They Sabotaged My Future, Then Begged Me to Come Back When I Built a Better One Chapter 03

They Sabotaged My Future, Then Begged Me to Come Back When I Built a Better One Chapter 03

I pulled myself up from the floor and steadied myself against the wall, inching toward the door one step at a time.

I left the hospital, hailed a cab, and headed straight for my high school.

Once there, I grabbed my crutches and limped straight to the main office.

Ms. Thompson was sorting out the exam room assignments.

The moment she saw me, her brows knit together.

“Brielle? What are you doing here?”

“Ms. Thompson, my admission ticket was burned. Can I get a replacement?”

She glanced at me. Her gaze lingered briefly on my casted leg before she looked away.

“You only get one admission ticket.”

“We were reminding everyone nonstop before the exam to keep it safe.”

“If you were careless and lost it, you have no one to blame but yourself.”

“I didn’t lose it. It was burned…”

“Mr. Cross already called ahead,” she cut me off, her tone sharp.

“He said you were in a car accident and mentally unstable. That you might come to school and cause trouble.”

“The system is already closed. Not even God could get you a new one now.”

“I didn’t lose it. Soren burned it…”

“Enough!” Ms. Thompson slammed her pen onto the desk.

“Brielle, I know your grades are stellar, but that doesn’t give you the right to act so high and mighty.”

“You screw up when it matters most, and now you’re trying to pin it on the very person who paid for your schooling?”

I stood there, stunned.

Five years ago, Soren had arrived at Silver Pines Foster Home.

He didn’t remember who he was or where he came from.

Before long, we became inseparable.

He had stood up for me more times than I could count.

When I was locked in solitary, he picked the lock in the dead of night and got me out.

Then one day, the Cross family came. They had found their long-lost son and came to take him home.

On the day he left, Soren held my hand and said, “Brielle, I’ll come back. Once I’m settled, I’ll take you out of here.”

And he did come back.

He arranged for the Cross family to sponsor my schooling. Tuition, living expenses, everything was paid by him.

Every weekend, he came to see me. He took me out for good food, bought me books, and studied with me.

Everyone said Mr. Cross was a good man. That Brielle was lucky to have met someone so generous.

I believed it too. So I had never imagined he would betray me. And all for Vivian. Of all people.

Lost in a daze, I walked out of the office.

Before I realized it, I was standing in front of the display case outside the academic building.

It showcased the top students from the district’s practice test.

My photo was right at the top. First place. Brielle.

In the photo, I was smiling, my eyes curved, like someone who had finally seen the light.

And now here I was, standing beneath it, leg in a cast, completely wrecked.

“Brielle?” A voice came from behind me. I went still.

Turning around, I saw Vivian standing a few steps away, her arm looped through Soren’s.

The moment she saw me, she shrank closer into his embrace.

“Brielle, how could you sneak out and go around spreading lies about Soren burning your admission ticket?”

A few passing students slowed down, watching curiously.

“So that’s Brielle? I heard she got into a car accident. Why is she here making a scene?”

“Mr. Cross has supported her all these years, and this is how she repays him?”

I shook with rage. I raised my crutch and swung it at Vivian.

Before the crutch could connect, Soren caught it in a vice grip.

With a hard shove, he sent me stumbling backward.

I crashed into the glass of the honor board.

The sound of shattering glass exploded in my ears.

Fragments pierced into my back, warm blood trickling down my spine.

I fell flat onto the ground, shards digging into me, every inch of my body screaming in pain.

Above my head was my photo. In the picture, I was still smiling.

“Soren… are you really going to throw away everything we had for fifteen years?”

Lying there, my voice was so hoarse it was barely audible.

“Back at the foster home… you were the one who broke me out of that room…”

Blood seeped from my back, staining the floor red.

“You promised you’d pull me out of that hell…”

Soren suddenly let out a soft, mocking laugh. He crouched down, leaning close to my face.

“Brielle, do you have any idea why I ended up in that foster home? Why it was you I chose to save?”