Cliff leaned in to me, whispering in my ears, “Mom just wanted to scare you. I’m the one who paid them extra to make sure you’d wish you were dead.”

My head snapped toward him, eyes dark with fury. Then, a scream tore through the room. Mom burst through the door, shoving me aside so hard I hit the floor. She rushed to Cliff, her face pale.

“Cliff! Oh my God, what happened?!”

Scarlet ran in behind her, immediately calling for a doctor. They were all focused on Cliff, completely ignoring me bleeding on the floor.

Cliff held her hand, his eyes shining with tears.

“It looks like I said something wrong, which made Rafael angry. I didn’t mean to…”

Then his head snapped toward me. His eyes were cold, cutting through me like glass.

“I'm sorry, Rafael. Please… don’t hurt me.”

My mom’s face immediately darkened.

“Cliff came all the way here to visit you and cheer you up and this is how you repay him? Not only are you ungrateful, but you dare to pull a knife on him?!”

Scarlet’s eyes were filled with disappointment. “Rafael, you really are twisted. You deserve everything that’s happening to you! If Cliff’s hand is injured and it affects his basketball career, I swear I’ll never forgive you!”

They huddled around Cliff, fussing over him as they hurried out of the room—without sparing me a second glance.

Fine. If this is how it ends, so be it. Once I leave, we’ll just be strangers anyway.

My mom took Cliff to get his hand checked, making sure the small cut wouldn’t leave a scar or affect his hand. Only after that did she finally seem to remember I existed.

She turned to Scarlet and said, “Go buy some of Rafael’s favorite snacks to cheer him up. I scolded him earlier—he’s probably upset.”

But ten minutes later, my mom’s phone rang. Scarlet’s panicked voice cut through the line.

“Mom, he’s gone! Rafael’s gone! He left a goodbye letter—and the company’s major shareholders just announced they’re pulling out!”