Chapter 5
Everyone whipped around in shock, staring at the thin kid who'd just walked in.
Surprised myself, I turned and saw Max coming straight toward me. He reached into his pocket, pulled out 150 bucks, and handed it over.
He said, "Blake gave me this earlier. He said his dad got called back to work, so, by your agreement, he is supposed to return it to you."
My eyes darted as I reached out and accepted the money.
Max then turned to Andrew and Sophia, standing next to me. He said, "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Shaw. I'm Max. Emma and I grew up together at the orphanage."
Andrew and Sophia were wondering what was going on. After Max introduced himself, they still looked confused.
Sophia asked, "Why did you say Emma isn't dating Blake?"
Max could feel everyone's eyes on him.
He took a deep breath and rolled up his sleeves.
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
Max's arms, covered with cigarette burns and jagged scars, were like a slap in the face for everyone watching.
Andrew and Sophia's eyes grew moist with emotion.
"What happened here?" Sophia asked, her voice shaking.
Max stayed calm as he answered, "These? Bullies at school did this to me. And it's not just my arms—I've got scars all over."
Even though what happened to Max was horrible, he talked about it so calmly, like he was telling someone else's story. His tone didn't change at all.
He continued, "Ever since elementary school, for a full eight years, I've been bullied over and over. I thought that was just how my life would go. Until one day, Emma appeared."
His gaze settled on me.
He said, "She said she could help me out. Every couple of weeks, she'd drop off books. She told me my life could actually be something more—full of possibilities."
Max looked right at Andrew and Sophia and said, "Emma's not with Blake. She went to him so he'd look out for me and I wouldn't get bullied anymore."
When the truth was out, Andrew and Sophia just looked at me, their eyes full of pain and sympathy.
"Emma, why didn't you ever tell us any of this?" Sophia said, her voice shaky.
I lowered my gaze.
"I just thought I could handle it myself. I didn't want to bother you," I murmured.
Andrew suddenly came to a realization, his eyes wide. He said, "Hang on—so the classmate whose dad you wanted me to help out with that security job, that's Blake?"
I nodded and said, "Dad, Blake might not care much about school, but he's honestly a good guy. I checked into it—his dad only lost his last job because he was too straight-laced, and the boss's relative edged him out.
"He is really not a bad person at all."
I didn't need to say anything—Andrew had already picked up on Blake's character from the way he kept his promise and returned the cash.
Andrew reached out and gently patted my head. He said, "Don't worry, I won't fire Blake's dad."
With the truth finally out, everything was clear.
With everything settled, Andrew, Sophia, and Max walked out.
As for Emily, she'd already made herself scarce ages ago—no one even noticed her slip away.
Later, though, she shot me a text: [Don't celebrate yet. You won't be smiling for long.]
I knew she was talking about the Shaw family's bankruptcy. I did the math, and I knew it was time to start preparing myself.
On the weekend, I went to the orphanage again to bring Max some books.
As I was leaving, I bumped into Ryan, who was coming back from outside, looking furious.
When he saw me, he paused for a moment, like he wanted to say something. But in the end, he just stormed off.
I glanced in the direction he'd come from and spotted a black Audi slowly pulling away. Through the open back window, I saw a middle-aged woman plastered in makeup, busy chatting away on her phone.
I didn't think much of it and just headed home.
When I got home, I noticed there were a few extra cars in the yard. It looked like they had guests over.