When Love Rises, Hatred Burns the Heart

During freshman orientation training, I applied for an exemption because of my congenital heart condition. But because Hannah Simmons said it wasn't fair, Robin Delgado grabbed me by the collar and made me stand at attention for four hours under a scorching hundred-degree sun. I turned to the instructor beside me for help. All that earned me was a sneer from Robin. "Tabitha Winfield, my dad invested in this whole school. You really think going to him will do you any good?" Sure enough, the instructor avoided my eyes, lowered his head, and turned to walk away. I stood there for four full hours. I stood until my legs cramped and my whole body was shaking, and in the end it was the school doctor passing by, seeing how pale I was, who finally called for a stop. Hannah stood off to the side holding an iced coffee, laughing. "Look at her. She's really got the act down." I remembered what my father told me before I left. "Be humble in a new place, and don't be quick to bring up the family. You're going there to study, not to show off whose father is better." I put up with it. I thought it was over. But the next day, before orientation training had even started, Hannah dumped a whole bucket of water right over my head in front of everyone. Seeing me soaked to the skin like a drowned rat, she curled up in Robin's arms and laughed so hard she was trembling. "You wouldn't stand yesterday because it was too hot, so today I'll cool you off early!" The icy water soaked through my training uniform, and my heart clenched with a sudden pain. I finally couldn't take it anymore. I took out my phone, found my father's number, and called it. "Dad, come to the school field. Right now." 1 Before I could even finish, Robin snatched the phone away. "Tabitha Winfield, I don't think you have any congenital heart condition at all. You've got congenital brain damage!" "Your dad's just a cook flipping pans in the school cafeteria. What do you want him here for? To ask everyone if his food tastes good? To bring us seconds?!" The moment Robin finished, a deafening burst of laughter went up all around. Hannah, who only moments ago had looked a little nervous facing me, was now laughing the loudest. "Oh ho..." She stepped forward and grabbed my chin. "I was wondering why you got such special treatment. Turns out you're leaning on a dad who works at the school!" "That's hardly even a job!" Hannah's little hangers-on came forward, pointing at me, their eyes full of mockery. "He just flips pans in the cafeteria and serves us our meals! And she really thinks she's something?" "Where does she even get the nerve, thinking her dad is really that impressive?" A smug smile on her lips, Hannah walked up to me and pointed her finger right at the tip of my nose. "Tabitha Winfield, if you don't do the training today, then none of us are training either!" "I just want the school to settle this fairly. Why should you get special treatment just because your dad works as a cook here? Robin's dad is an investor in this school, and even he isn't as precious as you!" I looked at Hannah standing there so aggressively in front of me, and said nothing. I took the hospital's diagnosis certificate out of my right pocket and set it in front of her. "I'm not doing the training because I have a congenital heart condition. The hospital gave a clear diagnosis, and the school acknowledged it too." "It has nothing to do with my dad. Please show a little respect when you speak—" "Who's going to believe that?!" Hannah snatched the diagnosis certificate out of my hand, tore it to shreds on the spot, and threw the pieces into the air. "You can buy stuff like this online no problem, ten bucks gets you a whole stack!" "Who knows if what you're saying is true or fake?" "It's fake, obviously!" Hannah's little follower jumped right in. "She stood at attention for four hours yesterday and was fine. If she were really sick, she'd have dropped dead right there!" "Exactly! Faking an illness you don't have, it's disgusting!" "Shameless!" "If Tabitha Winfield doesn't do the training today, none of us are training!" "Yeah, why should she? This is so unfair!" I hadn't rested well after standing for four hours the day before, and now that faint, ragged pain came back around my heart. Not wanting to bother arguing with them, I turned to leave. But a big hand suddenly clamped down hard on my wrist. "Tabitha Winfield!" A low growl full of anger came from behind me. I turned, and my eyes met his, blazing with fury. "You are doing the training today, no matter what! Otherwise, believe me, by tonight I'll have your dad rolling up his bedding and getting out of that school cafeteria!" Robin's words snapped me awake. A chill went through me at what I'd just done, calling my father. If my father really were just a cook in the school cafeteria, then in that moment I would surely have thrown off Robin's hand and walked away for good. But my father wasn't. As one of the "giant pandas" of the nation's scientific research field, he had applied for this "pan-flipping" job a total of 103 times. From the national level down to the provincial level, countless people came to talk him out of it. But for the sake of my health, he insisted on doing it. If this little thing today alarmed the school, alarmed my father, then Robin's father and the school would be facing an abyss of no return. That didn't matter. What mattered was that I couldn't let down all my father's painstaking effort. Remembering that today was already the last day of orientation training, I slowly calmed down. I stopped where I stood, pushed Robin's hand away, and answered flatly, "Fine. I'll do it."

