Chapter 2

The next day, as soon as I stepped through the school gates, I ran into Jason.

After five years apart, his features hadn't changed much.

He'd just shed his youthful awkwardness and gained a mature sharpness in his expression, his entire presence radiating a cold, unapproachable intensity.

Students passing by kept greeting me, but I barely had the capacity to respond.

My gaze was fixed on Jason's face. My chest felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, making it hard to breathe.

I couldn't help thinking: if only it had been him lying in the morgue five years ago, and my brother sitting here today—how much better that would have been.

"How have you been these years?"

Jason spoke first, his voice devoid of emotion.

I didn't answer. I turned to leave, but he suddenly grabbed my wrist.

He frowned, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible urgency.

"Jenna, I know what happened back then was my fault. But no matter what, I'm not an ungrateful person."

"I've never forgotten how good your family was to me all these years. Let's just let the past be the past, okay?"

I whipped my head around and stared into his eyes. Hatred surged up like a tide, forcing my eyes to redden.

"Jason, what makes you think everything can just be 'the past'?"

His frown deepened. "Jenna, I know you're still upset with me, but it's been so long since it happened..."

I cut him off. "But time doesn't change what happened!"

He was left speechless, his Adam's apple bobbing several times.

"I know what Serena and I did back then was wrong to you and your brother."

He looked at me, his tone serious.

"That's why I came back—to apologize to you both in person."

His words were like a fuse, instantly igniting the rage I'd suppressed for five years.

I violently shook off his hand, the force of it making him stagger.

"You're not worthy to mention my brother!"

I screamed, tears finally spilling over.

After saying that, I couldn't bear to look at him another second and turned away.

I'd just entered the office when a figure came rushing in—it was my best friend Sarah Quinn, who'd just returned from an academic exchange abroad. She'd also been one of my brother's friends.

She grabbed my arm, her voice urgent.

"When I heard Jason was being transferred back, I rushed home as fast as I could."

She looked at my reddened eyes. "Did you run into him?"

I nodded.

Sarah rolled up her sleeves, ready to go find him.

"That beast! How dare he come back! I'm going to tear him apart today!"

I quickly held her back and shook my head.

She stopped and looked at my pale face, tears of sympathy streaming down her own cheeks.

"If it weren't for your parents and Nathan's financial help back then, he might not have even finished college. But what did he do? Turned around and had an affair with your brother's girlfriend."

"A thankless bastard like him deserves what he gets!"

My heart throbbed with dense, piercing pain.

Yes, someone like Jason deserves to suffer.

Back in college, Jason was my brother's closest roommate.

He came from poverty—his father had died young, and his mother had been bedridden for years.

During his sophomore year, his mother passed away, and he couldn't even afford the funeral expenses. My brother went home and begged our parents for help.

My parents were soft-hearted. They not only paid for his mother's funeral but also regularly helped him with living expenses.

Later, he worked desperately at part-time jobs and paid back every cent with interest within a year.

He even volunteered to tutor me, and kept it up for two years.

Back then, my brother treated him like a real brother. My father treated him like a second son.

Our whole family thought we'd taken in a grateful, good kid.

But who could have imagined that this person we'd treated as family would ultimately betray both my brother and me in the most disgraceful way possible, tearing our family apart.