Stronger Every Time I Die
Today, Arthur might not be in the mood after being beaten up. If his parents found a better time to reason with Arthur, he wouldn't go against them. Many years of bullying of Arthur by Zac was casually swept under the rug as though it never happened. Zac didn't even need to show up or do anything with John and Raelynn resolving all his problems for him. At the police station, John and Raelynn were reprimanded and told to discipline Zac strictly, but ultimately, they left unscathed. The other bullies who were under sixteen were reprimanded similarly and taken home by their parents. Although Arthur had been bullied for eight years, the evidence they had was only the latest surveillance footage. Other older surveillance footage had been lost due to the passage of time. Ashley had only witnessed two instances of the bullying, and she intervened both times. Thanks to her, Arthur hadn't suffered severe injuries. Due to insufficient evidence, Xavier and the other overage bullies couldn't be charged with assault and were only detained for fifteen days for verbal harassment and public nuisance. However, they had to walk away with a criminal record! After leaving the police station, John and Raelynn headed straight to Arthur's school. They absolutely couldn't let him file a lawsuit against Zac. It was embarrassing enough to have the bullying catch the police's attention. If it went to court, they'd be ridiculed to death. Along the way, they finally remembered that today was also Arthur's birthday. They couldn't even recall how many years it had been since they last celebrated Arthur's birthday. It was probably since they adopted Zac. Raelynn remembered that during the first year after adopting Zac, she happily bought a cake for Arthur's birthday. Zac had said sadly that he had never had cake in the orphanage, yet the day before Arthur's birthday, Arthur had told him not to eat his cake. When she asked Arthur, he denied ever saying that. Sighing, Raelynn shook her head. If Arthur were half as sensible as Zac, they wouldn't have had to neglect him so much. After all, due to Zac's health condition, Arthur's antics often sent him to the hospital. The couple talked for a while before finally deciding to get a gift for Arthur. They chose an expensive set of clothes, thinking it was time for Arthur to update his wardrobe. After shopping for the clothes, they headed straight to the school. By now, he should be eating his cake. Before reaching the school entrance, they bumped into Arthur. To their surprise, Arthur was sitting alone on the steps by the nearby bridge, holding a large bun and eating it! Beside him was a bottle of mineral water. Wasn't today his birthday? Hadn't he gone the whole day without eating? Why was he eating this? Just as they were about to get out of the car to ask him, a petite figure emerged from around the corner. It was the girl from the police station earlier that day! Ashley was holding a cake that she handed over to Arthur. She awkwardly said, "Happy birthday, Arthur." Arthur looked at Ashley in surprise. "Is this… for me?" Wasn't Ashley supposed to be hot-tempered? Why didn't she seem like that to Arthur at all?
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