My boyfriend and his childhood friend were both competing in the same dance competition. To ensure she won the championship, he actually hid razor blades in my dance shoes. My feet were a bloody mess, and I couldn’t go on stage. Afterward, he offered a fake apology. “Mia, your grades are excellent. Even if you don’t dance, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to succeed.” “But Chloe is different. She has to get first place to get into the city dance troupe.” The school administration was going to call the police, but because I loved him, I chose to give him another chance. I never imagined he would escalate. To completely eliminate any competition for his precious childhood friend, he locked me in an empty dance studio and smashed my feet with a hammer. 1 The moment the dance studio door locked, I stared at Liam Vance in absolute terror. “Dancing is my dream too, Liam. Please, don’t do this.” I begged him desperately, but Liam acted as if he couldn’t hear a word. He ordered his childhood friend to hold me down while he raised a large sledgehammer and approached me. “You’re so talented, you can have any dream you want. Why does it have to be dancing?” “Mia, don’t blame me. Blame the dance troupe for only having one opening.” I was the best dancer in the school. As long as I was competing, Chloe Sinclair had absolutely zero chance of winning. I came from a poor family. My parents died in a car crash when I was young, and my grandmother raised me. I had loved dancing since I was a child. When I found out that getting into the city dance troupe meant free tuition plus a monthly stipend, I started practicing like my life depended on it. My grandmother was getting older and could no longer support us. Since my freshman year of high school, I spent every spare moment dancing. For two whole years, all my effort was dedicated to this one audition. The first prize in the previous competition came with a ten-thousand-dollar cash reward. I had planned to use that money to buy medicine for my grandmother. The rest would have paid for my senior year tuition. But all my beautiful plans were destroyed by Liam’s selfishness. I had already lost one opportunity. If I failed this audition, I would have to drop out of school. But none of that mattered compared to my physical safety. I couldn’t become a cripple. I couldn’t become a burden to my grandmother. Before Liam could swing the hammer, I screamed. “Liam! I won’t go to the audition tomorrow! I forfeit!” Seeing the hesitation in his eyes, I pleaded earnestly. “I promise, I’ll accept your financial help. I won’t compete with Chloe anymore. Just please don’t hurt me!” Liam finally wavered. He threw the hammer aside and lunged forward, hugging me tightly. “Why didn’t you just agree earlier?” “Mia, I didn’t want to hurt you, but Chloe has sacrificed so much for me. I’ve already failed her once. Helping her achieve her dream is the only way I can repay her.” Just as I thought I had convinced Liam to let me go, his phone rang. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the name “Chloe Angel” flashing on the screen. My heart sank. While he answered the phone, I broke free from his friend’s grip and sprinted toward the door. “Help!” “Is anyone there?! Please help me!” My hand had barely touched the doorknob when I was grabbed from behind, a hand clamped over my mouth, and dragged back. Liam was still on the phone. Chloe’s voice echoed through the silent night, crystal clear. “Liam, I just found out. The dance troupe has already decided to select Mia. Her audition tomorrow is just a formality.” 2 Chloe started crying as she spoke. “Why am I working so hard if I can never achieve my dream? What am I doing wrong? Liam, tell me, am I just destined to be a loser as long as Mia is around?” “Why does everyone choose her and not me?!” Listening to Chloe’s broken sobs, Liam’s gaze toward me turned dark and ruthless. He lowered his voice and said, “Chloe, I promise you, Mia will never have the chance to dance again.” “You’re going to nail that audition tomorrow.” He hung up, picked up the discarded sledgehammer, and walked toward me again. “I’m sorry, Mia. Chloe lost her innocence trying to save me. I should have stayed with her and protected her for the rest of her life, but I rejected her for you.” “We both owe her. After this, we’ll be even.