Let Him Stumble While You Climb Chapter 05

Let Him Stumble While You Climb Chapter 05

Pain exploded across my face.

I could not open my eyes, and tears streamed down my cheeks from the irritation.

The people surrounding me burst into laughter.

“Look at her! One bottle of pepper-laced water and she’s already falling apart!”

“Get a video of her! That’s what she gets for upsetting Vivian!”

Vivian walked over, seized my chin, and forced my face upward.

“Go on, act superior now, straight-A girl!”

“So what if you get good grades? I know plenty of people who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, and they all hate people like you!”

“I’m warning you for the last time. Caleb only wants me! Loving me is all he needs! Don’t fucking get in our way!”

My wolf fought to seize control of my body, but I forced her back. We could not expose ourselves in front of humans.

I struggled to slip a hand into my pocket and triggered Emergency SOS.

After pinching my arm hard enough to leave several bloody marks, Vivian ordered several of the others to hold me down.

“Get on your knees and bark like a dog!”

“Do it!”

A moment later, police sirens shattered the silence of the night.

The people who had been acting so fearless seconds earlier jumped onto their motorcycles and sped away.

I refused to let go of Vivian, so the officers took her to the station with me.

Caleb arrived in a rush.

Vivian clung to Caleb, sobbing pitifully, as though she were the real victim.

“What happened?” he demanded.

One of the officers briefly explained the situation.

Vivian shook her head furiously and cried even harder.

“That’s not true!”

“Vera stopped me! She attacked me and tried to force me to break up with you!”

She rolled up her sleeve, revealing several bloody scratches she had made herself.

I remained silent on the bench.

I was severely allergic to capsaicin. My entire face burned, and my throat had swollen so badly that I could barely swallow.

Meanwhile, the wounds Vivian had left on my arm had already vanished thanks to my werewolf healing, so I somehow looked almost completely unharmed.

“Vera, I want an explanation.” Caleb walked over and stopped in front of me.

I lowered my eyes and turned away from him, making it obvious that I wanted nothing to do with him.

The officer spoke impatiently.

“This looks like a minor altercation. If you both agree to resolve it informally, sign the mediation form.”

He slid the form across the table.

Vivian knew she was at fault and had already signed her section.

Only mine remained blank.

“Sign it.” Caleb tossed the form at me.

I did not move.

He frowned, dragged me over to the table, and forced me into the chair.

“So this is why you refused to let me pick you up. You were planning this the whole time!”

“Vera, you’re vicious. Vivian has no one but me, and you still tried to use this pathetic stunt to force us apart.”

“I already put up with this during senior year.”

“This time, I will not let you bully her again!”

Caleb clamped his hand around mine so tightly that it felt as though my bones might break.

No matter how hard I struggled, I could not free myself. He forced a pen into my hand and dragged my hand across the form until the name Vera Esposito appeared in a crooked scrawl.

Caleb handed the form to the officer, then escorted Vivian out.

As he left the station, he looked back at me.

The look in his eyes went far beyond coldness.

It was pure disgust, sharp and barbed enough to pierce every remaining piece of my already broken heart.

My wolf curled up in a corner of my mind. She no longer had anything to say about Caleb.

I waited outside for a while before Dad finally hurried over. He had found my car and driven it to the station.

The moment he saw me, he pulled me into a tight hug.

“Were you scared, being at a police station for the first time?”

Once we were in the car, he handed me a gift box.

“I finally managed to get the limited-edition sneakers you wanted to give Caleb.”

They were supposed to be Caleb’s birthday present.

I immediately listed them online. Since they were limited edition, I even made a small profit.

I still went to Caleb’s birthday party.

I sat in a corner, and our eyes met several times. Each time, I caught the irritation in his expression.

Everyone else had brought him a birthday gift, while the girl who had grown up beside him had not even wished him a happy birthday.

“Caleb!”

Vivian entered, wheeling in a cake with one hand and holding up her phone with the other.

“Guess what I got you for your birthday!”

Caleb’s expression softened.

He walked over to her and even smiled at the camera.

I was smiling too, waiting for the show to begin.

“Caleb, remember when I said we should stay together forever?”

Vivian shyly handed him a long envelope.

“I withdrew every one of your Common App applications and left only the community college application. Now you can go to the same school as me.”