Saving the Villain

Cosette headed straight to the rooftop after throwing a bit of cash to the delinquents as a down payment for her request. Once she reached the rooftop, she looked around to search for Luke. A deep frown turned up on her lips, seeing that no one was in there.

Yet, she didn\'t leave but instead came inside.

"Luke?" she called, holding her hand behind her. She went behind the deck and her guess was correct.

There, Luke was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. There was a handkerchief over his face, arm resting on his bent knee, and seemed to be asleep.

\'Goodness… look at him.\' Cosette smacked her lips as she tiptoed her way toward him. She silently and carefully sat beside him, resting her back against the wall.

Cosette had thought of many things to tell Luke if she ever catch him. But now that he was just within his reach, she couldn\'t even make a sound. All she could do was stare at his side profile silently, wondering if he was truly sleeping or just pretending.

Who sleeps in such a position?

There was nothing but silence for the next five minutes until Luke grabbed the handkerchief over his face. His lazy eyes fell on her.

"What?" he asked with a disinterested tone. "I was waiting for you to nag me. What\'s this silence?"

"I thought you were asleep." She cleared her throat. "I don\'t want to wake you up when you clearly need some sleep."

Luke frowned and grew uglier. "That\'s weird."

"What is?"

"Didn\'t you sell me out to my father because I was skipping classes?" he asked, retracting his back from the wall to face her squarely. "But now, you are letting me skip class?"

"I told you about your father because you were hanging out with those delinquents." She shrugged. "It\'s not relevant."

Luke snorted, shaking his head. "Cozie, now that I think about it, you\'re a little weird, eh?"

"I never said I wasn\'t." She shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, why would I force you to return to the classroom when I know nothing will go in your head because you\'re sleepy? Maxen is even sleeping in the classroom."

"Tch."

Cosette blinked twice, looking at him curiously. "Luke, what happened last night? Why do you and Maxen look so traumatized?"

"Ugh!!" she flinched when Luke suddenly groaned while clasping his hair. "Don\'t remind me."

"But it\'s strange and I want to know."

"Don\'t!" Luke breathed out through his gritted teeth, looking at her with utter distress. "Just don\'t, alright? That place is hell. I\'m basically living with insects and rats!"

"Ahh…" Cosette let out an awkward smile, creating a conclusion in her head.

In her understanding just from what Luke said, Luke probably wasn\'t able to sleep because of the rats and insects. Knowing Luke, he probably bothered Maxen all night and thus, they didn\'t get a wink of sleep. This conclusion was almost perfect, but still, there were unanswered questions that Cosette didn\'t want to bother. Whatever it was, she was certain it probably wasn\'t that big of a deal.

Cosette cleared her throat and exhaled sharply. "Is it my fault?" she asked, watching him snap his eyes back to her.

"What?"

"Were you scolded so badly because of me? Tell me the truth."

"Well, I got scolded badly." Luke moved and rested his back against the wall again, eyes on the railings of the rooftop. "But I wasn\'t scolded because I was skipping classes, but because it reached my dad\'s ears."

\'So, Papa was correct. Luke wouldn\'t get scolded for skipping classes, but for getting found out.\' A shallow breath slipped past her lips.

"So, that\'s the reason you left home?" she inquired again, watching him rock his head.

"Sort of."

"What do you mean by that?"

Luke arched a brow as he cast her an apathetic look. "I run away from home because of how I got scolded and not because my dad scolded me. Well, you can say that\'s just the last straw. I\'ve always wanted to become independent." He looked away from her to look ahead.

"If I didn\'t meet you and transferred school, I\'m probably studying overseas now," he continued solemnly. "It\'s been in my head for at least years."

Her eyes softened, knowing Luke grew up overseas in their previous lives. She heard he went to study abroad and only returned ten years later as the ultimate jerk. Cosette had been interested in their lives that she had even written every little detail about it.

Therefore, she knew that Luke actually tried to seduce Mia, Asher\'s love interest, just because he wanted to hurt Asher. It was like snatching what Asher has because \'Asher had always snatched what was Luke\'s in the past.\'

In other words, it was revenge. But in the end, Maxen was the biggest jerk and the maddest of them all.

"Why?" Cosette asked out of plain curiosity.

"Because… why not?" he cocked his head back, casting her a sidelong glance.

"Is it because of Asher?"

"You call him by his first name now?"

"He is your brother and I had met him a couple of times during my summer internship." Cosette shrugged. "Am I not allowed to?"

"Why are you asking me? It\'s not like you will listen to me if I tell you don\'t call him like that because it sounds like you are close with him." Luke clicked his tongue, but he sounded more tired than annoyed. "It\'s upsetting. It feels like he\'ll snatch you too."

Cosette leaned her side against the wall, facing him squarely. "Then I won\'t call him by his first name."

"Heh… nice try."

"I\'m not lying." Cosette smiled, watching him look at her suspiciously. "You are my precious friend and I don\'t want to be close to the people my people are uncomfortable with. Moreover, I think — no, your brother is a jerk and so full of himself. I don\'t like him that much. No, no. I don\'t like him at all!"