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I never knew Liam and Chloe had that kind of history. I shook my head frantically, trying to stop his insane actions. But he was completely out of his mind. When the excruciating, bone-shattering pain exploded from my ankle, my entire body convulsed into a tight ball. I opened my mouth wide but couldn’t scream. I even forgot how to breathe, how to let my heart beat. The world seemed to plunge into a dead, silent darkness. All I could see was an endless sea of blood red. When I regained consciousness, I heard Liam’s hoarse, heartbroken sobbing. He was holding me, his entire body trembling violently. “Mia, forgive me just this once. I promise I will love you and take care of you for the rest of my life.” “I’ll spend my entire life making this up to you.” I opened my eyes and looked at my twisted, shattered ankle. The crimson blood almost completely engulfed me. The pain radiated through my entire body, draining all my strength, leaving me paralyzed in Liam’s arms. My dream, my life, completely destroyed by him. What was the point of him taking care of me for the rest of my life? “Mia, if you want to cry, just cry. If you want to curse me, curse me.” “I know I wronged you, but I had no other choice. This was the only way I could repay Chloe. Only then could we be together with a clear conscience.” “A clear conscience?” I repeated those words, slowly lifting my eyes to look at Liam’s tear-stained face. “You smashed my ankle. I might never be able to walk normally again, and you’re telling me about a clear conscience?” “You pursued me. You wanted to be with me. I never asked you to give up Chloe for me. Why should I have to suffer the consequences of your guilt toward her?!” “If I had known this was the price of being with you, I would have rather never met you.” Using every ounce of strength I had, I shoved him away and began to slowly, agonizingly drag myself toward the door. Every inch I crawled tore at my soul with excruciating pain. A long, gruesome trail of blood trailed behind me. My words infuriated Liam. He yelled defensively, “Is it a crime that I love you?!” “If I didn’t love you, why would I have rejected Chloe? I already promised to take care of you forever! What more do you want?!” “You only lost your chance to dance! Chloe lost her entire future with the man she loves! You have me, isn’t that enough?! Why do you have to steal her future too?!” He was the one who committed the atrocity, yet he was having a hysterical breakdown, blaming me. Blaming me for being greedy, for being ungrateful. Right before I lost consciousness, I looked at him with profound disappointment. “Liam Vance, we are done.” “I will never, ever love you again.” 3 The way Liam and I met was incredibly cliché. During my freshman year, I was cornered and harassed by some local thugs in an alley. He swooped in like a hero, fighting them off. He took a knife wound for it—a deep gash on his arm. I was incredibly grateful and deeply admired his heroism. After that, he pursued me relentlessly. I slowly fell for him, falling deeply in love. It was only after we got together that I learned about his childhood best friend, Chloe Sinclair. Liam always maintained a clear boundary with Chloe. I thought he was just being considerate of my feelings. I never imagined they shared such a dark secret. In his own words: he couldn’t give Chloe his love, but he would give her anything else she wanted. Just because Chloe said she couldn’t win first place with me around, Liam hid razor blades in my dance shoes the day before the competition. Afterward, he carried me frantically to the hospital, begging the doctors to make sure my feet wouldn’t scar. I received over thirty stitches that night. Terrified that anesthesia would affect my future dancing, I gritted my teeth and endured it without painkillers. I passed out from the pain several times, only to be jolted awake by more agony. Meanwhile, Chloe took her friends out partying until dawn to celebrate her first-place win. She even brought the ten-thousand-dollar prize money in an envelope when she came to visit me in the hospital. While Liam was out buying food, Chloe gloated, “So what if you’re his girlfriend? I will always be the most important person in his heart.” “Believe it or not, with one word from me, he could make sure you never dance again.” I recorded her saying that and played it for Liam, demanding to know what their relationship really was. Liam angrily smashed my phone and told me to trust him. “No matter what happens, I love you.” “I only owe Chloe a debt of gratitude, nothing more. Mia, I will give you all my love.” It turned out that Chloe had confessed her feelings for Liam long before high school. But Liam only saw her as a friend and never thought of her romantically. Chloe refused to give up and followed him everywhere. To the bar, to play basketball, to illegal street races—she was always there. Once, Liam was targeted by some thugs seeking revenge. To help him escape, Chloe was sexually assaulted by them. Afterward, Chloe begged