Chapter 15 Making Her Cry Doesn't Make Me Happy!
Charlotte's words resonated with some classmates who chimed in, "Charlotte is right, Ryder. You're like a frog eating swan meat!"
"Look at yourself first before comparing yourself with Chris!"
"Yeah, you've already married someone by sneaking around, and yet you have the audacity to have feelings for Charlotte. How ridiculous!"
Ryder remained indifferent, saying to Charlotte, "You may have misunderstood my meaning. I only…"
"I don't want to see my good classmate fall into a pit!" Charlotte said helplessly. "Ryder, can't you stop being so hypocritical? Don't you trust me?"
"Look at what you've done over the years. Why should I trust you?" Ryder rolled up his sleeve, revealing a scar more than ten centimeters long on his right arm. "What about this?"
Seeing the scar, Charlotte's pupils shrank slightly.
Her thoughts involuntarily returned to the second semester of their sophomore year.
One day after evening self-study, Charlotte left school later than usual to go home. While passing by the Internet cafe at the entrance of the alley in front of the school, she encountered two hooligans who threatened and harassed her with a knife.
At a critical moment, Ryder suddenly appeared and drove the two hooligans away. However, during the fight, his arm was slashed, and blood poured out.
Before Charlotte could take him to the infirmary to bandage the wound, Ryder had already disappeared into the night on his second-hand bicycle. The next day at school, when classmates saw Ryder with his arm bandaged, they mocked him saying he had been injured while stealing from someone else's house.
Charlotte had wanted to defend Ryder, but he stopped her. Ryder was worried that if this matter got out, it might turn into gossip about Charlotte being raped by the hooligans. It would damage her reputation.
Therefore, only the two of them knew about this.
Since then, Charlotte, who had previously been indifferent towards Ryder, gradually developed a good impression of him.
But what Charlotte didn't expect was that later on, Ryder was exposed for stealing and other behaviors. She began to suspect that those two hooligans who harassed her might have been arranged by Ryder to deliberately get close to her.
As a result, Charlotte's favor towards Ryder completely disappeared.
Now, when Ryder showed this scar, it appeared to Charlotte as a hypocritical act of seeking pity.
Her expression became indifferent and cold. "Why should I believe you at all? Put away your disgusting little schemes!"
"Understood!" Ryder sat down and no longer expressed his opinion.
"Idiot!" Chris secretly scoffed.
With a smile on her face, Lily asked, "Charlotte, have you made your decision?"
Charlotte glanced at Ryder, eliminating the last trace of hesitation, and took the rose, nodding. "I'm willing!"
The classmates erupted in cheers and applause.
Lily comforted Ryder. "I know you're not feeling well, but that's just how society is. Don't take it to heart!"
Ryder smiled bitterly. "You don't understand!"
"Only you understand!" Lily pouted.
Chris and Charlotte sat together again, their smiles filled with joy.
Chris glanced at Ryder and said meaningfully, "Ryder, I know you're unwilling, but losing to me is only reasonable. I won't hold it against you. I heard your sister needs money for her hospitalization. Just ask, and I'll lend you whatever you need!"
"No need!" Ryder refused.
Their classmates looked at him with disdain. "Why are you still pretending at a time like this? It's foolish to save face and suffer!"
Charlotte also spoke up, trying to persuade Ryder. "Ryder, I really can't understand you anymore! Your sister needs money for her hospitalization. Why can't you let go of your so-called dignity? It's truly disappointing!"
Although Ryder's face remained unchanged, Charlotte's words made him feel distant.
The goddess sitting next to him was never to return.
At that moment, Tim sarcastically commented, "Chris, I know you have a little money to show off. But let me remind you, Ryder only earns less than $2,000 a month while cleaning toilets at my company. It's not that he doesn't want to borrow, but he can't pay it back!"
"I see!" Chris stroked his chin and thought for a moment. Suddenly, a playful glint appeared in his eyes. "Well, he doesn't have to pay it back. As long as Ryder can sincerely bless me and Charlotte to be together, I won't ask for it!"
Narrowing his eyes, Ryder asked, "Oh? I wonder what kind of blessing you seek?"
Chris picked up a bottle of white wine and slammed it on the table. "It's simple. Just chug this in one go, and then perform a striptease on the spot! As long as everyone's happy!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd cheered loudly.
Charlotte frowned slightly, feeling that it was inappropriate, but she didn't say anything to stop them. She believed that Ryder would agree for the sake of money and trying to stop it would be useless.
Tim and Harper had been holding a grudge and had nowhere to vent. Now that they saw Ryder in trouble, they both wanted to trample on him. "Strip! This pathetic freak is perfect for this!"
But at that moment, a waiter interrupted their cheers and said to Chris, "Sir, I apologize, but the Australian lobster from the highest-tier set has been reserved by another table and is no longer available. Would you like to choose something else?"
Chris, who was pretending, was immediately interrupted, and his face darkened. "Who dares to compete with us?"
Several male classmates also chimed in, "Exactly! Whoever dares to steal from Chris is asking for trouble!"
"I want to see which person in Houston is so brave!"
The waiter looked conflicted. "Sir, the customers who reserved the lobster table are not easy to deal with. Maybe you should..."
Chris slammed the table in anger, cutting her off. "Who has time for all that nonsense? Let me tell you this, today I'm putting it out there. We must be served the lobster. If they have a problem with that, they can come find me!"
After the waiter left, the topic shifted back to Ryder.
Everyone argued about wanting to see Ryder perform a striptease.
Lily couldn't sit still anymore. "Enough!"
She glared at everyone at the table, her eyes red, and said in a deep voice, "You all are powerful, you have money. But there's no need to humiliate someone like this!"
Chris spoke up, "Lily, I know you have a good relationship with Ryder, but do you know what he needs? Money! Do you have money?"
"Can you lend Ryder some money?"
Before Lily could speak, Harper interrupted directly, "Lily is just a yoga teacher, earning only a few thousand dollars a month. She doesn’t even have a penny!"
A jealous female classmate who has always envied Lily's appearance chimed in, "You never know, maybe she's dating a wealthy man and can earn hundreds of dollars in just one night!"
"You can tell she's secretly a seductive person. Why pretend to be a tough woman?"
"You keep saying that you're on Ryder's side. If you're capable, why don't you strip for Ryder? If you do, I'm willing to pay you a bit!"
Lily was so infuriated that tears streamed down her face. At that moment, Ryder stood up and handed her a tissue to wipe away her tears.
His black eyes scanned everyone in the room and coldly declared, "You can insult me, but making her cry doesn't make me happy!"
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
