After His Cruel Joke, I Left Him Behind

Chapter 3 Destroyed That Warm Memory

I got home and locked myself inside the bathroom.

I stood in front of the mirror. My cheeks and arms were sunburnt and peeling. Dark bruises covered my calves, alongside fresh cuts left by the flying stones.

Deep indentations from the rough rope marked my wrists and ankles. Tiny beads of blood seeped through the broken skin.

I turned on the shower. The icy water washed over my body, yet it could not chase away the burning shame of being watched and humiliated in public.

On the school's online forum, the drone footage Hattie had shot was pinned at the very top.

Its title read, "Best Performance Art of the Year: Winnie the Pooh on the Wind Turbine".

She had edited the video into slow motion on purpose. It dragged on every second when my skirt fluttered up, and my underwear showed.

Crude stickers and rude comments filled the screen from start to finish.

The comment section was flooded with nothing but sneers and mockery.

A: [This is hands down the dumbest joke of the year.]

B: [Lane really went all out just to make the campus belle happy.]

C: [Isabella sure has no pride, pulling a stunt this embarrassing.]

D: [She never knows when to stop. She just trails after Lane all the time.]

I turned off my phone. The room fell dead silent.

Even so, those harsh words kept ringing inside my head.

Lane called me, but I declined the call right away.

Soon after, he sent a message on w******p.

Lane: [Don't stay upset. I bought your favorite hot chocolate with cinnamon. I'm waiting for you downstairs.]

It was always the same old story.

Time and again, he hurt me deeply—and he truly thought a cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon could fix everything.

He never knew why this drink meant so much to me. The first time I had it, he had waited in a long line just to get it for me.

Back then, I was the only person he paid attention to.

Now, though, he had destroyed that warm memory with his own hands.

My mind drifted back to our sophomore year summer camp.

During the bonfire party, everyone cheered and pushed us to perform something for the group.

Lane did not think twice. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a clumsy waltz.

He stepped on my feet over and over, and the whole crowd burst out laughing.

Hattie was there, too. She snorted and said, "That's so corny."

Lane's expression turned stiff at once.

He wanted to save face and win Hattie over. When a group game started, he suddenly shoved me into the lake beside us.

I'd put on a white dress and light makeup that day. I had hoped to give him a nice surprise.

Instead, the soaked fabric clung tight to my body, leaving me looking messy and helpless.

He stood on the shore laughing loudly with Hattie, then started teasing me. "Isabella, you look way better like this than you did dancing a minute ago."

All the laughter around me stung sharply in that moment.

Looking back, what happened at the wind farm was just an uglier version of that day by the lake.

And every single time, he grew more cruel than the last.