Richie had once been one of Zac’s closest friends. At South High, aside from Xavier, no one had been closer to Zac than Richie. Finally, after searching the crowd, Zac spotted him—hiding in the corner, watching the chaos unfold. Without hesitation, Zac shouted his name. "Richie! What are you doing hiding over there? Get over here now!" Right now, everyone’s disgusted stares bore down on him, heavy and unrelenting. Standing alone, drowning under the weight of their hatred, Zac felt like he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t take it—the rejection, the humiliation, the overwhelming silence. He was desperate. Desperate for someone—anyone—to come stand by him. Richie flinched. Damn it! I was hiding so well! How did he find me? In an instant, the crowd's attention shifted to Richie. And just like Xavier, he instantly became the new target. The students around him instantly took a step back, putting as much distance between themselves and Richie as possible. No one wanted to be anywhere near him. Xavier, now free from the suffocating pressure of the crowd’s stares, exhaled deeply. He was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the field, but at least now, the attention had shifted. At least the crowd wasn’t fixated on him anymore. But Richie had nowhere to run. Ever since Arthur had beaten Richie up, things had gone downhill fast. After Arthur beat Richie up, his father, David, had marched over to demand justice. But when he came back, Richie took the full brunt of his rage. The moment they got home, David snapped. He beat Richie without hesitation, making it painfully clear that this time, he wouldn’t get away with his mistakes. And that was just the beginning. "If you keep acting like a spoiled brat, don't expect to get a single cent from the family!" David warned.But the real punishment came after the beating. Ignoring the fact that Richie was still injured, David locked him in his room. For three days. Three days without food. Three days without water. Three days without a phone, a TV, or any way to communicate with the outside world. Three days. God knows how I even survived those three days! David personally installed a lock on the door and locked it from the outside. No matter how much others pleaded or how desperately Richie cried, screamed, or begged, David never unlocked the door. "If I don’t teach you a lesson now, who knows what kind of trouble you’ll cause when you’re older?" David said coldly. Everything in his room—snacks, entertainment, even his phone—was taken away. For three days, he had no food, no water, no phone, and no way to contact anyone. He had never known hunger like this before, never imagined what it felt like to be so desperate for just a bite of food. David had been strict, but he always had the best intentions at heart. His discipline was designed to guide his children toward making responsible choices and understanding the consequences of their actions. Growing up, Richie had never known real hardship. He had been pampered, living in comfort his entire life. But now, locked away, left with nothing, he experienced true hunger for the first time. By the third day, Richie was weak and delirious, barely conscious. Any trace of defiance or arrogance had long been crushed. His lips were dry and cracked, his skin pale. When he finally saw the door open and David standing there, he tried to crawl forward—to reach for water, for food—but his body wouldn’t move. He was too weak. His grandmother, crying and panicked, rushed over and pinched him, barely managing to wake him up. That day, he devoured an entire pot of porridge. It was the most he had ever eaten in his life.After that experience, Richie cut ties with Zac, avoided Arthur, and focused on his studies. Over the past two years, his grades had improved significantly. Now that Zac couldn’t find a familiar face, he pulled Richie into the mess instead, throwing him under the spotlight. Richie felt like he was on the verge of tears. Seeing that Zac was still calling his name, Richie couldn’t hold back anymore. He quickly interrupted. “Zac! I haven’t spoken to you in years! Don’t even think about dragging me down with you!” Hearing this, several classmates who knew Richie immediately stepped in. “Yeah, I’m in Richie’s class. He stopped talking to Zac two years ago and even improved his grades a lot.” “That’s true. Back then, Zac still tried to reach out to him, but Richie ignored him every time. Eventually, Zac gave up.” “Richie even started helping others in the past two years.” “Yeah, he’s changed a lot. Not sure what happened back then, but it really made a difference.” Someone scoffed. “Meanwhile, Zac hasn’t changed at all. Still causing trouble every chance he gets.” “Exactly! Ever since Arthur started fighting back, Zac stopped picking on him and turned to bullying the rest of us instead!” “I was in Zac’s class. He used to make me run errands for him like a servant!” “He even got people to beat me up!” "Xavier was his sidekick! He followed him around everywhere, doing whatever he said!" “The ones we should be going after are Zac and Xavier!” “That’s right!” Just like that, the anger in the crowd shifted back to Xavier. No one knew who threw the first punch, but once it landed, everything spiraled out of control. In an instant, the crowd rushed at Xavier, hitting him from all sides. Dozens of fists came crashing down on him, hitting him over and over without mercy. If it had been just one or two people, no one would have dared to start a fight. But in a crowd this big, it was impossible to tell who started it, so no one held back. The scene turned into complete chaos. Amid the frenzy, someone suddenly grabbed Zac and dragged him over to Xavier. His barely healed limbs had just started to recover—within seconds, they were broken all over again.