Robin looked at me with some surprise, a little caught off guard that I had agreed so readily. But the next instant, a smug glint flashed in his eyes. He probably figured I was really afraid my father would lose the only job that put food on the table, that I was scared, and so I'd caved. "Smart of you to know your place." He reached out to rub my cheek, but I dodged aside at once and stepped back into my place in the formation. Those intimate touches had once been the moments that made my heart race, but now they only made me sick. The other students didn't know about my illness, but Robin knew a thing or two. After high school graduation, when Robin confessed to me, every word was firm and unwavering. "Tabitha, let me protect you through college. Your health isn't good, and I swear I won't let anyone bully you." I thought we would be like my parents, meeting on campus and eventually spending our whole lives together. But that beautiful picture, on the first day of school, shattered the moment Robin caught sight of Hannah among the freshmen. Hannah said she was hungry, and Robin grabbed the meal I'd just gotten and carried it over to her. Hannah said she'd overslept, and Robin forgot all about buying my medicine and went to save her a seat. Hannah said it wasn't fair, and he used my dad's job to force me to take part in the orientation training here, even though that training-exemption medical order had been issued by a hospital under the Delgado Group. Real or fake, he could tell at a glance... "Instructor, today's Tabitha's first day of training. Let her lead us on the three-mile run!" Hannah's smug voice pulled me back to the present. After yesterday, the instructor actually looked to Robin first. "Robin, you're the squad leader. You make the call..." "Just do what Hannah said." Robin briskly cut in over the instructor, then turned to look at me. "Tabitha Winfield, step forward. You'll lead everyone on the three-mile run today." Those eyes, once full of tenderness and worry over me, now held nothing but cold. My fingernails dug deep into my icy palm. "Fine." I stared at Robin and answered through gritted teeth, then walked to the front of the formation. As I passed Robin, I heard him murmuring softly in Hannah's ear. "Hannah, now it's fair. Do you feel any better?" "Much better..." "Good. You're on your period today, so don't run. Go find a cool spot in the shade and watch her run..." My nose stung all at once, and my eyes went red. As I reached the front of the formation, I ran straight into Hannah, who was heading off to rest. Her low, mocking laughter came at my ear. "Tabitha Winfield, as long as I'm around, even for a single day, Robin's heart will be on me. Don't go dreaming about things that aren't yours! A girl out of the slums like you, what have you got to compare with me?!" "Tabitha Winfield! No whispering!" The instructor barked at me sternly. "If you're leading the group, then act like it! If you're not running, what are you standing there for?! Trying to drag this out another day?!" I forced down the emotions in my chest and took the first step... I'd just had a heart stent put in last year. I thought I could hold on a little longer, but I'd only run a dozen yards before my heart started pounding wildly, the rhythm heavy and ragged, as if it were about to force its way out between my ribs. With every step after that, a sharp, wringing pain tore through my chest. I clenched my palm as hard as I could, trying to hold on, but my feet felt like they'd been filled with lead, and my steps began to stagger. The next second, a thick rusty-sweet taste welled up in my throat, and my breathing started to fall behind... I gasped for air in great mouthfuls, but couldn't draw in a single useful breath. The student beside me finally noticed something was wrong with me and immediately turned and shouted to Robin. "Robin, Tabitha really seems to be sick! Come take a look!" "She's just being dramatic!" Robin's cold voice came from behind me. "You and the student next to her, hold her up. No matter what, she finishes the run today!" The two of them squeezed to my sides in an instant and hauled me up. Wave after wave of dull pain hammered at my heart, but my feet still didn't stop. By the time I reached the finish line, the toes of my shoes were worn through from dragging on the ground. A fit of violent coughing seized me, and that rusty-sweet taste ran down the corner of my mouth, but Robin acted as if he hadn't seen a thing. "Tabitha Winfield, and to think I took care of you myself for three years in high school! Looks like Hannah was right, you were just faking it!" "Hurry up and wipe the ketchup off your mouth! Disgusting!" With that, he and Hannah turned and walked off, fingers laced tight together. In the moment they turned away, I saw that smug smile in Hannah's eyes. I knew this was far from over...

