Chapter 1

The school beauty, Valerie Hale, was dragged into a back alley.

I was the one who fought until I was battered and bleeding to save her.

Yet when my parents saw me afterwards, they did not praise me. Instead, they scolded me for recklessly throwing myself into danger.

What I never expected was for Valerie to stand in front of everyone and accuse me, claiming I had teamed up with those street punks and forced myself on her.

Later, those punks went to the police station and turned themselves in.

Even my best friend, Lucas Turner, stepped forward as a witness. He testified that I had been bitter over Valerie rejecting me, and that I had said more than once that I wanted to force her.

With that, every piece of evidence pointed straight at me.

My parents did not believe me either.

In the end, I was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, where I lived a life worse than death.

Throughout those fifteen years, my parents never came to see me even once.

They only had someone pass along a single message:

[Marcus, you’ve disgraced our family completely. Just die in there.]

It was not until I was tortured to the brink of death, barely clinging to life, that I finally understood the truth.

My parents.

Valerie’s parents.

Lucas, my so-called best friend.

They were all the ones who had pushed me into the abyss.

I closed my eyes, my chest burning with hatred and rage.

When I opened them again, I saw Valerie being dragged into a back alley.

——

“Marcus, doesn’t that look like Valerie?”

“Yeah, that really is her! Are they dragging her into the alley?”

“Marcus, you’re good at fighting. Hurry up and save her!”

“I heard that girls around the school have been getting assaulted lately!” Lucas’s voice exploded in my ear.

This moment felt unreal.

Was this the very day Valerie had been dragged into the alley?

Could it be that I had been reborn?

“Let go of me! Help! Someone help!” Valerie’s desperate screams rang out almost immediately.

There were plenty of people nearby, yet not a single one dared to step forward.

“Marcus, what are you doing?!” Lucas shouted angrily. “Can’t you see Valerie’s in danger? You’re so good at fighting. Why aren’t you going after them? Why are you still on your phone?!”

He was my childhood friend.

The brother I trusted more than anyone.

And in my previous life, he was also the one who stabbed me in the back, literally.

I slipped my phone into my shirt pocket and took a slow, steady breath.

“Are you mute?!” Lucas stomped his foot anxiously.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll go save her.”

I broke into a run.

Then, suddenly, I fell hard to the ground.

“Why did you fall?!”

Lucas snapped as he rushed over to pull me up. “If you keep wasting time, Valerie’s going to be violated!”

“Lucas, my leg really hurts from the fall,” I said through a grimace. “I can barely walk right now. You go save Valerie.”

I made my voice sound just as panicked.

“Me?”

He froze on the spot, his expression stiffening for a brief second before twisting into a scoff.

“Are you kidding me?” he shot back. “Those are street punks. Who knows if they’re carrying knives?”

His voice rose sharply as panic and anger bled through. “Marcus, I treat you like a brother! Are you trying to get me killed?!”

He shouted the last words, then spat out a curse, his face full of contempt.

“You’re seriously useless,” he snapped. “You didn’t even get to save anyone before you crippled yourself.”

“So sending you to save someone means I’m trying to kill you?” I asked calmly. “But Lucas, from the very beginning, you were the one pushing me to go save her.”

I smiled faintly. “I treat you like a brother, yet you’re playing double standards with me?”

“I…”

Lucas froze, entirely at a loss for words.

A few minutes later, the police arrived.

The moment the street punks heard the sirens, they took off running.

Valerie was helped out of the alley.

Her clothes were torn, her hair disheveled, and her face soaked with tears.

Terror filled her eyes.

Lucas immediately sprinted over, grabbed a police officer’s arm, and pointed straight at me.

“Officer! When this happened, I begged Marcus to help, but he refused no matter what I did! He’s completely selfish!”

The officer glanced in my direction, frowned, and walked over. “Is what he said true?”

I lowered my head, my voice trembling. “Officer… I was scared. I really wanted to help, but I panicked and fell.”