My hands instinctively covered my eyes. Overwhelming panic suffocated me, making it impossible to breathe. Through my fingers, I saw Sawyer Hayes striding towards me
Just as I thought I was about to be rescued.
Blake looked at him and snapped, his voice sharp and urgent.
His words made me plummet into hell instantly:
“I told you to come tonight! What are you doing here now!”
My stepfather threatened to cut off my tuition if I didn’t come home. It was Sawyer who saved money from his own living expenses to pay for my schooling.
To me, he was like a father and a brother, my last refuge when the whole world abandoned me.
But what did Blake just say?
My face went ashen, and tears poured down.
Only then did I belatedly notice: in those videos, there was a hand, and on its middle finger, a faint blue snowflake tattoo.
Noticing my gaze, Sawyer Instinctively clenched his fist, hiding the tattoo.
The murmurs of the bystanders grew louder. I wanted to hide back in the room, but Scarlett Zhao, with a smile on her face, blocked my way and asked me, feigning Innocence:
“Harper, long time no see. You look so scared. Did something terrible happen?”
A man next to her laughed knowingly. “She might not be scared. She’s probably just guilty.”
Another man looked at Blake expectantly. “ftro, can you let me…?”
My heart pounded with terror. My bloodshot eyes were fixed on Blake, terrified he might nod and agree.
Seeing my reaction, a terrible suspicion suddenly flashed in Blake’s mind. His throat went dry, and he stammered, “You… you… you know everything?”
Scarlett Zhao gasped dramatically. “Oh my Harper, a lot of things online are fake. Don’t take it to heart.”
“Those videos aren’t clear anyway. You just happen to have the same name as the girl on the highway bus, right?”
My mind went blank. I asked blankly, “What… highway bus…”
“You don’t know?”
Scarlett Zhao took a step back, her voice sweet yet malicious, loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear:
“Last night, the whole internet saw it: a girl in a wedding dress made from a mosquito net was picking up clients on the highway
“All the men stuck on the highway got on that ‘bus! They say it was a hundred bucks a ride.”
“Pay money and you can get on. Everyone called it the ‘Highway Bus‘ hahaha.”
828 PM d
“Someone’s already doxxed the girl’s home. They say her old house’s walls were splashed with green paint, with ‘Harper Su, Highway Bus‘
written on them…
My old home… The only family I had left was my grandma, who loved me dearly. Her health was very poor. If she knew all this…
My stomach spasmed violently, my hair stood on end. Acidic bile and undigested food involuntarily surged out.
My vision went black, and I bent over, throwing up uncontrollably.
Scarlett Zhao screamed loudly, “Oh my God, Harper, you’re not pregnant, are you?!”
Blake’s face turned cold. For the first time, he snapped at Scarlett Zhao, “Alright, Scarlett, that’s enough!”
A strong hint of jealousy flickered in Scarlett Zhao’s eyes, but her face remained innocent. “I was just sharing some online gossip with Harper…
Blake ground his back teeth together, lowering his voice. “Enough. I didn’t want to blow this up…”
A hand gently patted my back. Sawyer Hayes, showing no disgust, pulled me close, whispering comfort, “Harper, it’s okay. Just get it all out…
If I hadn’t seen those videos, if I hadn’t known Sawyer was one of the men in them, I would have cried and begged him to take me away, just like I did when I was little.
But, but…
He was one of them!
Sawyer’s touch and comfort felt like a demon’s whisper to me.
My depressive emotions reached their peak.
I used all my strength to shove Sawyer away and snatched the fruit knife from the table.
I aimed it at my neck.
