Chapter 3

After Laura was discharged from the hospital, the class organized a graduation gathering. Laura hadn't wanted to go, but a close friend of hers persistently persuaded her. The moment she stepped into the room, she saw Shayne and Melinda sitting together, practically inseparable. Melinda was smiling as she fed him a piece of fruit, and he didn't refuse. When their classmates saw Laura, they all looked a little awkward. Several of them gathered around her and asked in hushed voices, "Laura, what's going on? Did you and Shayne have another fight?" Laura shook her head calmly. She didn't speak that loudly, but it was clear enough. "It wasn't a fight. We just broke up." Everyone was stunned. "What? You broke up?" "But why? Shayne's so good to you!" "Yeah! Back in senior year, when you got sick, he almost got into a fight with the homeroom teacher just to get you a long leave!" "And every holiday, the surprises he prepared for you made us all so jealous!" "You two were the couple everyone agreed would get married after school. How did you end up breaking up right when you're about to graduate?" Listening to them list all the ways Shayne had once been good to her, Laura's heart twisted painfully. Yes, he had once treated her incredibly well, so well that she had believed she could spend the rest of her life with her. But it was precisely because he had treated her so well that the coldness and indifference now felt all the more cruel. She fell silent before saying softly, "We weren't compatible, so we broke up. No one is indispensable to anyone. Besides…" She looked toward Shayne, who was pouring a drink for Melinda not far away. "Aren't the two of them doing just fine now?" Shayne happened to hear that and looked over with a frown. His expression seemed complicated. For the rest of the night, it was as if he were deliberately acting out of spite. He doubled down on his attentiveness to Melinda, being considerate to the extreme and almost never leaving her side. He thought he would see Laura get jealous or angry. At the very least, he thought she wouldn't be able to resist coming over to interrupt them, but she didn't. She simply sat quietly in a corner, occasionally exchanging a few words with the people around her. Her gaze was incredibly calm, as if he were nothing more than an irrelevant stranger. That complete disregard instead stirred an inexplicable, unprecedented unease in Shayne. Instinctively, he wanted to walk over to her, but Melinda grabbed his arm. She rose onto her tiptoes and whispered a few words into his ear, causing his steps to falter. He frowned and chose to sit back down in the end. Soon, someone suggested playing Truth or Dare. After a few rounds, Melinda lost. The dare she drew was to find the tallest guy present and kiss him for three minutes. All eyes instantly converged on Shayne. Melinda blushed, but her gaze was provocative as she walked straight toward him. The classmates all sucked in a breath, whispering, "This isn't very appropriate, is it? Laura's still here…" Melinda deliberately looked toward Laura in the corner and asked, "Laura, you and Shayne have already broken up. You wouldn't mind if I kissed him because of a game, right?" Her best friend immediately chimed in, "Exactly. She's just an ex right now. What right does she have to care who Shayne kisses?" In an instant, every gaze in the room was focused on Laura, including Shayne's. His gaze carried an indescribable pressure, as if he were waiting for her reaction. Laura lowered her head, and her long lashes concealed all the emotion in her eyes. Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, but it reached everyone's ears clearly. "It really does have nothing to do with me." With that one sentence, she'd clearly drawn her boundaries. Shayne's expression instantly turned ugly. Anger and a rebellious, violent edge surged inside. He sneered as he wrapped an arm around Melinda's waist. Then, amid everyone's gasps, he kissed her fiercely. A series of suppressed humming and sharp intakes of breath filled the room, followed by an eerie silence. Laura watched as the two of them kissed under the lights. Melinda's hand even climbed up around Shayne's neck. Her heart felt as if it were being clenched tightly by an invisible hand. The pain was so intense she nearly spasmed. She dug her nails into her palm, using all her strength to suppress the sour ache and despair that threatened to overwhelm her reason. She didn't know how long it was before that long kiss finally ended. Melinda's best friend deliberately asked loudly, "So, Shayne, how did it feel? Wasn't kissing Melinda a much better experience than kissing a certain person?" Shayne's gaze swept over Laura's pale face, and a cold smirk appeared on his mouth. His voice was low, but still clear and cruel. "There's no comparison. It's Mel's complete victory."