Chapter 192: Chapter 192 Burning fiercely
Alana pressed her lips together and decided to be honest. “It was...my boyfriend.”
After all, given Cole’s resources, he could easily find out who had beaten him up, all he had to do was check the surveillance footage from the Spring club.
By asking her directly now, he was simply testing her reaction.
Hearing that the person who beat him up was indeed her boyfriend, the gentleness on Cole’s face vanished, replaced by a shadow of gloom.
Camila was even more shocked. “Alana, you have a boyfriend? You have a boyfriend now and you’re still coming after my brother? How pathetic are you?”
Alana furrowed her brow, raised her eyes to look at Camila standing nearby, and spoke slowly and deliberately. “Camila, I haven’t been pestering your older brother. Who’s been hitting on whom? Ask your older brother, he knows better than anyone!”
Camila sneered, “I don’t believe my older brother would be the one hitting on you. After all, he dumped your ass before! Why would he go back to his vomit?!”
“I’m not vomit and I certainly do not want him around me at all. It’s not my problem if you believe me or not. I’m not asking you to believe me, I’m just stating the facts. What on earth do I need your brother for?”
“You!” Camila laughed bitterly. “Lana, I see you’ve gotten a lot bolder! You actually have the nerve to confront me so brazenly. Do you remember back in middle school, when you were so timid and cowering, like a stinky rat living in a sewer...that you didn’t even dare to look me in the eye?”
Alana’s gaze was piercing. “Camila, are you so proud of bullying others?”
There were countless times Camila had picked on her in the past. Every single incident was etched in her memory.
For example, placing a disgusting caterpillar on her head, putting a snake in her desk drawer, and drawing a clown on the back of her clothes.
She’d also torn up her test papers; when she reported it to the teacher, Camila turned the tables and accused Alana of tearing up her papers test first...Accusing her of stealing, nearly landing her in bigger trouble.
She incited the whole class to isolate her and turn against her... There were just too many incidents.
Running into a villain like Camila was a disaster for her. But she hoped no one else ever had to go through it. Only after going through it did she realize that the shadow this experience cast over her ran deep to the very marrow of her bones.
To this day, whenever she faces Camila, she couldn’t help but feel a deep-seated fear rising from the depths of her soul.
Camila gritted her teeth, her anger turning to laughter. “What bullying? Don’t go spreading rumors. I was just warning you to tone it down a bit, stop acting so slutty! Besides, it’s not my fault...you just deserve it! If I catch you with a boyfriend and still hanging around my brother, don’t blame me for being rude to you again!”
Alana curled her lips. Sure enough, bullies never admit they’re in the wrong; instead, they think they’re the ones upholding justice.
Once, timid and weak, she had been powerless to defend herself against bullying.
She had once seen Cold as a ray of light that would save her.
But from now on, she no longer needed that light.
Because she had decided to become the light that would save herself.
Eve was right. Facing those who had once bullied her, she shouldn’t be afraid or cower, instead, she must bravely take up arms and confront them head-on!
Alana looked at Camila, her expression calm. “Camila, don’t use your older brother as an excuse. You just simply can’t stand me and want to take me down. If you want to take me on, go ahead. I, Alana, do not start trouble, but I’m not afraid of it either.”
Camila, her feelings exposed, laughed bitterly. “Lana, you’ve got some nerve! You really think I wouldn’t dare do anything to you? With my status, crushing you would be as easy as squashing a grasshopper, it’d take no time at all!”
“If it weren’t for my brother protecting you all this time, do you really think you’d still be standing here talking to me?”
Alana frowned and instinctively glanced at Cole.
Cole stared at Alana with a dark look in his eyes. “Enough, Camila. Stop it!”
Camila was furious. “Brother, you’re taking her side again! She already has a boyfriend. Can’t you get a grip? She’s not even worth your trouble!”
Cole fixed his gaze on Alana and pressed further, “Lana, tell me, was it really your boyfriend who laid hands on me last night?”
