Early the next morning, Leonard was waiting for me at the campus gates. "Clean them," he ordered.

Murmurs flooded around me like a tide.

"Isn't that the top student in that batch? He actually got on his knees?"

"I heard he stole from Leo. Serves him right!"

I kept my head down and pulled a handkerchief from my pocket. But just as my fingers were about to touch his shoe, Leonard suddenly stomped down, grinding the sole of his shoe into my fingers.

"Using your hands doesn't show much sincerity, does it? Use your tongue!"

The hand that held the handkerchief trembled. In my mind, all I could think about were the warm smiles of my grandfathers back on the island.

I closed my eyes and was about to lean down when Leonard suddenly burst out laughing. "You really take orders well, don't you? Now, let me hear you bark. If you sound convincing, I might consider knocking a grand off the medical bills."

Laughter erupted across the field.

I clenched my fists tightly in the dirt and barked, "Woof… Woof!"

"Louder! I can't hear you!"

Leonard kicked me in the shoulder and sent me tumbling into the muddy water. As I lay sprawled out on the ground, all I could do was repeat those humiliating sounds against my will.

When Leonard had had his fun, he swaggered off with his crew, kicking me one last time before he went.

I silently picked myself up and walked back to the classroom under everyone's contemptuous stares.

I just had to get through this. Once I paid off his medical bills, everything would be over.

But I had underestimated how evil people could be.

That evening, as soon as I walked out of the campus gates, several thugs cornered me in the back alley. Leonard slowly advanced toward me with a heavy steel pipe.

I stepped back, and my back hit the wall. "Leonard, I already did everything you asked."

"What? Do you really think that barking a few times will make us square after you bit my ear off?"

Leonard swung the steel pipe hard and slammed it into my shin.

He yanked the 500 dollars I had just received in student aid out of my pocket. That was supposed to be my living expenses for the whole of the next semester.

"This is all you've got? Are you messing with me?" Leonard sneered. Then, right in front of me, he tore the bills into shreds.

Next, he stuffed the shredded bills mixed with rain into my mouth. "Eat it! Swallow every last piece!"

After that, he proceeded to slap me furiously across the face, over and over again. My head spun from the blows, and my mouth filled with the taste of paper mixed with blood.

"Call the cops, Leo," one of the thugs said viciously. "There's no way this punk can come up with five grand. Just get the cops to go to that darned island and throw all his good-for-nothing grandfathers into jail!"

The moment I heard them mention the police, the taut string in my mind finally snapped. I lunged forward desperately and clung to Leonard's leg. "Don't call the police! Please, I'll find a way to get the money. Just don't get my grandfathers involved!"

Leonard kicked me away. "Oh, so you're begging for mercy now? Well, it's too late! Tomorrow, I'll go to that shithole of an island with my men, break every last bone in those old bastards' bodies, and feed them to the dogs!"

He then raised the steel pipe and swung it down at my head.

I closed my eyes in despair. "Grandpas, I'm sorry. I couldn't protect your peace," I thought.

But the excruciating pain never came. Instead, the steel pipe was caught by a strong, powerful hand.

"Who is it?" Leonard spun around and came face to face with a pair of eyes burning with rage.

The person's gaze fell on me, and the pain in his eyes was almost too much to bear. "Eli, didn't we tell you to tell us if you were ever wronged?"