him not to go to the police. She didn’t want the stigma. Liam was consumed by guilt, but he still didn’t want to date her out of obligation. Since then, he granted her every wish, even destroying my dance career for her. It was the third day when I finally woke up in the hospital. I tentatively tried to move my foot, and agonizing pain instantly shot up my leg. I couldn’t help but groan, alerting the caretaker beside me. “You’re awake! How are you feeling?” I looked at her blankly. Just as I was about to ask what happened, I saw the TV on the wall. It was broadcasting a replay of the city dance troupe selecting dancers from a local high school. On screen, Chloe, wearing a leotard, looked graceful and slender. She smiled radiantly, her movements elegant, quickly earning applause from the crowd. To my surprise, the dance troupe had expanded their recruitment this year, accepting three students from our school. “Those girls are so lucky. I hear once you get into the city troupe, room and board are completely free.” “If they get into a good university, the troupe even pays their tuition. As long as they keep performing, they’re set for life.” The caretaker sighed sympathetically as she looked at me. “But don’t lose hope, dear. Your boyfriend said you have excellent grades. You can do scientific research or something. You won’t necessarily need to walk around a lot.” 4 “I don’t have a boyfriend.” I cut her off coldly and asked her to get the doctor. I asked the doctor about my condition. When I learned I would never walk normally again, a suffocating despair washed over me. “Doctor, I used to be a dancer. Getting into the city troupe was my dream. What about my future…” “Sigh.” The doctor sighed softly, advising me to stay positive. “You’re still young. There are many paths you can take. Don’t give up.” After the doctor left, Liam arrived. And Chloe was with him. She actually pushed a wheelchair into the room. The moment she saw me, she rushed over with fake concern. “Mia, you’re finally awake.” “You have no idea how worried Liam and I have been these past two days.” She looked deeply concerned, while Liam stood nearby, looking pleased. “Mia, Chloe knew you hadn’t been eating or sleeping well. She really cares about you.” Liam even added that Chloe had bought the wheelchair with her own saved-up allowance. “You refused the money Chloe offered you last time. You can’t refuse her gift this time.” “Yes, Mia. It breaks my heart to see your feet like this. You’ll have a lot of trouble getting around after you’re discharged, so please accept my gift.” I glared at them with pure hatred. “Since when does an abuser giving a gift to their victim mean anything good?” “Are you two trying to put on a show of eternal friendship or some tragic romance? I’m not in the mood for a performance. Get out!” My ruthless sarcasm instantly angered Liam. It also made Chloe’s eyes well up with tears. She looked at Liam, looking wronged and humiliated. “Liam, I know Mia hates me. I’ll leave.” Instead of leaving, she threw herself into Liam’s arms and started crying. “Liam, what can I do to make Mia less angry? If I could, I’d give her my spot in the dance troupe.” A flicker of heartache crossed Liam’s eyes. He pulled Chloe behind him and glared at me. “Mia, why are you taking your anger out on Chloe? I did all of this. If you want to hate someone, hate me. What’s the point of these passive-aggressive attacks?” “Chloe doesn’t know anything. She came here out of the goodness of her heart.” I was so angry I almost laughed at their sheer audacity. “If she didn’t know anything, why did she bring a wheelchair?” I pointed at Chloe. “I’m a cripple now. I can never dance again. And she says she wants to give me her spot in the troupe? Don’t you see how incredibly insulting that is?” I didn’t want to waste another breath arguing with them. I turned my head toward the window and issued an ultimatum. “Liam Vance, we are broken up. Stop acting like you care.” “And the fact that you intentionally assaulted me? I’ve already called the police. I will seek justice through the law.” Liam stared at me in disbelief. “Break up? I don’t agree to that.” “And I already told you I’d compensate you. You actually want to call the police and have me arrested? You are so heartless. I really misjudged you.” Just as he finished speaking, Chloe suddenly swayed and collapsed against him. “Liam, my heart is racing.” “I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t eaten in two days and my blood sugar is low, but I feel so dizzy!” She closed her eyes and went limp in Liam’s arms. Liam quickly picked her up and rushed to find a doctor. Before he left, he threw one last threat over his shoulder. “Mia, I’m letting this go because I know you’re upset. But don’t forget, I’m paying for all your medical bills right now.” “If you break up with me, you’ll be kicked out of this hospital immediately. You won’t even have a place to sleep.” 