Love, Not War (Book 2)

Chapter 144

Not unless a miracle happened and everyone's memories got wiped or she moved to a foreign country and start life anew. That is, if Felix would have the heart to let her go. Felix had never felt so loved before. Not even by his own parents so why would he let such a girl go? He wanted her more than anything in the world. Wherever she was in school, he would follow. He bribed the administration office and changed his classes so they could always be in the same class. He always sat a table away from her in the cafeteria. He made sure to bribe the coach to let her skip P.E classes. She never liked P.E and Felix was sure that the other students would use the opportunity to get physical with her so he wanted to protect her. He knew she was still being bullied and called names and he couldn't always be around her to protect her but he wanted to do as much as he could.

The weeks went by slowly and the bullying reduced significantly due to Felix so Aera stopped being hostile to him. He still hadn't told her why he never said the truth about the video but like she said at the beginning of the week, she had made peace with it. Like all other news, it would pass and someone else would become the hot topic of the term. Sometimes he would smile at her in the hallway and she would smile back. It grew to waving to each other and then saying one word. 'Hi'.

It wasn't much but Felix appreciated it. Maybe he'd be able to tell her the truth soon.

"She's talking to you now?" Jisung asked. They were by the lockers, getting their books when Aera passed by. Felix had said hi to her and she had smiled, slightly.

"Not really" he said, grinning like fool. "But it's progress right? Maybe I'll be able to tell her the truth soon and we can get back together."

"You wanna get back with her despite what your dad said?" Jisung asked. He couldn't believe it. "You do know that everyone thinks she cheated on you. Why will you go back to her?"

"Because I love her." Felix answered. "And because she didn't actually cheat on me. I want to make things right you know. You told me to give her space and I did. As you can see, it worked. She doesn't seem to be that mad at me anymore. Maybe she has noticed all the efforts I've been putting into making sure she's safe in this school. I always secretly walk her home too. Oh man, I can't wait to be able to properly talk to her again. I'll tell her everything. The reasons I couldn't tell the truth in school, my parents, everything." He was literally shaking with excitement.

Jisung's face went dark. "You haven't learned anything yet, have you?" He muttered under his breath.

Felix didn't hear him. "What did you say?"

Jisung shook his head, letting out a smile. "I said let's get to class."

********

Things went downhill after that for Aera. Incidents happened back to back that the school board couldn't overlook anymore and decided to expel her. She stopped going out entirely and was never seen beyond the vicinity of their house.

No matter how hard Aito tried to take down the videos from the internet, someone still managed to upload them and tracking the person proved to be impossible. He had tried to get his parents to help but they didn't, saying they had more important issues to take care of.

Aera also refused to see him since she was expelled. Her window remained shut and no matter how many times he called out to her, she never responded. She also deleted all of her social media pages and blocked his contact.

A couple of weeks passed and during those weeks, Felix's parents battled Aera's parents in court.

They had filed a case against Felix, charging him for sexual assault, stalking and defamation of their daughter's character.

Area's parents did all they could but they could not win the case against Felix's parents. His parents went above and beyond, bribing everyone in their way to keep their reputation as well as Felix's, clean.

Everything was turned on Aera and she was seen as the girl who cheated on Lee Felix then tried to ruin him by framing him so she could get money. She was portrayed as a girl with mental issues that needed special care. The truth was distorted by lawyers and everyone believed the Lee family. After all, they were influential and filthy rich. Who would believe a poor girl who's illicit videos were circulating online?

Every day that passed by was like eternity for Felix. The pressure and guilt he felt weighed as larger than a mountain, causing him to rarely eat and sleep. Aera's life was ruined and it was all his fault.

In the end, the Lees won the case.

Some days later, Felix was standing with Jisung on the football field of their school when they saw Area approaching.

Felix's heart jumped to his throat and he felt a surge of happiness. He hadn't properly seen Aera in weeks save for the times they had gone to court for hearing.

He quickly jogged over and met her halfway.

She looked deathly pale. Her eyes were puffy and dark, evidence of her lack of sleep. She was extremely thin, as if all life was sucked out of her body. She was trembling and her eyes were filled with tears.

"Aera..." He murmured softly, not knowing what to say.

"Are you happy now, Felix?" She asked, staring into his eyes. She looked so pitiful and broken. "Is this what you wanted? To see me like this?"

Felix shook his head. "N-No. This is not what I wanted Aera. I'm still working on things. I'm going to clear your name. I'm going to-"

She laughed bitterly, shaking her head. "You're gonna help me, Felix? You're gonna help me? Right after ruining my life? Aren't you the reason those sick fucks are doing all these to me? Ever since you released that video, my life became a total mess and now you're saying you'll help me? There's no going back from this Felix. You have ruined my life!"

"Don't talk like this Aera, please." Felix pleaded. Tears gathered in his eyes as he reached out and held unto her hand like it was his lifeline. "I'm sorry. I didn't make that video of us but I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell the truth but I'm hiding it to protect you. I'm sorry about all of this. I'm still trying to find the person behi-"

"Forget it!" She snapped, yanking her arm away. "Forget all of it! Forget we ever happened. Forget me. Forget everything Felix! You've already destroyed what's left of me. You've taken everything. My dreams, my dignity, my reputation, my womanhood, you've taken them all away!"

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