Chapter 1
As soon as I stepped inside, everyone’s eyes converged on me, their expressions uniformly sneering.
I took it all in, pretending to be oblivious as I handed Savannah the dessert she’d specifically requested.
The next second, her face darkened, and her words sent the room’s atmosphere plummeting to freezing point:
“Caleb, the ice cream’s completely melted. You just brought it to me? Are you trying to deliberately gross me out?”
Before her words even faded, the dessert—which I’d waited an hour in line for and driven two miles to get—was violently slammed into the trash can.
I glanced down. The ice cream was barely starting to melt, it wouldn’t have affected the taste at all.
Kinsley, Savannah’s best friend, saw this and handed me a drink, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
“You’re not taking our Savannah seriously enough. Why don’t you chug three drinks as an apology to show your sincerity?”
Everyone else chimed in, their faces twisted with mocking amusement.
I touched the bandage wrapped around my lower back, hesitated for a moment, then took the glass and drained it.
As soon as I set the glass down, Kinsley pushed another full one into my hand. My brows immediately furrowed. I didn’t take it. That first glass had already pushed me to my physical limit. Any more, and I’d be in trouble.
I looked at Savannah, hoping she’d say something for me. But she just watched, her face cold, not lifting a finger to explain.
Kinsley saw my hesitation and sneered, “Savannah, looks like your boyfriend isn’t all that devoted after all. Just two drinks, and he’s being so wishy-washy.”
Savannah’s gaze hardened with displeasure. She stepped forward and slapped me across the face.
“Caleb, what’s your problem today? You’re usually such a heavy drinker!” She yelled. “And here I was, being nice enough to throw this party to reward you, and this is how you treat me? You won’t even drink three glasses for me!”
I turned my head, my eyes darkening. I had thought that after giving a kidney, she would change her usual bossy attitude towards me. But no, she only got worse.
She completely forgot that I couldn’t drink alcohol right now.
I met her gaze and kindly reminded her, “Savannah, my kidney surgery hasn’t fully healed. Don’t you know I can’t drink?”
Her eyes flickered with a hint of surprise, but it quickly vanished in the dim light of the room.
Then she said carelessly, “Can’t drink after a kidney transplant? Do you think everyone in this room is stupid?! If you want to get out of drinking, at least come up with a better excuse.”
Kinsley, standing nearby, chimed in mockingly, “Exactly! I see everyone else drinking just fine. Why can’t you? Or are you just deliberately refusing? This whole table of drinks is Savannah’s sincerity to you.”
She gestured to the table, which was now filled with precisely 99 glasses of alcohol. Seeing the cold indifference on her face, no trace of concern for me, I immediately decided to turn and leave.
But Savannah’s circle of friends wasn’t about to let me off so easily. They called people over to hold me down and forcefully poured the alcohol down my throat.
The strong liquor seared my lungs, tearing at my chest with agonizing pain.
I desperately looked to Savannah for help, but she just watched, a cold, distant spectator, as if I were a stranger.
Just when I thought I was going to collapse right then and there, Savannah, who had been like a statue, finally moved.
The next second, she walked over and yanked the glass from the hand of the person pouring it into my mouth. I thought she’d finally grown a conscience, that she was going to stop this absurd charade.
But then she said coldly, “Hold on. Ryder’s calling.”
The moment she answered the phone, her voice shifted, suddenly soft and tender, as if she were a completely different person.
“Okay, I’m heading out to get you that dessert now. Wait for me.”
A wave of dizziness washed over me, and my consciousness began to fade. Just as Savannah hung up, I collapsed directly in front of her. Everyone else panicked.
Savannah frowned, glanced at me, then at the two-thirds of the untouched alcohol on the table, and said with utter disdain,
“Don’t bother with him. He’s just faking it, trying to get out of drinking.”
“I still need to get Ryder his dessert. I’m leaving.”
Savannah walked away without a backward glance. Kinsley then kicked me twice.
Seeing no reaction, she finally realized something was seriously wrong and panicked, running off. The others, seeing this, also found excuses to slip away.
I was left abandoned in the private room. It was the cleaning lady who eventually called 911. When I woke up, a message popped up on my phone.