5 My chest tightened, and a wave of indescribable bitterness washed over me. My grandmother’s health was too frail to care for me in this state, and it was true—I didn’t have the money to pay my medical bills. But that didn’t mean I was going to let him control me. After Liam left, I found an excuse to send the caretaker away. I pulled my phone from under my pillow and dialed a number. “Principal Huang, I am willing to accept your sponsorship. Can you accept a cripple as your future employee?” “Okay. My current address is… I will see you in three days.” Liam thought I was just trying to scare him, that I wouldn’t actually press charges. When the police arrived to investigate, he was still lying, claiming he didn’t mean to smash my ankle. “It was an accident. I didn’t do it on purpose.” “She’s my girlfriend, and I’ve already compensated her. I paid for her surgery.” “My friends can testify for me. We were arguing, we were both angry, and I accidentally hurt her. It wasn’t intentional.” Infuriatingly, he had destroyed the security cameras in the dance studio beforehand, and his two friends backed up his story. There wasn’t enough evidence to charge him with intentional assault. Ultimately, under police mediation, the Vance family agreed to pay me one million dollars for post-operative care. “It’s 20,087,650 dollars.” I handed the itemized bill, calculated by my lawyer, to the Vance family. “If you refuse to pay this in full immediately, we’ll see you in court.” Liam’s parents, eager to sweep this under the rug, quickly signed the settlement agreement. Liam, however, acted as if he had suffered a massive humiliation. “Mia, you’re threatening to sue me over two million dollars?” “You know I’m going to inherit the family business. I can’t have a criminal record. And you’re still trying to sue me?” I expressionlessly accepted the money from the Vance family and left the police station with my lawyer. Liam resentfully chased after me and blocked my path. “Don’t you understand? If you just stayed with me, I could give you so much more.” “But spending two million to see your true colors is worth it. Mia, I am so disappointed in you.” His tone was icy, his eyes full of mockery. “You better not regret this later. I would never accept a cripple as my girlfriend anyway.” My foot was still healing, and I was confined to a wheelchair. But right then, I grabbed the armrests and painfully forced myself to stand. With every ounce of strength I had, I slapped Liam across the face. “Don’t you forget, you’re the one who made me a cripple. What right do you have to mock me?” Smack. Liam’s head jerked to the side. Half of his face turned bright red, with five clear finger marks stinging his skin. Hearing the commotion, his family rushed out and threatened to sue me for assault. “You have the audacity to act like this right outside a police station?! Liam must have been blind to ever fall in love with a girl like you.” “Look at you, acting like a common street thug. You don’t even have a fraction of Chloe’s grace. Even if your foot wasn’t crippled, you’d never win first place.” As they were pointing fingers and yelling at me, Liam suddenly roared. “Enough!” He gave me one last resentful, humiliated look, then dragged his family away. Everyone thought I would transfer schools, or maybe even leave the city entirely. But I didn’t. I used the settlement money to move my grandmother into a top-tier nursing home. Then, I met with Principal Huang, who had come to discuss the sponsorship. When he saw me, he was confused. “You have money now. You don’t need our sponsorship at all. Why do you still…” I smiled bitterly. “That money cost me my future and my dreams. I’d rather not have it.” 6 Principal Huang was the principal of a middle school in a neighboring county. For years, he had been sponsoring outstanding students from impoverished families to attend university. But his sponsorship came with conditions. Any student who got into a top university had to return and teach at his middle school for five years after graduation. He had approached me before my junior year of high school, but at the time, I was determined to join the dance troupe, so I politely declined. Now that my dream was shattered, I couldn’t think of any other company that would hire a cripple after I graduated from college. Principal Huang was deeply sympathetic to my situation and quickly finalized the sponsorship agreement. To ensure I could focus entirely on preparing for the college