesitation, my patience gone. “Who the hell do you think you are? You think you matter enough for me to waste my energy on you? You could replace me in a heartbeat, and I wouldn’t care. But him?”
Then I turned, pointing directly at Michael. “I’m not letting this go. He’s going to pay for what he did.”
For all those years, there was nothing I could do to him. Even if I’d wanted to make him pay, I couldn’t even find him. Trying to go after him would’ve meant dragging myself through hell right alongside him.
But now? Now he was standing right in front of me, smug and comfortable, like nothing had ever happened. There was no way I was swallowing that rage.
Back then, right after it all happened, I was ready to report him. I had every intention of doing it, but the very next day, Michael transferred schools.
His father had caught wind of the incident and, terrified of the fallout, packed him off overseas before anyone could act.
Chapter 167 2/2
After that, he vanished, and I never saw him again.
I never imagined the next time I’d see him… it’d be here, standing beside Alicia as her friend.
I stared at them both, my eyes like ice. “Birds of a feather, huh?”
Alicia’s face twisted in offense. “Elise, what gives you the right to say that about me?”
I gave her a slow, mocking smile. “Didn’t you just finish saying he’s not that kind of person? Then why are you so upset? Maybe deep down, you already know exactly what kind of trash he is.”
The color drained from Alicia’s face.
Michael stayed silent. He glanced at her, his nerves suddenly visible.
“Stop trying to drive a wedge between us!” Alicia snapped. “He’s my friend. You can’t just throw out accusations like that! If he really did those things, why hasn’t anyone ever come forward?”
“Are you seriously that naive, or are you just pretending?”
I stepped toward her, and my eyes locked onto hers, burning red-hot.
“Of course, he acted clean-cut in front of you, but behind the scenes? He went after girls without money and status, girls no one would protect. Some he threatened, some he manipulated; none of them ever came forward because they couldn’t. They didn’t have the power to speak up.”
I let out a laugh, sharp, bitter, full of contempt.
“And honestly? I don’t need to explain this to you, because you’re just like him. No one understands how defenseless those girls were better than the people who hurt them. I’m guessing that’s a trick you’re both pretty familiar with, aren’t you?”