Chapter 1

On a stormy day, I was stuck at school, waiting for Megan to pick me up.

Two hours later, she still hadn't arrived.

I couldn't wait any longer and walked out, only to overhear Megan on the phone around the corner:

"I know, I'll bring him back!"

"It's not like I asked his dad to save me back then. I don't owe him anything! Why should he emotionally blackmail me like this!"

My heart ached.

If I could choose, I'd rather my dad hadn't saved her that day. That way, I wouldn't have to live under someone else's roof.

That night, I submitted my application to teach in a remote district, determined to leave Megan behind for good.

An hour after I got back, Megan's car finally pulled into the driveway. She stormed upstairs, furious.

"Liam, why didn't you wait for me tonight!"

Megan's voice came from outside my door. I put away my dad's photo and replied flatly, "I waited two hours."

Megan stood in the doorway, a flash of impatience crossing her face. "The rain caused traffic. Couldn't you have waited a bit longer!"

"What's so great about that school anyway? Just come work at our family company!"

I didn't agree. "Got it." I wasn't ready to tell her about my plans to teach in the countryside yet.

"It's late. I'm going to bed. If there's nothing else, please go back to your room."

I got up and gently pushed her out. Megan's face darkened as she grabbed the doorframe. "Liam, there's a class reunion the day after tomorrow. Come with me!"

Thinking of that group of high school classmates made my stomach turn.

Before I could refuse, she'd already typed my name into her phone. "I signed you up."

"I'm not going." For the first time, I refused clearly, grabbing her phone and deleting my name. "Megan, I won't go. Those are your friends, your circle. They have nothing to do with me! My life doesn't need you to arrange it!"

Megan froze, then laughed coldly. "Fine! I shouldn't have bothered!"

"You don't need to!" I took a deep breath. "And you don't need to worry about me anymore. I'm not your burden or your responsibility!"

She responded by slamming the door.

Looking at my dad's photo on the desk, complex emotions welled up inside me.

When I was six, Megan fell into the water. A flash flood had erupted while her family was camping by the river, and they couldn't escape in time. Megan was swept into the current. My dad happened to pass by and jumped in without hesitation to save her, but he was pulled under by the rushing water from exhaustion. When they found him, his body was swollen beyond recognition from being submerged for so long.

That's how I lost my father. When the Langley family learned I'd become an orphan, they took me in. Megan took care of me constantly. We grew up together, inseparable. Even her friends joked that I was her shadow.

Now she was saying I was emotionally blackmailing her. If I could choose, I'd rather it had been someone else who died in that flood instead of my dad.

That way, I wouldn't have to fall asleep every night looking at his photo.

As for the class reunion she mentioned, I'd already seen it in the group chat. Those people had spread rumors in school, saying my dad knew his family was poor and used his sacrifice to give me a chance to latch onto the Langleys. I'd fought one of them over it, and we both got hurt. I was so upset that I refused to apologize even when facing suspension.

Megan got the security footage to prove what really happened, and the person who spread the rumors was forced to apologize. But I never forgave them. Because that person was Megan's good friend, and when they said those things, Megan probably agreed deep down.

I left the group chat and looked over my teaching application materials again and again before hitting send.

My mentor called right away. "Liam, you've decided? Does Megan know?"

My mentor had met Megan before. I smiled. "She's not the one who decides my life. I can make my own choices. It's fine."

A soft sigh came through the phone. "Alright. Good luck with everything. See you the day after tomorrow."

"Yeah, thanks."

After hanging up, I surveyed my room and started packing. Since I'd decided to leave, I had no intention of coming back. Some things I couldn't take with me, I'd just throw away.

That night I slept restlessly, my dreams chaotic. When I woke, dawn was breaking. Unable to fall back asleep, I got up and went downstairs. Helen Langley was already in the kitchen.