entrance exams, he rented an apartment for me off-campus. “Don’t feel burdened by this. All these expenses will be deducted from your future salary.” While I was trying to find a new path for my future, someone secretly photographed me with Principal Huang and posted it online. They claimed I was a sugar baby for an older man. “Didn’t expect a cripple to be in such high demand these days.” “So what? Her foot is ruined, not her face. As long as she’s pretty and willing to put out, why not?” “Maybe cripples are better in bed.” Everywhere I went, I heard these disgusting rumors. Some people even had the audacity to ask me my nightly rate to my face. “Hey, I’m younger and stronger than that old man. Serving me is way better than serving him. What do you say? Want to try it tonight?” I didn’t want to engage with these pathetic losers, but walking with crutches made me vulnerable. While trying to dodge them, someone tripped me, and I fell hard onto the ground. Just as the guy reached out, pretending to help me up while trying to cop a feel, a cold, hard voice rang out. “Let her go.” It was Liam. Without a word, he grabbed the guy by the collar, pinned him to the ground, and started beating him mercilessly, until the guy’s mouth was bleeding and he was begging for mercy. “Liam, stop! You’re going to kill him!” Chloe was crying, trying to pull Liam away, but he was like a madman, throwing punch after punch. I watched this unfold with complete apathy. Then, I picked up my crutches and struggled to my feet, limping away step by step. Chloe rushed over to grab me. “Can’t you see Liam is defending you?! How can you just walk away without saying a word?!” I shook her off, a cold smile forming on my lips. “If someone stabs you, and then calls an ambulance right as you’re bleeding to death, are you supposed to thank them?” Liam froze. Even from a distance, I could see the heartbreak in his eyes. Hilarious. I was the one being questioned, the one being attacked. What was he so heartbroken about? I walked past Chloe and kept going. Even when I was far away, I could still hear her screaming. “Liam, please stop hitting him! Didn’t you hear what Mia said?! She hates you! No matter what you do for her, she will never forgive you!” Later that evening, police sirens echoed across the campus. Students returning from outside looked at me strangely. “Her ex-boyfriend got arrested for defending her, and she’s just sitting there calmly taking notes.” “Liam is such an idiot. They’re broken up, and he’s still fighting her battles. A heartless bitch like her deserves to be crippled.” “You guys probably don’t know this, but I heard she extorted the Vance family for over two million dollars when they broke up!” “She’s so quiet, but she’s actually ruthless.” Just another version of the rumors. I didn’t even have to guess who was so obsessively tracking my life. 7 The college entrance exams were looming, and time was tight. I didn’t have a single second to waste on these rumors. I definitely wasn’t going to argue with ignorant people. In a month, we’d all go our separate ways, and my future would never cross paths with theirs again. But no matter how aloof I acted, trouble still found me. The next day, Chloe cornered me in the restroom. Her eyes were swollen, and she glared at me with pure venom. “Mia, Liam got arrested because of you! Are you happy now?” “He lost his temper and hit that guy because of you, and you just walked away without a word.” “You have to come to the police station with me right now and testify that he was acting in self-defense.” Under Chloe’s relentless badgering, I went with her. At the police station, I was perfectly calm during the questioning. “The student who was beaten didn’t touch me inappropriately. I didn’t feel any malicious intent from him.” “Liam assaulting him has absolutely nothing to do with me. I have nothing else to say.” “Of course, I take full responsibility for my statement.” Because of my testimony, Liam’s self-defense claim was thrown out. He was charged with intentional assault. Unfortunately for him, the boy he blinded in one eye came from a prominent family, not someone who could be bought off with loose change. The Vance family spent a fortune trying to keep Liam out of jail. I heard they spent over twenty million in bribes alone. Ultimately, the Vance family decided to send Liam abroad. Chloe threw multiple tantrums in front of me, calling me a curse. She blamed me for destroying Liam’s future. “Liam promised we would go to A University together. After graduation, he would take over his family’s company, and I would be his assistant. Now, because of you, everything is ruined!” I sneered and looked at Chloe. “Are you saying that