06
At this moment, the sky and earth were pitch black. I was standing right at the edge of the cliff.
From the time they started dancing and playing games,
I had been intentionally pushed to this spot.
Jack sighed and said, “Bella and our Lucas really are a perfect match. It was so funny when Lucas was putting the ring on Sophia earlier.”
The heavyset guy chimed in: “Sophia, tell us, how can you be so thick–skinned, always trying to squeeze into our circle?”
“I feel sorry for Lucas, having to sleep with a lowly woman like you for three years.”
Bella clung to Lucas’s arm as they walked up to me.
Lucas’s voice was as cold as thousand–year–old ice:
“Sophia, you really don’t deserve me.”
“How about we just treat everything that happened earlier as a joke?”
12:37 PM
<
Bella exclaimed, “Oh!” and lightly hit his arm:
“Sophia, Lucas is just kidding around. I’ll apologize on his behalf.”
“Could you return the ring? It’s quite expensive… I guess you probably can’t afford it.”
I curled my lips into a smile and silently took the ring off my finger.
Lucas’s expression became a bit unnatural, but he just lowered his head.
The moment I was about to hand the ring to Bella,
The rocks under my feet suddenly collapsed, and I fell backwards sharply.
Lucas suddenly reached out his hand towards me, as if trying to grab me.
But Bella tightly held onto him.
In the instant I fell,
I heard Lucas cry out heart–wrenchingly:
“Sophia! No!”
Behind me, Jack and the heavyset guy shouted: “100 times achieved!”
The music became frenzied and intense, everyone jumping and dancing excitedly.
Bella laughed with particular joy. She tugged at Lucas and cooed:
“Lucas, we can finally be together now. You acted so well just now!”
But Lucas, who had come to his senses, pushed her away roughly.
He shouted: “Go find her, quickly!”
His voice was drowned out by the music and crowd noise. With bloodshot eyes, he punched Jack, who was celebrating the loudest, in the face.
Then he rushed to the stage and unplugged the sound system.
Lucas felt a chill all over his body, his mind completely blank.
Even knowing it was just a prank, the last look Sophia gave him as she fell off the cliff
Still made a part of his heart collapse.
An uneasy feeling crept over him. For some reason, Lucas felt he might truly lose Sophia this time.
His voice came out through gritted teeth: “All of you go find her right now!”
“Did you hear me?!”
Jack, holding his face, tried to calm him down: “It’s fine, Lucas. We set up a safety net at the bottom. We have people watching over there.”
But just then, two people came scrambling up the mountain, shouting and screaming.
The crowd parted to make way. The two men, looking terrified, said:
“The… the safety net broke somehow. That girl fell straight down…”
12:37 PM
<
Lucas felt like his brain had exploded.
His knees went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.
The clouds dispersed, and daylight gradually enveloped the land.
But there was still no news from the search and rescue team.
Lucas stared at the broken safety net at his feet, countless thoughts flashing through his mind.
He first noticed Sophia at the school’s art festival.
She stood in front of a huge canvas, dancing with her paintbrush, her face and body covered in oil paints.
Her hair was a mess, but her eyes shone brightly, as if filled with all the stars in the universe.
Later, Sophia’s gaze always seemed to follow him.
When he realized she had fallen for him, his heart was filled with joy.
So when Jack suggested pranking Sophia and having him pretend to be her boyfriend,
He inexplicably nodded in agreement.
He knew that Bella was the most suitable candidate to be his wife.
But his heart had strayed. Sophia’s eyes kept dancing in his mind.
He wanted to have her, to possess her.
No matter… what method he had to use.
