Chapter 4

I heard the sirens approaching.

Jason was standing there like some hero, holding Chloe in his arms, accepting everyone’s praise.

Then a man stepped out of one of the police cars and, without missing a beat, punched Jason square in the face.

It was my brother—Ryan Mason.

“Jason, what the hell are you doing? Why are you holding your ex-girlfriend? Are you kidding me?”

“Where’s Claire? Don’t tell me you’ve spent all this time protecting your ex!”

The murmurs around us made Jason’s face turn ghostly white as if he’d only just remembered I existed.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Jason stammered. “I told her to wait—I was going to save her too!”

Just then, the little girl pointed at me and screamed, “That lady’s bleeding so much! So much blood!”

In that instant, Jason looked at me with disbelief and regret on his face.

I turned to Ryan, “Ryan… it hurts so much.”

“Ryan, please… help me!”

His eyes filled with tears, and the paramedics rushed forward, lifting me onto a stretcher. But the moment they moved me, I started bleeding even more.

Ryan clenched his fists and carefully lifted me himself onto the stretcher. As I cried, I whispered to him, “It hurts so bad…”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed as he turned and punched Jason in the gut.

Chloe timidly stepped forward to try to stop him, but Ryan slapped her across the face. “I don’t hit women, but I’ll make an exception for a homewrecker. What the hell were you taught at home, seducing someone else’s boyfriend?”

Jason clutched his stomach but still shielded Chloe.

“Ryan, don’t drag her into this.”

“Don’t call me Ryan! You brought your ex-girlfriend to meet up with my sister, got her caught in this attack, and now she’s bleeding all over the place? Where the hell is your conscience?”

Jason gasped, shaking his head.

“No, Claire’s my girlfriend! I’m a future cop—I have to protect the citizens first.”

“I did nothing wrong, Ryan. Isn’t it my duty to protect the citizens first?”

Ryan, about to jump into the ambulance, scoffed, “Citizens? There are plenty of people here. Why is your ex the only one you’re protecting? Your girlfriend’s the unluckiest person on earth.”

Around us, the injured and shocked onlookers started muttering, their eyes red, staring daggers at Jason.

“Trash!” someone yelled.

The only one capable of fighting off the attacker, and he only protected his ex. He didn’t even want to call the cops because he was worried Chloe might get hurt.

What a joke.