Chapter 4

My jacket was torn and messy.

Liam quickly took off his school jacket and draped it over me. He then dipped a tissue in water and carefully wiped the words off my clothes.

Only then did he look at Julian.

"Does that even need to be asked?"

"Can't you tell? I'm Aubrey's friend."

Julian secretly clenched his fist, his gaze fixed on Liam's arm protectively around me.

On his wrist was a bracelet similar to mine.

Two seconds later, he suddenly relaxed his tense muscles.

A look like he saw through everything crossed his face.

"Aubrey, you're pretty clever, aren't you? Finding someone to help you put on a show."

"Where'd you find this guy? He's quite the actor."

Noticing Julian's attention had shifted, Serena started whining and crying again:

"Aubrey, since you have other friends now, you should really let go of your feelings for Julian. Why make such a scene? Are you trying to play both guys?"

"Even if my performance is ruined today, do you still hope to get close to Julian again?"

Julian scoffed, "Delusional!"

My parents must have heard what happened and came over from the front row.

My parents, still confused about what was going on, only saw me being protected by Liam.

They exchanged a confused look, asking blankly:

"Liam… you and Aubrey…?"

As soon as they spoke,

Julian froze, his expression changing. He mumbled, "Liam… Liam…" He finally recognized Liam's powerful family background, and an unfamiliar unease came over him.

But he still kept a calm front, chin slightly raised.

He let out a faint scoff:

"I didn't realize Liam had so much free time."

"Shouldn't he be preparing for his own competitions instead of getting involved in this drama? Is he just playing some 'friend' game with her?"

Liam ignored him, politely answering my parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Miller, Aubrey and I are study partners. I'll explain more to you later."

"The priority right now is to sort this out."

At this point, my parents also noticed Serena hiding behind Julian, her eyes red and teary.

"Serena, why are you crying?"

"What happened? Did someone bully you?"

Serena choked back a sob, then gave me a fearful glance. "No, no one bullied me."

She was clearly trying to look like she was suffering in silence.

"Serena is too kind to upset your parents," Julian said, his voice deceptively casual. "I'll be direct. Out of jealousy, Aubrey ruined Serena's performance outfit and told her to die. Her intentions were really malicious."

"So I just taught her a small lesson."

Hearing him speak so confidently, my parents looked at me in disbelief.

"Is that true, Aubrey? Didn't you promise me you didn't like Julian anymore? Why would you do something like this?"

"Speak up, Aubrey! Don't run from this! If it was you, admit it. If not, explain yourself!"

My tears soaked Liam's shirt, and I felt his arm tighten around me.

Being misunderstood by Julian just made me angry and upset.

But if even my parents didn't trust me, I was truly heartbroken.

I lifted my face. When they saw the smudged marks on my clothes, they gasped.

"Dad, Mom, I didn't do it."

"They framed me. They didn't even give me a chance to explain."

My dad's angry gaze turned to Julian, his voice shaking with fury:

"So you just accused my daughter without any proof and then dared to treat her like that!"

"Is that what you call 'a small lesson'?!"

Julian met his gaze without backing down. "The security footage was deleted."

"Aubrey is the most likely suspect. There's no one else."

"Deleted footage?" Liam suddenly raised an eyebrow. "Funny, data recovery happens to be my specialty."

All the color drained from Serena's face.