if Liam goes abroad and comes back, his family won’t let him inherit the company anymore?” “Or is it that the Vance family is only paying for Liam to go abroad, and he can’t take you with him this time? Are you afraid he’ll find someone new over the next few years and forget all about you, his ‘old love’?” Chloe’s face flushed with anger. “What are you talking about?! What new love, what old love?! Liam and I have the purest friendship!” Just as she was about to attack me, Liam appeared. He ordered Chloe away and cornered me in the study hall. “Mia, I came to say goodbye.” He said he didn’t blame me for what I said at the police station. “You were angry. You wanted revenge. I accept that.” “Mia, I’m just worried that after I leave, no one will protect you. What will you do if you run into trouble again?” I self-deprecatingly held up my crutch. “Before, I fought thugs bare-handed. Now, thanks to you, I at least have a weapon.” “Mr. Vance, if you truly want what’s best for me, why don’t you take Chloe with you? That way, she won’t be constantly harassing me and interfering with my studies.” Liam looked at me with complex emotions. After a long pause, he nodded. “Okay. I promise you.” A week later, both Liam and Chloe completed their paperwork and left the country. Without those two plagues, high school felt significantly brighter. On the eve of the college entrance exams, Principal Huang was invited as a special guest speaker to give a motivational speech to the students. 8 He specifically mentioned my name on the podium. “Mia Harrison is not the first student from your school to sign a sponsorship agreement with us, but she is the most unique.” “After suffering a malicious physical attack, she didn’t give up or fall into despair. She remained resilient and continued fighting for her future.” “Students, we should all learn from Mia. No matter when or where, never easily give up. As long as you keep moving forward, you are making progress!” Thunderous applause erupted from the audience. The malicious rumors surrounding me vanished with it. After the exams, everyone exchanged contact information and formed group chats. I received many private messages apologizing to me, as well as many words of encouragement. To my surprise, there was also an email from across the ocean. Liam only wrote one sentence in the email. “Mia, if you don’t meet anyone who captures your heart during your four years of college, will you look back at me?” I deleted and blocked the email address, tossing it into the trash along with my past with him. College life was fulfilling and intense. Besides attending classes and participating in clubs, I also went to the hospital for regular physical therapy. Medical technology in our country was rapidly advancing. In my senior year, I underwent a cutting-edge bone graft procedure. It was incredibly expensive, but the results were miraculous. At the graduation ceremony, after four years, I stepped onto the stage once again. I flawlessly performed the dance I never got to finish four years ago. I became famous overnight. The video was shared across all major platforms, amassing over a hundred million views. Someone recognized me and left a comment. “I went to high school with her. If someone hadn’t broken her ankle in her senior year, she definitely would have been recruited by the city dance troupe.” “I also know her family was really poor. Just her grandmother taking care of her. She was planning to use the competition prize money to buy medicine for her grandmother, but someone hid razor blades in her shoes on the day of the competition.” The official account of the city dance troupe actually sent me an invitation. They asked if I was still willing to join them. Looking at the invitation, four years late, my eyes filled with tears. “If you want to go, go. Achieving your dream is the most important thing.” Principal Huang, whom I had invited along with my grandmother to attend my graduation, had told me from the start that he wouldn’t force me to work for him after graduation. But I couldn’t break my promise. “You were the guiding light when I was lost. Since I chose this path, I can’t go back on my word.” “Whether in life or work, you must be a person of your word. My grandmother taught me that.” I politely declined the dance troupe’s offer to be their lead dancer and resolutely followed Principal Huang back to the county to become an ordinary teacher. Every day, facing the innocent, eager faces of my teenage students, I felt the weight of responsibility on my shoulders. Occasionally, I encountered students in early romances, and I used examples to guide them in the right direction.
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