Alana didn’t hesitate; she nodded. “Yes. Last night, after the business dinner ended, I texted him to come pick me up. As for why he beat you up, you know exactly why.”
Cole felt a sharp pang in his chest.
So she really did have a boyfriend.
Thinking of all the injuries he’d sustained, all caused by her boyfriend, the pain in his chest turned into rage, burning fiercely.
“Lana, tell me, who is he?!”
Alana bit her lip; naturally, she wasn’t about to tell him all about Stephan. She didn’t want this matter to drag on. She just hoped she could help Stephan smooth things over.
He had taken care of so many things for her; so she had to take care of this one thing for him. “Cole, don’t hold it against him. This isn’t entirely his fault. I know that it was wrong of him to hit you so I’m apologizing on his behalf. I’ll cover all your medical expenses. But your behavior toward me last night wasn’t exactly exemplary either. Both in terms of reason and compassion, you can’t hold him responsible.”
Cole laughed bitterly, he was so angry his chest ached.
“Lana, are you going against me just for the sake of another man?”
Alana couldn’t help but say, “My boyfriend isn’t just some other man.”
His eyes darkened. “He isn’t? Then what about me? What am I to you?”
Alana pressed her lips together, momentarily at a loss for words. He was the random man.
Seeing her silence, Cole’s expression grew even darker. “We’ve know each other for so many years. Ever since you were in middle school, you’ve been by my side, never leaving me. Even when I went off to college, we still kept in touch regularly. So all those wonderful times we shared together, none of them even come close to the place he holds in your heart? What has he done for you that makes you care so much about him?”
Alana bit her lip and said earnestly, “It’s different...with him, he truly feels like my boyfriend, someone I can always rely you. While you...you had always been so distant...at most being with you had felt like being with a distant friend.”
Cole’s breath caught in his throat.
Just a distant friend?
Camila protested, “Lana, stop shamelessly trying to get close to my brother. Who do you think you are saying those words to him? My brother is a catch! Do you know what he...”
Alana curled the corners of her mouth, her tone laced with sarcasm. “I don’t really care what he is. And what exactly is your problem? You accuse me of wanting your problem, I tell you that I don’t and you still get mad? What exactly do you want?!”
Cole’s fist clenched unconsciously, a flash of hostility crossing his eyes.
“Lana, what if I decide to make things difficult for your boyfriend?”
Alana looked at him, her eyes clear yet determined. “Cole, if you want to
completely burn our bridges...then go ahead.”
“You’re going to keep defending him like this?”
“I am.” The moment she admitted it, Cole felt as if he could hear the sound of his own
heart shattering.
He couldn’t help but clasp his chest, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
The eyes behind his glasses were slightly reddened, clearly deeply wounded. “If you want me to let him go, fine, but you have to break up with him!”
Alana was stunned by the man’s words. “Cole, I thought you were a man of a little bit integrity left, but I never expected you to be so foolish.”
Cole’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He knew his behavior was despicable, but at this point, there was no turning back.
He couldn’t accept the fact that she belonged to another man now. “Call me whatever you want but you must break up with him if you don’t want me to press charges. He’s clearly not good for you! He’s a violent person.”
Alana paused for a moment, then said firmly, “I refuse! If you insist on holding him accountable and forcing me to break up with him, then last night, when you tried to force yourself on me, I, too...” She looked at him with unwavering resolve, as if to say that if he held her boyfriend accountable, she would hold him accountable too.
But the tremor in her lips betrayed her inner anxiety. After all, she had never threatened him like this before.
She didn’t know what the consequences of threatening him would be. But she knew full well that she was merely speaking out of anger; with her own abilities, she had no way of standing up to Cole.
If Cole flew into a rage and took on both her and Stephan, she feared she would be powerless to stop him.
Cole felt the pain in his chest grow even more intense, to the point of suffocation. To think she would threaten him like this for that man.
Before this, he hadn’t even dared to imagine it. He’d thought that once he came back to her, they could reunite and be together forever this time.
But he never expected that she already had another man.
She was really going to abandon him!
When did she become so cruel?!
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