After that unpleasant encounter, we started giving each other the cold treatment, but it lasted longer than ever before.

He and Elise began to act as a couple, and everyone thought they had gotten together.

One day, Elise asked me to talk with her, and she invited me to a bar. By the time I arrived, she was already so drunk that she could not speak. I had no choice but to take her back. On the way, we were stopped by two thugs.

I was nervous but pretended to be calm. I immediately sent a distress message to Greyson.

Elise took the opportunity to nudge me. "Nicola, hurry up and find help! I'll hold them off. There's a food stand not far away. Go there and call for help!"

I could not think of a better solution, so I turned around and ran away to find help. When I led people over, I only saw Greyson holding the frightened Elise.

"Are you okay?" I relaxed a little, relieved that nothing had happened.

The next second, Elise's words plunged my heart into the deepest pit. "I just wanted to explain things to you, but you kept pouring me liquor to make me drunk. Was it so that you could send me to them? Was this your plan? Do you hate me? Is it because you're jealous of me?"

The series of questions left me completely stunned. "What are you talking about? No! It's not like that!"

However, Greyson slapped me in the face.

I covered my face in shock, my eardrums seemingly ruptured as a buzzing sound echoed within them. My face instantly swelled and burned, but my heart ached even more.

His face held a disgust I had never seen. "I thought you were just jealous of Elise, but I never imagined you'd do something so disgusting! You're indeed rotten to your core. No wonder your parents abandoned you!"

Greyson used the fact that I had been abandoned by my own parents to hurt me.

I opened my mouth but found my throat incredibly dry. I had no idea what to say or how to explain myself.

Greyson did not believe me, his childhood friend, and believed Elise instead. A deep sense of powerlessness emerged from my heart.

After everyone left, I remained standing there, stunned.

…

The next day, the news somehow spread quickly throughout the university.

I tried many times to explain to Greyson, but he would deliberately ignore me and talk to others whenever I approached him.

I suddenly became invisible. I was ignored whenever I attempted to talk to my classmates. All of them deliberately kept their distance from me, avoiding any contact with me. After that, I stopped trying to explain.

I was always alone, and people rarely talked to me.

One morning, I woke up to find that I could not speak. I went to the hospital and underwent several tests, all of which came back normal. Eventually, I could only see a psychiatrist.

The doctor gave me many tests. Looking at the results, the doctor said, "You've been diagnosed with severe depression. You've likely experienced psychological trauma related to language, causing your brain to become unwilling to speak or articulate.

"Have you encountered any challenges recently? Perhaps no one listens to your explanations, or perhaps you're just not speaking enough?"

I froze. The events of the past few days flashed through my mind, and I shook my head.

The doctor could only prescribe some medication and tell me to clear my head.

Holding the medication and thinking about the doctor's instructions, I wandered through the streets. It was not until the dorm curfew was near that I started heading back.

However, I ran into the thugs who had stopped Elise and me before. I tried to call for help, but I could not make a sound. I could only dial my emergency contact, praying that Greyson would come for me, but there was no response.

Later, I learned that the two had gone to a hotel together that night.