The courtyard was completely silent.
Ethan walked toward Ryan.
His throwball uniform was soaked with sweat. His breathing was heavy, and anger burned in his exhausted eyes.
He stopped in front of Ryan.
Ethan: "Give me the diary."
Ryan slowly handed it over.
Ethan opened it.
He read the pages.
Serina stood frozen.
Serina: "Ethan…"
He looked up.
Their eyes met.
For one brief second, Serina hoped he might smile.
Maybe laugh.
Maybe say something gentle.
Instead, Ethan's expression hardened.
Ethan: "You actually wrote all this?"
Serina's eyes lowered.
Serina: "I…"
Ethan laughed bitterly.
Ethan: "You really like me?"
She nodded faintly.
Ethan stared at her.
Then came the words that would destroy everything.
Ethan: "Do you know how disgusting this feels?"
Serina's face went pale.
Ethan: "I feel so disgusting knowing that you like me."
He stepped closer.
Ethan: "All those times you were looking at me…"
His voice became colder.
Ethan: "I thought you were just being shy."
He looked at the diary.
Ethan: "But you were actually following me around with these ridiculous feelings?"
Serina's eyes filled with tears.
Ethan: "Don't mistake my kindness for something special."
A tear finally escaped.
Ethan: "I was nice to you because that's what I do."
He closed the diary.
Ethan: "It doesn't mean I could ever like someone like you."
The courtyard went completely still.
Ryan's face changed.
Ryan: "Ethan… enough."
But Ethan was already lost in his anger.
Ethan looked directly into Serina's eyes.
Ethan: "Honestly, I wish you had never liked me."
That sentence shattered whatever was left.
Serina stood silently for several seconds.
Then she wiped her tear.
Her voice was barely audible.
Serina: "At least you could have rejected me nicely."
She turned.
And ran.
Ryan watched her disappear.
Ryan: "You have no idea what you just did."
Ethan said nothing.
He looked down at the diary.
For the first time, his anger began to fade.
But the damage was already done.
From that day onward, Serina treated Ethan as though he didn't exist.
She wouldn't sit beside him.
Wouldn't walk near him.
Wouldn't look at him.
If Ethan entered a room, Serina left.
If he stood in one hallway, she chose another.
She didn't want to breathe the same air he breathed.
The girl who once secretly smiled whenever she saw Ethan Carter now couldn't stand the sight of him.
To everyone at Westbridge, they became sworn enemies.
But Ethan didn't know the truth.
The girl he had humiliated that day would eventually become the woman fate would place beside him.
And years later…
Those exact words would become the memories he would desperately wish he could take back.
To be continued..