Thin, continuous pain registered belatedly.

Originally I would not have been so upset, I told myself it was just a betrayal by a friend and that it was no big deal.

But the line called friendship was the one Lena had chosen to cross first.

The day we decided to transfer schools together, she pulled me to a bar to drink and celebrate our liberation.

Ambiguous lights lingered around us, and I watched the person I had quietly liked for years and felt a little dazed.

So when she leaned in and kissed me, I did not refuse.

Affections suppressed for years had suddenly run wild in an instant.

I could not contain myself and blurted out, “Lena, what are we now?”

Lena affectionately kissed my lips again and said, “Silly, what else could we be?”

Cheers rose in the private room, and the atmosphere was warm, like the stirring in my chest.

I had not expected that only two days later I would hear Lena personally shatter my one-sided wish.

I smiled, but tears uncontrollably streamed down my face.

So that ambiguous retort had also been Lena’s way of coaxing me away quickly for Michael, hadn’t it?

The wind jingled the wind chimes in my bedroom and dried my tears.

My broken heart also slowly began to mend.

Lena was wrong.

She was merely the illegitimate daughter of the Shaw family, and I was the Chase family’s only heir, indeed we should not have clung to each other.

Because we did not match.

The transfer application in my hand had been stained by my tears, the ink had spread and the paper looked filthy.

But it did not matter, if this one was dirty, I would replace it with a clean one.

The Chase family never lacked alternatives.

I reprinted a form, but when I reached the line for the destination school I called my mother.

“Mom, when you said you wanted me to study abroad, which high school did you have in mind? Yes, I would go alone.”

The wind chimes in the room made a clear, pleasant sound, as if celebrating for me.

I closed my eyes slightly, and this time the face that appeared before me was not Lena’s.

A woman who resembled Lena quite a bit but was gentler and more attractive smiled at me, the same certainty and seriousness as two years ago.

“Harry, sooner or later you would give up Lena and choose me.”

At the time I thought she was joking.

Now I silently repeated it in my heart.

Lena, I truly did not want you anymore.

After filling out the new application, I took a deep breath and felt a quiet calm descend.

Then someone suddenly knocked at the door.

I was stunned—this house had always been mine alone, and the only person who knew the code would be…

I opened the door and indeed saw Lena’s face.

Her tone was gentle as usual. “Harry, you haven’t come to say goodbye to your friends in a long time, I was worried about you.”

I forced myself to speak calmly. “My stomach wasn’t feeling well, so I’ll pass.”

Just as I was about to send them away, out of the corner of my eye I saw an unexpected figure.

Michael, coward and pretentious, shrank beside Lena and flinched slightly when our eyes met.

Lena watched his every move and immediately held his hand.

“Harry, you scared Michael.”

Again with that act—Michael always put on a frail look as if I were a monstrous bully, as though I had done some unforgivable thing.

But I had done nothing at all.

My expression turned cold. “I said I did not like others coming to my house.”

Lena frowned slightly, displeased. “Michael is not an outsider. Besides, he had come because he’s worried about you.”

Before I could retort, Michael began his perform suddenly.

“Harry, I’m sorry. I know you always looked down on me, but I showered every day.”

He added with a face full of grievance, “I wouldn’t dirty your house…”

Hearing this, Lena immediately knitted her brows and looked at me with displeasure. “Harry, Michael was only poor in family circumstances, but he was not as hopeless as you thought.”

“You treating him like this really disappointed me.”

Michael timidly lowered his head, forgiving and full of understanding.

“Lena, I’m fine, don’t argue with Harry…”

He sniffled and showed a wronged but stubborn smile.

“After all, Harry said you two were childhood friends—how could I compare to that status…”

“What nonsense are you saying? You were unique already.”

Lena soothed him in a soft voice.

Then she turned to me, her face cold as if frozen, and said heavily. “Michael isn’t feeling well. I’ll take him home first. You can reflect on what you’ve just done. Don’t forget, you need a stamp on the transfer application.”

I did reflect seriously on my poor judgment of character.

Then I went and changed the code to the front door of the house.

The bottled-up anger in my heart finally eased a little.

The next day, I took the new application form to school to get it stamped.

Watching that bright red seal marking my departure land steadily on the paper, my heart suddenly felt hollow for a moment.

I stood there dazed, and someone stepped in front of me.

Lena frowned slightly.

“Harry, did you change the password to your front door? After I walked Michael home yesterday, I immediately went to find you, but the door wouldn’t open at all…”

I cut her off and said simply, “Yeah, I changed it.”

She looked a little displeased and asked, as if nothing had happened and we were still close, “What’s the new password? So I can go take care of you at your place.”

