Chapter 3 Chapter Three

• +15 BONUS
• chapter three
• They say time heals everything. At least that was what I thought. That I would be able to forget everything. That the money I got from the system was enough to make me forget what she did to me.
• But they never tell you how many times the wound reopens before it scars.
• Ever since that video went viral, I'd been on autopilot-spending the money, watching people squirm, keeping my mouth shut. The system wanted secrecy. Fine. I could play the game.
• I felt like telling the world how much I was having in my account and how far I was wiling to go but to I can't. The system has sworn me to secrecy and I have no option than to keep my mouth shut.
• I can I l spend the money. Show the people I was no longer the weakling or the poor church rat Layla thought I' was. I want to be more and also, I want to show Layla what she was missing.
• But the deeper I sank into my new reality, the more the past clawed at me.
• I couldn't forget her.
• No matter how hard I tried.
• It wasn't just the betrayal-it was the memory of who she used to be. Or maybe who I thought she was.
• Layla.
• She was the first girl who ever touched my face like I mattered. I still remember that night on the library roof, when I told her about my mom working two jobs just to send me to school. She didn't laugh. She held my hand. Told me I was different. Special.
• Lies. All of it.
• But back then, it felt like love.
• We'd sneak into the art building after hours, where she'd sketch and I'd pretend I understood brush strokes just to watch her smile. We'd eat noodles on the dorm steps, talk about the future-our future. She swore I'd be great one day.
• "You don't need money to shine,"
• she'd said once.
• Funny, isn't it?
• Turns out, you needed money just to be seen.
• I hated the fact that I had believed all of her lies that was now dawn on me that I was just a convince fot her. She was toying with me all this while, making me look stupid.
• Foolish!
• The memories hit harder when I walked past the campus fountain. It was where I'd first asked her to be my girlfriend. She wore that red scarf I saved up for. She has yes before I even finished the sentence.
• I remember how many work shifts I had to work and how I had begged my mother to help me add a little amount from her little earning to help me out.
• Now, that same scarf was wrapped around her neck as she clung to Jeremiah's arm.
• Jeremiah.
• He was waiting for me.
• I didn't realize it until he stepped right into my path, all smirks and expensive cologne. The air around him tensed, like even the trees bent to let him pass.
• "Pointus," he said, voice smooth and cruel. "Still playing dress up? Shouldn't you have given up by now? Nobody gives a fuck that you wear expensive clothes or shoes and certainly nobody give a fuck that you look more handsome." Jeremiah said taunting me.
• I kept walking, ignoring him.
• He didn't like that.
• The next second, my shoulder slammed into a tree. I gasped, the pain sharp.
• "I'm talking to you," he growled.
• I turned slowly, jaw tight. "I've got nothing to say to you."
• "Really?" He chuckled, then looked at me. "Nice threads. New money, huh? Trying to pretend you belong? I know you want her back but too sorry she doesn't want a loafer like you. I am sure that you must have been working for a rich man son or probably you stole that. Or have your mother been working ten times more than before?"
• My eye darted around as the students began to gather around us Jeremiah's cronies laughed. A few students recorded, hungry for drama.
• I clenched my fists.
• "Back off, Jeremiah."
• He grinned, sensing my anger. "Or what? You'll cry again? Run to Layla? Oh wait-she's with a real man now."
• That did it.
• I swung.
• I didn't even think. My fist caught his jaw, hard enough to snap his head sideways.
• The crowd gasped.
• For a moment, silence.
• Then... rage.
• Jeremiah tackled me like a wild animal. Fists rained down, merciless. His friends joined in. I felt my ribs crack-once, twice. My vision blurred. Blood flooded my mouth. Someone was screaming. Maybe it was me.
• I tried to fight back. I did. But I was outnumbered. Overwhelmed. Everywhere I looked was filed with disdain looks like i didn't belong.
• I collapsed, everything fading to black.
• When I woke up, the lights above were too bright.
• Beeping. Clean sheets. The sharp scent of antiseptic.
• Hospital.
• I tried to move-my body protested with a scream of pain.
• My face was swollen. My side felt like it had been crushed. My head throbbed like it was splitting in half.
• I blinked up at the ceiling, barely breathing. I looked around and I could see my phone right beside my bed. I wonder who brought me back home.
• "System," I croaked thinking I could get the answer that I needed. I had spent the money I had on everything I needed trying to impress Layla or at least show off but everything had been in vain.
• The pain was even more than I had anticipated. The bruise, the head ache and my aching arm throbbed with pain.
• The door opened and I saw my mother who has been surprised to see how our life has changed and was shocked to see me lying on the bed bleeding.
• I thought she was going to lash at me, but to my surprise, she walked past me and was soon back with a first aid kit.
• I looked at her each time as she worked on my wound thinking she would say a word but she didn't.
• My phone vibrated right beside me. I groaned and picked it up, little did I know I was in for another shock of my life.