Yor Regret is Too Late!

16

"Open your mouth, Ai. You need to eat a lot so you don't get sick easily again."

Asher’s gentle voice sounded like beautiful music to the ears of the students in the Garuda High School cafeteria, but to me, it was a death knell. I sat at the furthest corner table, trying to drown my face behind a thick biology textbook. In the middle of the bustling cafeteria, table number one—occupied by Asher and Aileen—looked like a completely perfect theatrical stage.

Asher fed a spoonful of fried rice into Aileen’s mouth with a gaze full of pure adoration. Aileen offered a coy smile, resting her head on Asher’s shoulder as if she were the most fragile princess in the world. Everyone in the cafeteria stared at them with envy, and then a second later, turned their eyes toward me with looks of pure disgust. They still remembered Asher’s instruction from the other day: "Consider Aria invisible."

"Asher, look... Aria is sitting all by herself. Aren't we being too harsh?" Aileen whispered, but her eyes flicked toward me with a sharp, victorious gleam.

Asher didn't even glance my way. "Just leave her be. Someone who has the cold heart to destroy a gift from someone else doesn't deserve any sympathy, Ai. Just focus on your food."

I squeezed the edge of my skirt beneath the table. The sharp ache in my heart had already crossed all boundaries. I wanted to run away from here, but my feet felt as if they were glued to the floor. Until suddenly, the noisy cafeteria went dead silent. It was so completely quiet that the clear sound of a dropped spoon could be heard distinctly.

Crash!

The cafeteria door was kicked open brutally. A tall, well-built figure stepped inside with a casual yet highly intimidating stride. He wore a slightly faded black leather jacket, an untucked uniform shirt, and messy black hair that only added to his fierce yet breathtakingly handsome look. The small cut at the corner of his lip gave a wild spark to his ruggedly defined face.

Barrett Dirgantara. The Alpha Wolf of the school, who had always been considered "trash" by elites like Asher.

Barrett walked straight through the crowd. The students blocking his path automatically swerved away as if clearing a trail for an apex predator. His sharp, eagle-like eyes locked onto the main table. Without a single word of permission, Barrett dragged a vacant chair right in front of Asher, creating a painfully loud wooden screech that echoed through the silence.

I flinched when Barrett suddenly turned his head toward me. "Get over here."

I froze. The entire cafeteria was now staring at me.

"I said... get over here, Aria," Barrett’s voice was low, heavy, and filled with absolute, undeniable authority.

With a trembling body, I stood up and took a few steps closer. Barrett suddenly grabbed my arm, guiding me to sit in the chair right next to him, and then casually wrapped his arm around my shoulders. His large, warm hand pressed against my shoulder, giving me a profound sense of safety I had never felt in my entire life. The rich aroma of his tobacco and potent masculine perfume seemed to wipe away the scent of hypocrisy at this table.

Asher’s face changed instantly. He slammed his spoon down with a loud clang. His eyes glared with disgust at Barrett’s hand resting on my shoulder.

"Barrett, are you looking for trouble again?" Asher hissed in a deeply dismissive tone. "Isn't it enough that you cause chaos outside of school, and now you want to bring your filth to this table?"

Barrett merely smirked. A cold, dangerous smirk that could crush anyone's courage. He casually snatched a cracker from Asher’s plate and ate it, acting as if he were the sole ruler of the place.

"Filth?" Barrett raised an eyebrow. He glanced at Aileen, who had now turned pale, and then locked his eyes back onto Asher. "Do you mean a guy who acts all pure and righteous but is actually just harboring a snake right beside him? Is that the filth you're talking about?"

"Don't you dare be disrespectful!" Asher stood up, his hands clenched into fists on top of the table. "Take your filthy hands off Aria. She might be a nobody in my eyes, but she still carries the Maheswari name. You are not worthy of touching her."

Barrett didn't flinch even a single bit. Instead, he pulled my body even closer to his side. I could feel my heart racing like crazy. Behind these thick glasses, I watched Barrett look up, staring at Asher with a fiercely wild and victorious gaze.

Barrett suddenly stood up, but his arm remained wrapped tightly around my shoulders. He took a deep breath, and then spoke in a remarkably loud, resounding voice, loud enough to be heard all the way to the back of the cafeteria kitchen.

"Hey, listen up, everyone! Especially you, Toad Prince!" Barrett pointed a finger straight at Asher’s face. "Starting today, anyone who dares to touch, insult, or make this girl cry again... means you are all asking for a death wish. I don't care whose kid you are or how rich your father is."

The entire cafeteria held its breath. I stared at Barrett with wide eyes. What on earth was he saying?

Barrett looked down slightly, staring at me with a gaze that suddenly softened yet remained firm, and then he looked back out at all the students in the cafeteria.

"Because one day," Barrett paused his words, delivering a gripping, dramatic effect to the room. "This girl is going to be my wife! And I don't like my property being messed with by losers like you."

Thump.

My world felt as if it completely stopped spinning. What did he just say? Wife?

Asher let out a hollow laugh, but his face was flushed red with a boiling rage. He felt his dignity being utterly trampled upon by the very person he looked down on most in this school.

"You're insane, Barrett," Asher stepped forward, erasing the distance between them. "Do you honestly think she would want to be with a delinquent like you? Look at her! She's Aria, a kid who is completely ignored in her own home. But at least she still has enough basic dignity not to fall into the hands of a street thug like you!"

"Dignity?" Barrett laughed softly, a laughter that sounded incredibly dangerous. "Dignity means absolutely nothing in the hands of a guy who can only bully a barefoot girl in public. You might have the money to buy new shoes for this snake, but you will never have enough raw courage to protect Aria the way I do."

Barrett looked back down at me, his fingers gently brushing a strand of my messy hair, a gesture so deeply contradictory to his fierce, wild aura.

"Let's go, Aria. It smells fishy in here... too many snakes playing out a fake drama," Barrett said sharply.

Asher prepared to give chase, but his steps froze when Barrett glanced back one last time with a look so deathly cold that the school prince was completely paralyzed in his tracks.

"Remember my words, Asher. She's mine. Touch her, and you'll find out exactly why they call me the Wolf."

Barrett guided me out of the cafeteria with a commanding, steady stride. Behind us, whispers of terror and absolute shock began to explode all over again. I walked right beside him, still unable to believe what had just unfolded. Wrapped beneath the protection of his leather jacket, I felt something that had been missing from my life for a very long time. Hope. And for the very first time, Asher looked incredibly small and pathetic in my eyes.