I answered calmly, “No need. After the transfer, I won’t be living there anymore.”

Lena looked at the folded application form in my hand, as if suddenly remembering it. “I completely forgot about that.

“Don’t worry, Harry. I’ll come get it stamped tomorrow.”

Moments like walking and chatting with Lena had grown increasingly rare since Michael transferred to First High School.

I closed my eyes for a second, indulged the reluctance in my heart, and probed, “I’m not worried about anything between us.”

Lena stayed silent for a long time, then abruptly said, “Harry, actually I—”

Michael suddenly appeared behind her, holding a stack of notebooks, and complained affectionately, “Lena, didn’t you say you’d tutor me? Why did you suddenly disappear?”

As he spoke, he handed the notebooks to Lena.

“I saw that your tutoring schedule was planned out for the next two months, so I prepared the corresponding study materials.” Then he blinked playfully. “You won’t blame me for peeking, right?”

“Of course not…” Lena’s smile looked strained, and she glanced at me guiltily.

Seeing that I had no reaction, she actually looked faintly disappointed.

So while pushing me away, she was already planning the future with someone else.

Except her future had never included me.

I tried to maintain dignity on my face, but inside, bitterness spread like a dark, heavy wine.

I dug my nails into my palm to force myself awake. “You two talk. I’m leaving.”

Michael acted as if he had just noticed me and jumped in fright. “Ha—Harry…

“Are you upset because Lena and I are studying together?

“But my family is poor, and I don’t have the resources you do…”

As he spoke, he actually started sniffling again.

I didn’t want to play along, so I said coldly, “Move.”

Whatever thin trace of guilt Lena still had disappeared. She grabbed my wrist, her voice burning with anger.

“Harry, what kind of tone was that?”

Without letting me speak, she yanked me in front of Michael and shouted, “Apologize to Michael!”

The last untouched piece of my heart silently crumbled into dust.

This time, without hesitation, I raised my hand and slapped Lena hard.

“Lena, the person who should be apologizing is you.”

“But not to Michael—to me.”

I sorted through the things Lena had given me over the past ten-plus years, one item at a time.

The tie she had given me for my eighteenth birthday—I had worn it to school once, and not long after, I saw an identical one around Michael’s neck.

He had blushed and said, “Lena said that whatever someone else has, I’ll have too…”

Only the box of the limited-edition figurine remained—Lena had taken the figurine itself, saying she liked the scent of my cologne on it.

But the next day, I had seen it placed on Michael’s desk.

And those custom leather shoes from my coming-of-age ceremony, the indigo aromatherapy diffuser…

So the things I once believed were unique and meant only for me had already been given equally to someone else by Lena.

Well... not even equally.

I recalled how tenderly Lena had cared for Michael, how endlessly she had favored him.

A mocking smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

Since that was the case, those things no longer needed to exist.

I booked a plane ticket for the next day and prepared to spend one last quiet night.

At two in the morning, I was startled awake by a phone call.

Half-asleep, I answered, but the other end remained silent—just as I was about to hang up, Lena’s voice sounded.

“Harry, I’m sorry.”

My mind instantly cleared—if she had finally decided to tell the truth…

Lena spoke in a low voice. “Michael’s hurt himself. I can’t leave him alone, so I’ll deal with the transfer paperwork later…”

A heart lifted so high crashed heavily to the ground—pathetic and ridiculous.

I suddenly wanted to ask Lena—then what about the pain I endured because you pretended to be bullied?

But Lena kept speaking. “Apologize.”

I thought I had misheard. “What did you say?”

Lena’s voice was firm. “Harry, you really should apologize to Michael.

“Can you honestly say him hurting himself has nothing to do with you?”

I suddenly fell speechless.

Because I finally understood—when Michael was involved, every word I said was wrong.

Lena spoke again, her voice dipped in ice. “Harry, you really disappointed me.

“As long as you apologize, I can pretend nothing happened and transfer to the new school with you in two months’ time. Do you really want to be this childish and throw away our years of friendship?”

I heard the threat beneath her words.

But I no longer felt unwilling, or sad—only exhausted and disgusted.

I hung up cleanly, blocked her, and deleted everything.

I genuinely looked forward to tomorrow’s flight.

...

The foreign scenery felt refreshing, and someone came to see me straightly.

I the gaze of the Shaw family’s real heiress. “Harry, it’s been a while.”

I extended my hand with a bright smile. “Long time no see, Laura.”

My phone rang, interrupting our greeting.

I swiped to answer, only to find it was one of Lena’s friends.

Puzzled, I answered—and Lena’s voice came through, faintly anxious.

“Harry, which class did you transfer into at Haleswood High? Why did everyone say they’ve never seen you?”