Sure enough, on the day of the welcome party, Hannah came up to me and set a sheer miniskirt down right next to my hand. "Tabitha Winfield, Robin says you dance beautifully." "Because of you, our formation came in dead last during orientation training. The least you can do is contribute something to the welcome party tonight! Put this on and dance a number, and everyone will forgive you for faking sick." I glanced at the dress beside me. There was pitifully little fabric, so thin it was almost transparent. Under the stage lights, it would be practically indistinguishable from wearing nothing at all. "Can't do it." I pushed the skirt back toward Hannah and spoke evenly. "You're the one who forced me into orientation training. Coming in last has nothing to do with me." "Tabitha Winfield, what's that supposed to mean?!" Hannah cut me off with a shrill, harsh voice. She grabbed hold of Robin, tears welling in her eyes. "Robin, I feel so wronged. I made Tabitha join the training for the good of the group, and to give her a complete college experience, and now she's blaming me..." "And I only had her dance today out of kindness—because I thought she hadn't done well during training and wanted to give her a chance to show herself. But look at her..." "Tabitha Winfield, apologize." Robin's cold voice came down from above me. "The freshman dance tonight was originally Hannah's. She gave up her chance to show herself off for you. How can you not know good from bad?" I looked coldly at Robin. I tossed the flimsy scrap of fabric into his arms. "Does your Hannah dance in something like this too?" The ultra-thin miniskirt, barely bigger than a palm, caught right on Robin's fingertips. He glanced at it and froze for a second. But at a coquettish little whine from Hannah in his arms, Robin's expression changed at once. "What's wrong with wearing this?! This is art!" "Only someone with a filthy mind like yours would twist it into something dirty!" "Fine." I cut Robin off coldly, done wrangling with him. "Your Hannah has such a pure heart—then let her wear this tonight and show off her art in front of the whole school, faculty and students." With that, I stood up to leave. But the moment I turned, a large hand clamped down hard on my wrist. "Tabitha Winfield, don't throw a favor back in someone's face." Robin stepped forward and planted himself right in front of me. He shoved the short skirt into my arms, his words vicious. "If you don't dance tonight, you can forget about a peaceful time at this university!" "And that chef father of yours—even if you won't think of yourself, think of him. If you walk out today, your dad will never earn a single cent in the city for the rest of his life!" A cold laugh rose up inside me. Not go to college? Hundreds of universities at home and abroad would be fighting to take me. My dad's job? That was even less his concern. I threw everything into wrenching my hand free so I could leave. He refused to let go, no matter what. Just as the standoff was at its worst, a classmate behind me shouted, "The Dean of Student Affairs is here!"

"What's going on here?!" Dean Finch came hurrying over. "The welcome party is about to start—what are you all making a fuss about here?!" Robin Delgado immediately stepped forward, pointed at me, and said to Dean Finch, "Dean Finch, it's Tabitha Winfield who keeps refusing to go on stage and dance. We've got the costume all ready for her, but she wants to leave!" Dean Finch didn't answer Robin. He looked him up and down a few times, then instantly broke into a wide smile. "Young man, may I ask your name?" "Delgado. Robin Delgado. Dean Finch, you can just call me Robin." Hearing Robin introduce himself, the smile in Dean Finch's eyes deepened. He stepped forward and grabbed Robin's hand. "So you're Robin. I was planning to get to know you tomorrow at dinner with your father—I never expected to meet you today." Robin wasn't surprised by Dean Finch's display. He only smiled faintly, then let his gaze fall on me. The sly Dean Finch immediately understood what Robin meant. When he turned to look at me, he instantly put on the airs of a Dean of Student Affairs, his tone extremely stern. "Tabitha Winfield, how do you have absolutely no sense of teamwork?" "The party's about to start—what are you dawdling for?! Get backstage and change, now!" I looked at Dean Finch. I slowly took out the palm-sized piece of cloth from my arms, unfolded it, held it up in front of the dean, and said quietly, "Dean Finch, this outfit—I can't wear it." Dean Finch looked at the nearly transparent clothing in front of him, swallowed hard, and a flash of shock crossed his eyes. Clearly he hadn't expected the outfit to be so revealing either. But at the cough Robin gave behind him, Dean Finch's expression changed in an instant. "What... what's so impossible about changing into it?!" "I can't wear it." "Why can't you wear it?!" Dean Finch's tone grew more and more impatient. But I stayed calm. "My dad won't allow it." That one sentence left Dean Finch stunned. "Your dad won't allow it? Who's your dad?" Hannah Simmons jumped in at once. "Dean Finch, her dad flips woks in the school cafeteria!" The moment she said it, a deafening burst of laughter erupted all around. Dean Finch, who had been a little tense a moment ago, grinned along with them. He shoved the garment back into my arms. "Tabitha Winfield, whether you wear this or not isn't up to your dad." "Today, in this auditorium, I, Joel Finch, am the one in charge. I say you wear it, so you wear it." "You hear me?" Robin stepped forward and grabbed my wrist. "Today, you're changing into this, no matter what." The students around us started egging it on too. "Just wear it! Tabitha Winfield, you're the reason our squad came in dead last during orientation training—time to make it up to us today!" "Put on that sexy little dress and dance a number for us big brothers!" The onlookers pressed in tighter and tighter. Every year the school leaves the welcome party open to the public, so besides the students, there were plenty of people from off campus too. Clammy stares fixed on me one after another, and a cold sweat broke out down my back. "Come on, girl, look how hot you are already!" Suddenly a pair of big hands reached out from behind and clamped around my waist. "Hurry and change into that nice cool little dress, get comfortable! And give big brother something to feast his eyes on!" Amid the crowd's jeering, Robin stepped right up, grabbed my jacket, and yanked hard. Riiip! The jacket tore in two in Robin's hands. Underneath I had on only a camisole. Those revolting, filthy gazes landed on me again, but Robin showed no sign of letting go. The very moment his hand caught my camisole, a huge crash came from behind. The auditorium doors were blasted open from the outside with a bang...