Chapter 51: They were caught

“Haah… Haah…”

After running for a long time, the girl panted heavily. The freezing air poured into her lungs through her respiratory tract, bringing a pain like ice needles.

The Class Monitor was no longer in sight.

She had reached the school’s main gate, nearly exhausted. Recalling what had just happened, she couldn’t help but feel distressed.

But there was nothing she could do. If she didn’t want to continue owing the Class Monitor more and more debts of kindness, and to prevent herself from falling deeper into those feelings she shouldn’t have, this was the only way.

Thinking this, she comforted herself.

It’s fine. Feelings always fade with distance. Besides, she wasn’t without hope now; even the once-distant College Entrance Exam was only about half a year away.

She was almost at the end of her struggle…

No matter how distant she became, reuniting with her mother remained her greatest wish. With that thought, she finally composed herself, and her body recovered. The girl walked out of the school gates.

Since school had been out for a while, there was hardly anyone around. The sunset on the horizon had completely fallen below the skyline, leaving only a patch of blood-red residual clouds providing the last bit of light.

Night had fallen, and streetlights were already lit on the slightly dim road. In the distance, cars with their lights on sped along the busy main road, the roar of engines echoing from afar.

The girl lowered her head, still calculating how she should face Lin Ziyan after getting home and how to deal with her foster parents. Just as she was about to cross this road and step onto the small path home…

Her eyes inadvertently swept across a certain spot, and her body suddenly froze.

Her face turned pale, and her pink eyes quickly filled with terror. The person standing under that dim streetlight wasn’t a ghost, but to the girl, seeing her was more terrifying than seeing a ghost.

A slender figure, dazzling blonde hair, including those blue eyes that seemed to be smiling but weren’t. There was no mistake, it was her…

Qin Haiyue.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just that she had seen her; Qin Haiyue had clearly seen her as well.

Those eyes narrowed dangerously into slits, which, combined with the smile on her face, brought a strong sense of unease to the girl.

What was going on? Was she intentionally blocking me at the school gate?

Almost instinctively, she wanted to turn around and flee immediately, but her legs felt as heavy as lead, unable to move at all. The girl watched helplessly as Qin Haiyue walked toward her with a light pace.

“Hi? Long time no see, little mongrel~”

Even though her mouth uttered a slur, her expression looked as if she were meeting an old friend she hadn’t seen in a long while. However, the girl didn’t feel the slightest bit of joy, only a coldness that slowly crawled from her spine to her brain.

Although that moment of extreme despair yesterday had made the girl want to die, after a day of recovery—especially after the incident with the Class Monitor—the girl had broken out of that state. Now, she felt nothing but fear toward Qin Haiyue.

“No… Don’t come over…” Having finally reacted, she took a step back. She subconsciously wanted to call for help, but her peripheral vision scanned the surroundings. It was empty. The Class Monitor hadn’t chased after her, and the security guard in the booth was away for a shift change dinner. There was no one. Therefore, no one would help her.

Retreating all the way into an alley until her back pressed against the hard wall, the girl finally had nowhere left to run. She looked up at Qin Haiyue, her voice trembling slightly.

“I… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…”

“Mean to what?”

“I… I still had a fever this morning… My sister forced me to take a leave of absence… I really didn’t stand you up on purpose… Please let me go…”

“Oh, so you do remember our appointment!”

“I… I…”

“What, weren’t you quite tough yesterday? Seeking death and playing dumb. Hmm? Where’s your dear Class Monitor? Why didn’t she come out to protect you this time? Did she think you were boring and find a different lover, so she’s too lazy to care about you now?”

Qin Haiyue’s words chipped away at the girl’s psychological defenses. As expected, after saying this, she saw a few tears in the girl’s eyes. A hazy mist filled the girl’s eye sockets, as if they would turn into crystal teardrops and roll down her face at any moment.

“No… it is not like that… The Class Monitor, she…”

“Hmm? How is it not? Since you two have such a good relationship, why aren’t you together after school?”

“I…”

“As expected, she’s probably tired of you. Well, she’s an honor student with good grades and a wealthy family, and you? You haven’t even seen your own father and were dumped in someone else’s house by your mother. If you ask me, a pheasant like you shouldn’t always be thinking about climbing high branches. See? You almost fell to your death~”

Qin Haiyue’s words were like needles to the heart, and she happened to guess the girl’s thoughts almost perfectly. Almost instantly, the tears the girl had been struggling to suppress could no longer be held back, sliding down her face completely out of control.

“You… don’t say any more… *Sob*… I… I have to go home… Let me go…”

Knowing it herself was one thing; having it mockingly pointed out by someone else was another. Normally, the girl could endure all that pain and injustice, consciously and silently distancing herself from the Class Monitor. However, once it was said aloud, all those things—whether it was her background of living under someone else’s roof or the baseness of her own heart—were completely exposed to the sunlight. The girl didn’t want to cry, but the tears wouldn’t listen to her. It had always been like this since she was a child.

That’s right… Someone like me, what right do I have to have those feelings for the Class Monitor…

It hurts so much… so much… so much…

Her nose felt sour. The girl lowered her head, not wanting the loathsome Qin Haiyue to see her in such an embarrassing state. Yet, even so, all her expressions were easily caught by Qin Haiyue.

Smiling pleasantly, she was very satisfied with the girl’s performance. But that was enough; she hadn’t come here today simply to mock the girl. She had something more important to do.

“Want to go home? What if I don’t agree?”

“Ugh? You… you can’t do this… My family will help me call the police…”

“Are you sure? What if they don’t care about whether you live or die at all?”

The girl fell silent. She knew what the other person said was true. Even with such terrible weather last night when she returned so late, her foster parents hadn’t even tried to look for her. In fact, it wouldn’t have been hard at all, right? They only needed to call the teacher, and they could have found her at Liu Yinuo’s house by following the clues.

But they didn’t. Even Liu Yinuo, the only one who slightly cared about her, continued to mock and ridicule her after opening the door, and today she had even done something so awful to her…

At the thought of this possibility, at the reason for Qin Haiyue’s lack of fear, the girl couldn’t help but tremble all over.

“What do you want to do…”

“Nothing much, I just want to invite you to sit at my house for a while. Don’t worry, I won’t hit you, as long as you’re obedient.”

Seeing that the girl truly began to hesitate, Qin Haiyue suddenly gave a cold laugh.

“Of course, you don’t have the right to refuse.”