Chapter 8

Chapter 8

When I got home and was about to take off my shoes, I noticed a corner of a yellow letter peeking out from under the shoe cabinet. I pulled it out and found an envelope inside. Opening it, I discovered it was a letter from Tyler Hayes—he must have slipped it in when he came to see me that day, while I wasn't looking.

The letter read:

By the time you read this, I'm probably already in jail. Don't blame yourself. I thought about this for a long time, and I don't regret what I did. This is my choice. My only request is: don't come to the trial.

I couldn't pull you out of that online violence, couldn't heal the scars in your heart, and couldn't stop you from doing something stupid in time. So this is the only way I know to keep you from making more mistakes.

I've loved you ever since the day you stood up for me in college. I wasn't good-looking, my family was poor, and we even owed money to loan sharks. All my life, people only bullied me—no one ever helped me. Your appearance was brighter than the dawn. I saw you as my motivation, my hope, my cure. With just one word, you could lift me up to heaven or push me down to hell.

Silly girl, can we not end our friendship? You have no idea how much it hurt when you told me you wanted to break up with me that night. It hurt more than dying. So let's still be friends, okay?

All this time, I've been watching over you quietly. People were always swarming around you—some after your beauty, your figure, or your connections. But I wanted nothing from you. I just wanted to stay by your side, even if it was just to look at you from a distance. That was enough for me.

In the days to come, without me, you have to be good. Stop going to nightclubs, stop getting into fights. I told you a long time ago that you can't make real friends in nightclubs, but you never listened. Now that something has happened, you finally understand—those people only stuck around because they wanted something from you.

The stupidest thing I ever did was introduce Ethan Bennett to you. He was good-looking, came from a good family, and he liked you. So I helped him, pushing him toward you. I never thought he would hurt you like this. This is my mistake, and I'm willing to take the blame for it. I hate him too. Even if you hadn't done what you did, I would have. So this isn't your fault.

That night, I had a bad feeling. I couldn't stop worrying about you, so I rushed to your neighborhood. That's when I saw someone in black walking out of your place. Even though you were all covered up, I recognized you right away. I saw you waiting outside Ethan Bennett's company with an umbrella, your thin figure breaking my heart. In the end, you followed him back to his neighborhood. I never thought you would call out to him—or do something so stupid.

I watched you leave, then fumbled for my phone, wanting to call the police. But I couldn't—not when it was you.

While I was hesitating, you came back, wearing different clothes. I saw you throw yourself on top of Ethan Bennett, crying your eyes out. I was even more at a loss for what to do. So I waited until you left, then took the clothes you had hidden in the grass.

I noticed you had put insoles in your shoes to make yourself look taller. But my height is exactly the height of the suspect. So no one will find out that I'm taking your place. I've already destroyed the evidence—don't worry.

I know you hate Clara Winslow, and I know you might do something stupid again. But I can't let you take any more risks. I'm willing to be your sword, to get rid of the things that make you unhappy. If Clara Winslow can't hurt you anymore and that makes you happy, I'm willing to do it.

I sincerely wish you happiness. No matter what happens, I hope you're doing well—even if your future has nothing to do with me.

— Tyler Hayes

I held the crumpled letter and cried until I couldn't breathe. So there had been someone who loved me all along. I had been so busy chasing after love that I couldn't have, never realizing that if I had just turned around, I would have seen him— the person who had loved me quietly, faithfully following behind me no matter where I went. Because of love, he had never given up.

Tyler Hayes had done so much for me. Now, it was my turn to do something for him. I would rather be locked up in a prison cell than let Tyler Hayes suffer for something he didn't do.