Liar and Liar - Chapter 64

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 64

“….”

Danielle wanted to confess these words to someone, anyone.

“I’m so stupid. Even knowing it’s a bet, I keep hoping Frederick might actually like me. I keep pushing the existence of the bet aside in my head. The one making me a fool isn’t Frederick—it’s me….”

Either stop now. Or seduce Frederick Bastia.

Or forget about the bet entirely and at least enjoy the time until we break up.

There should be many choices, but in the end, I just sit down and cry. Danielle hated herself so much for being like this.

“He’s kind to me. Like it’s real, like I’m a girlfriend he truly cherishes…. Every time that happens, I think. Did he develop even the slightest feelings for me? What should I do to make him like me? But no matter how much I think about it, the conclusion is always the same. That’s… impossible.”

She had hated Frederick Bastia for so long. She hated him with all her might—mocking, glaring, and badmouthing him. Because….

That was the only way to protect myself back then, my worthless self crawling at rock bottom….

So I ‘tried’ to hate him.

I desperately tried to create distance because the closer we got, the more painfully obvious became the gap and disparity that could never be hidden.

“Our family… isn’t even middle class. I don’t know when my brother will recover and be able to live normally. I always looked down on other kids and thought I’d definitely get into medical school, but even if things work out as planned, I’ll just be an ordinary doctor in the end…. But Frederick’s father is really… incredibly wealthy…. He didn’t treat me like someone who approached his son for money, though….”

He probably went easy on me because I’m just a student. Danielle already had a sense of what Sylvester was thinking.

“He was generous. He could have been flustered that I’m Asian.”

Would it have been different if her brother hadn’t been rude to Frederick? Danielle found Sylvester and Marilyn’s kind attitude painful. If they had openly despised her, she could have found fault with their character despite their wealth.

They were rich yet had good character, while her family had no money and didn’t know their place.

“I don’t know for sure, but Frederick seems to find this relationship somewhat entertaining. I want to believe the smiles he shows me, I want to smile back at him the same way, but I just can’t….”

…There’s no way Frederick could like someone as shabby and worthless as me. Danielle couldn’t escape this thought.

She tried to change, to become something different, but the more she picked apart and trimmed her inadequate parts, the more painful everything became.

Everyone’s reactions changed overnight, but now Danielle only felt the realistic disparities she had been avoiding all along even more acutely. This inferiority complex would probably never end.

“…I understand what you’re saying. I can imagine how difficult it must have been.”

Hearing Chris’s quiet voice, Danielle quietly gasped as tears welled up again.

“I really believed your acting. I thought you were genuinely fine…. I was foolishly completely deceived….”

Chris’s hand gripped the bench beside Danielle. Danielle’s teary hazel eyes slowly met his gaze. Their eyes locked.

“I’ve never met anyone as wonderful, beautiful, and radiant as you in my life. I’m not trying to comfort you or flatter you. I’ve really thought that all along.”

I should have noticed long ago that you weren’t okay at all. I should have reached out to help…. Along with words he couldn’t voice, Chris swallowed small regrets.

“I know how smart and wise you are. After crying like this, you’ll feel refreshed and do well again.”

“…*sob*”

Danielle completely broke down at Chris’s gentle words. In truth, no rational advice or kind comfort would have worked. But Chris managed to find the right answer that reached Danielle’s heart.

“*sob*, *hic*. *sob*-“

Tears flowed like a spring over Danielle’s hands pressed against her nose.

Chris’s hand, which had been hesitating in the air, finally touched Danielle’s shoulder. Only after Danielle had let out all the sobs that surged up once more could she stop crying.

* * *

“Ricky, is Danielle still getting treatment?”

Frederick stopped Mari with a single word as she was about to enter the Nurse’s Office.

“She’s not inside.”

Mari flinched at the chillingly cold voice.

“…Huh? She didn’t come for treatment? Then where did she go?”

Frederick wanted to turn the entire school upside down to find Danielle right now, but he barely restrained that urge. He had used all his patience to respect Danielle’s choice. But he didn’t think he could do it a second time.

Her disheveled hair, face covered in dirt and scratched by grass, and knees bleeding profusely.

In that state, she had gone to another man. There was no way he could maintain his sanity.

So his words came out anything but nicely.

“How would I know. Where the two of them ran off for their romantic escape.”

Mari grimaced at Frederick’s sarcasm.

“She must be angry about something. Nothing comes to mind?”

“Not at all. Just this morning she was speaking sweetly to me.”

It felt like being lost in a giant maze. His frustrated feelings weren’t relieved at all.

A long sigh escaped between Frederick’s lips as he roughly rubbed his forehead and brow with one hand.

Mari, who had been quietly watching him, rolled her eyes around before slowly opening her mouth.

“Um, I don’t know if I should say this…. All your friends are acting weird.”

Frederick’s gaze whipped toward Mari. Even knowing it wasn’t directed at her, Mari flinched at Frederick’s cold stare.

“You didn’t know Blanton told Danielle to break up with you? It’s not just him. The swim team captain and football captain—even if they’re not like Blanton… the way they look at Danielle isn’t how you look at a friend’s girlfriend. Didn’t you notice?”

Frederick squeezed his eyes shut. Finally, he recognized his mistake.

He should never have made that damn bet in the first place. This situation was truly… his karma.

He should have told them not to touch her from the moment they tried to remove her glasses.

Because I like her. Unlike your mere interest, my feelings have lasted seven years already—he should have said that.

“Getting a love confession from Daniel Ryu— sounds fun.”

“Right?”

“The fact that you guys think you could win Danielle’s favor.”

“Fassbinder too-“

“I know. No need to say more.”

As Frederick’s voice became even more fierce, Mari bit her lip and quietly backed away, sensing the ominous atmosphere.

* * *

Only after calming down could Danielle go get her wounds treated. When she went to the conference room afterward, there were only students from other grades, not Stella. Students were scattered sparsely across desks divided into five rows.

Danielle sighed and walked past the students toward a seat by the window.

‘I’m glad I got the external scholarship….’

Having a meeting with the principal while receiving an internal scholarship would be tantamount to declaring withdrawal.

‘Come to think of it, even fighting with Stella was thanks to Frederick.’

She had to sit there until her number was called, so all she could do was think.

She rested her cheek against her arms folded on the desk. Her stomach, which Stella had kicked with all her might, still throbbed.

After all the blazing emotions had burned out, what filled the remaining space was Frederick’s voice.

“I don’t want to fall….”

That voice, rich as strong liquor, still clung to Danielle’s ears. Just replaying it made her heart flutter. Even breathing out a long sigh through her nose, it wouldn’t easily detach from her ears, from around her heart.

Just as she was about to close her eyes, there was a tapping sound from the glass window beside her. Danielle’s gaze was drawn absently.

When the opaque glass window made another tapping sound, Danielle frowned and opened the window. The moment she saw the scene outside the window, Danielle froze.

Hello, honey.

Frederick, mouthing those words, held a couple of small stones in one palm.

She thought he would be angry. But Frederick’s expression looked peaceful. Like a young master out for a morning stroll.

He pointed to himself with his index finger, then pointed to the window. When Danielle nodded silently, Frederick slowly approached.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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