When She Sabotaged Me, She Ruined Herself

Chapter 5

I didn't bother explaining myself.

I packed up my things, left them with the dorm manager, and headed straight for the girls' dormitory.

Sure enough, Hugo was there.

He was surrounded by a cluster of girls, his face arranged into just the right amount of docile shyness.

I slapped my phone down on the table.

The first one to explode was Grace. She glanced at the cracked screen on the table, a cold smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"That fast? Here to apologize already? Plenty of time to say sorry still. Just admit in front of everyone that you deleted the recommendation letter yourself, and I'll let it go."

I never looked at her the entire time. My eyes stayed locked on Hugo.

"That post on the forum. You put it up?"

Hugo's face went white. His voice came out trembling.

"I just wanted more people to know what happened... I didn't mean any harm."

Grace swept her eyes over the phone screen and let out a cold huff. "You stormed into the girls' dorm just to interrogate him over this? Leo, enough. What if you set him off?"

I laughed out loud.

"He's got plenty of nerve. Falsifying materials, editing that audio recording, every single piece of this is his handiwork. And you think a single sentence from me is going to set him off?"

Hugo's eyes immediately went bloodshot.

"I didn't..."

His whole body started shaking. He stumbled back a couple of steps, his breathing turning rapid and shallow, like he was about to fall apart any second.

Grace yanked him into her arms and screamed at me.

"Leo, are you not satisfied until you see him have a full episode? The recommendation letter, again? What's the big deal if it got deleted? How precious can it be? I've told you over and over, I'll stay with you. And you're still not satisfied?"

Her roommates crowded around, piling on one after another.

"What are you going after a guy with depression for? You're the one who forgot to pull out your USB drive first."

"Looks to me like he's just guilty himself. Picking on Hugo, real tough guy."

Grace snatched the phone off the table and hurled it to the floor.

The screen exploded. Fragments scattered everywhere.

"Try me. Go ahead and try me."

I stared at my phone, shattered into pieces on the floor, and suddenly, I laughed.

Grace didn't know yet. All the backups of her application materials were stored on that phone.

'Tomorrow is the deadline. She is finished.'

That was when Crawford and the girls' dorm manager came rushing over.

The second he saw me, without a word, he started tearing into me.

"Leo, you are completely out of control. The investigation isn't even finished, and you've got the nerve to barge into the girls' dormitory, causing trouble. Do you have no shame whatsoever? Call your parents and have them come to the school immediately to cooperate with the investigation. Whatever the final conclusion turns out to be, this college will absolutely not accept a student of such vile character."

I stared back at him in disbelief.

"Handling it this way doesn't follow school regulations."

Crawford let out a cold laugh.

"I am the regulation in this building. What I say goes. You don't like it, too bad. You've always held yourself up so high, haven't you? And now? You still have to bow your head and take it."

That was when Hugo pulled himself together. He picked up the shattered remains of my phone from the floor and held them out to me, timid and meek.

"Leo, your phone..."

I was just about to reach out and take it when he suddenly curved his eyes up at me. His fingertip traced lightly across one of the cracks in the broken screen.

"Ah..."

A string of blood beads rolled off his fingertip. He jerked his hand back, and the tears came flooding out right after.

Grace's face twisted. She shoved me hard in the chest. My back slammed into the doorframe.

"Leo, what did you do to him?"

Several girls quickly surrounded me, their eyes ready to tear me apart.

"Apologize."

"Yeah, he's got the guts to hurt someone right in front of the advisor. Imagine what he gets away with when no one's watching."

Crawford stood by the door with his arms folded, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth, thoroughly enjoying the show.

Hugo sobbed. His voice wasn't loud, but every word came out crisp and clear.

"Leo, I really don't understand why you keep coming after me... I just didn't want everyone being kept in the dark... If pinning everything on me makes you feel better, then fine. I'll take it."

He said it so wronged, so gracious.

Grace grabbed me by the collar. That face of hers, usually so composed, was twisted with fury.

"Apologize."

Grace's face snapped to the side. A red mark bloomed across her left cheek. A flicker of disorientation passed through her eyes, and then shock.

"Did you just hit me?"