Chapter 1979

She'd spent two whole months pinching pennies just to buy that leather jacket- skipping snacks, counting every cent, emptying out her piggy bank. When she finally handed over her hard-earned cash, it felt like a huge, painful victory.

And she hadn't even worn it anywhere special yet. This was only the third day she'd had it on.

Now Amy had just used her precious jacket to wipe down a chair?

Was she seriously out of her mind?

"Amy, I'm done with you!" she snapped, practically flying at Amy in a burst of rage.

Amy, thin and a little pale, was obviously smaller than the girl picking a fight. Anyone could see she'd be an easy target.

The troublemaker noticed it too, which only made her push harder.

"Let me teach you a lesson!" she shouted, shoving Amy. She didn't mean to use much force-Amy looked so fragile that if anything happened, she didn't want to be responsible.

Still, even a little shove sent Amy stumbling back, crashing hard into the wall.

People always root for the underdog.

Sure, the old "fake Amy" had done some pretty awful stuff, but that wasn't this Amy. The crowd had hated the imposter, but with this girl, their feelings were more complicated-suspicion at first, but now, after watching her get hurt, mostly

sympathy.

Amy struggled to sit up, gingerly touching her forehead. She winced, eyebrows drawn tight with pain.

Her whole face scrunched up, and the way she trembled showed just how much it hurt.

"Are you crazy? Amy didn't do anything wrong! You knocked the water over on purpose, and instead of apologizing, you insult her? What are you even proud of?" someone called out.

"Yeah, you're only picking on her because she's small and looks easy to bully. And you call yourself an adult? Where'd your decency go?" another person chimed in.

The crowd's anger turned on the troublemaker, leaving her speechless and backing away, her confidence draining fast.

Panic flickered in her eyes. She hadn't even worn her leather jacket out yet-why did nobody care about her loss? Why did everyone only see Amy's weakness?

A minute ago, everyone was against Amy. Now they were all jumping to defend her? It made no sense.

The troublemaker's frustration boiled over. Clutching her jacket, she pointed at the scuffed marks.

"I'm the victim here! Why does nobody care that my stuff got ruined? She used my jacket to wipe a chair! Do you know how much this cost me? Thirty-five thousand! Now it's covered in scratches-who's going to pay for that? Why is everyone just blaming me for everything?"

The second she dropped the price, the room went quiet. No one dared speak. People just looked at each other, uneasy, and shut their mouths.

"If your jacket's really that important, why'd you spill water on my chair in the first place?" Amy shot back, her voice trembling as she was helped to her feet, hand still pressed to her bruised forehead. The hurt and anger in her eyes was all too real.

Even Fiona, who usually kept her distance, glanced over with interest.

She didn't care much about Amy herself, but she had to admit, she respected how Amy handled things.

"Tyler, when you brought her back, did you notice anything weird?" Fiona asked quietly.

Tyler thought about it, then shook his head. "No, not really."

"Actually-she doesn't seem scared of strangers," he added.

Fiona's lips curled into a faint, thoughtful smile. Someone kept locked in a

basement for years, who barely ever saw anyone except Grace and, sometimes, Amy's parents... Find the newest release on find{n}ovel.net