NovelXXXChapter 260 But now, every word Clifford had once thrown at Citrine echoed in his mind with painful clarity.
He remembered snarling at her, "Citrine, why do you have to lie all the time? That was a gift from Jeanette, not you. If you keep insisting, I swear I'll hit you." He remembered another time, his voice sharp, "Citrine, if it weren't for Jeanette, I'd be done for. If you try to take credit for what she did again, I'll beat you senseless." Clifford remembered how angry he'd been, how he'd lashed out and kicked the little girl hard in the stomach.
Her face had gone pale with pain, but he'd just sneered and accused her of faking it.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHe'd been so cruel to Citrine.
No wonder she wanted nothing to do with him. In this moment, everything becclear to Clifford.
Without thinking, he swung his hand and slapped Jeanette hard across the face.
Through gritted teeth, he spat, "You're vile. If it weren't for you, Citrine wouldn't have been blamed and she wouldn't have been cut off from the Iversons. This is all your fault." Jeanette covered her cheek, but then smiled coldly at him. "Clifford, it wasn'twho didn't trust her-it was your family. You all accused her, and you even hit her yourself. What, did I force you to do that too?" She paused, her voice almost mocking. "But if blamingmakes you feel better, go ahead." With that, she turned and quickly left the rooftop, not wanting to be seen alone with Clifford any longer.
Clifford wandered back to the classroom in a daze, feeling as if all the strength had drained from his body.
He had barely sat down when someone kicked his chair hard from behind. Turning around, Clifford found a few old friends eyeing him with obvious malice. "Hey, errand boy, go grab coffees for all of us from that café on North Street," Laird jeered, pulling a few crisp hundred-dollar bills from his pocket and tossing them in Clifford's face. "I want mine before two o'clock." Clifford was about to refuse, but the memory flashed through his mind he and Laird had treated Citrine the sway once, bossing her around, ordering her to do their bidding, even hitting her when they were in a bad mood.
For half a year, they'd humiliated her as if she were nothing.
Now, thinking of all he'd done to Citrine, the sting of humiliation from these guys didn't feel quite so sharp. Almost in a trance, he bent down, picked up the bills, and tucked them into his pocket.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmHe looked at them, imitating the way Citrine used to respond to their ridiculous demands, and said, "I'll head out now. What kind of coffee does everyone want?" The boys exchanged glances, then burst out laughing.
"Clifford's lost his mind! Look at him, actually agreeing to be gur gofer. thought for sure he'd swing at us after that," one of them cackled.
"Never thought I'd see the day I could boss Clifford around," Laird crowed. "Guess being adopted really teaches you how to bend. With an attitude like that, you'll do just fine in the real world."
Someone else chimed in, a spoiled rich kid who used to get bullied by Clifford and Laird, but now that the Iversons had fallen, the tables had turned. "Since you're so so obedient, bro, I'take advantage. My shoes are filthy-how about you clean them up for me? I'll even pay you-one thousand bucks for a job well done. Bet you'd never have bothered with that kind of pocket change before, but now, it'll probably cover your expenses for the whole month." As soon as he said it, the rest of the class erupted, egging him on.
Clifford had never suffered this kind of humiliation before. His face went ghostly pale, fists clenched tight at his sides, ready to explode.
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