The harassment messages continued to pour in.
What had started as insults had become something much uglier.
Someone had even created fabricated images using Alice’s face and begun circulating them among the students.
By the time she came to me, the damage had already spread.
Of course she came to me.
After all, I was the one who had dragged her into this situation.
I couldn’t leave the story unfinished.
Jack had been using anonymous accounts and disposable numbers to distribute humiliating material involving Alice.
Every new message created another whisper.
Some students laughed.
Others stared.
Most simply watched.
Alice lowered her head and covered her face with both hands.
Her shoulders trembled.
She was trying not to cry.
I watched her for a moment.
This is my fault.
Not because I felt guilty.
Guilt had never been particularly useful to me.
But every action had a consequence.
And this particular consequence had become inconvenient.
I stood.
Then I pulled Alice into my arms.
Her body stiffened.
For a second, she didn’t move.
Then she broke down against me.
“Everything will pass,” I whispered.
“Trust me.”
She trembled.
“By tomorrow, everyone will apologize to you.”
Around us, the whispers began almost immediately.
“Look at the antisocial kid.”
“Isn’t that Alice?”
“I didn’t know they were close.”
“Apparently he finally found someone.”
I heard every word.
They were already constructing their own version of the story.
That was the amusing thing about people.
Give them half a truth, and they’ll manufacture the rest themselves.
Jack had achieved exactly what he wanted.
Alice looked isolated.
Now I did too.
Two outcasts standing together.
Two convenient targets.
Two birds with one stone.
But Jack had made one mistake.
He still believed he was the one holding the stone.
I gently pulled Alice away and wiped the tears from her face.
“Sit down.”
She nodded.
I returned to my desk.
Then I sent Luke a message.
Congratulate Jack when class ends.
Tell him we’re celebrating tonight.
The response came almost immediately.
Understood.
When classes ended, Luke approached Jack with a grin.
He shook his hand.
“You were incredible.”
Jack laughed.
“I knew there was something in you.”
Luke smiled.
“I’d rather have you as my brother than my enemy.”
He placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder.
“Let’s celebrate.”
Jack’s expression brightened.
“Sure, bro.”
I watched them from across the room.
Perfect.
Jack didn’t realize that his victory had already become the bait.
I approached Alice one final time.
“Everything will be fixed today.”
Her eyes widened.
“What do you mean?”
“Just trust me.”
Then I walked away.
That evening, they gathered at Luke’s place.
It was an old, worn-down house on the edge of the neighborhood.
A discarded tire served as a makeshift table in the center of the room.
Old armchairs surrounded it.
There were drinks, cake, loud music, and the kind of laughter people made when they believed they had finally won something.
Jack was the loudest.
“As long as we’re together, nobody can defeat us!”
The others laughed.
Jack raised his drink.
“And besides, nobody would want me as an enemy!”
More laughter.
Then my phone vibrated. New chapters come out on g.com first.
A message from Luke.
Come over.
I stared at the screen.
Then I looked toward the old house I had once called home.
There was still something waiting for me inside.
The building was silent when I entered.
Far too silent.
I walked through the empty rooms.
Everything looked exactly as I remembered it.
The walls.
The furniture.
The places where old arguments had once taken place.
I opened the concealed safe.
Inside was the firearm.
I picked it up.
For a moment, I stared at my reflection in the dark glass.
The boy looking back at me seemed almost ordinary.
Almost.
Is this what they created?
The thought came without warning.
Or is this what I became because they gave me the freedom to choose?
I closed the safe.
The question didn’t matter.
Answers were useful only when they changed something.
And this wouldn’t.
I left.
When I entered Luke’s house, the laughter stopped.
Every face turned toward me.
I didn’t speak immediately.
Instead, I played the voice message Luke had sent me earlier.
My own voice filled the room.
“So you guys are strong when you’re together?”
Silence.
Luke looked at me.
Then stepped forward.
One by one, the others followed.
They shook my hand.
“Welcome.”
Jack stared at them.
Then at me.
His smile became uncertain.
“Hey…”
He laughed nervously.
“Guys?”
Nobody answered.
“What’s happening?”
I stopped in front of him.
The confidence he’d displayed earlier was gone.
I reached beneath my coat.
The firearm appeared.
The room fell completely silent.
Jack swallowed.
I looked directly into his eyes.
“Now you’re going to do something for me.”
His voice trembled.
“What?”
“You are going to collect every piece of evidence proving that the anonymous accounts and harassment campaign came from you.”
His face went pale.
“Then you’re going to send an apology to everyone.”
I paused.
“And you’ll tell them exactly what you did.”
Jack stared at me.
“You have one hour.”
His knees gave out.
He dropped to the floor.
“Please…”
His breathing became uneven.
“If I can’t finish in an hour—”
“Then you don’t finish.”
He looked up at me.
“Please.”
I stared down at him.
“I don’t care.”
And that was the truth.
Not because I hated him.
Hatred required emotional investment.
Jack wasn’t important enough for that.
He grabbed his phone.
His fingers moved frantically across the screen.
Nobody spoke.
The room was filled only by the sound of his typing.
Eventually, he turned the screen toward me.
The message was ready.
I am Jack, your class representative and one of the students recognized by our teachers for academic achievement.
I am providing the evidence here.
I apologize to everyone, especially Alice.
I hope you can forgive me.
He hesitated.
Then pressed send.
One notification after another appeared.
Sent.
Delivered.
Read.
Everyone had received it.
Including Alice.
I turned toward the door.
There was nothing left for me to do.
As I walked outside, Luke and the others began laughing.
“To think we were friends with you.”
“What an embarrassment.”
“You’re finished, Jack.”
They followed me out.
Jack remained behind.
Alone.
Exactly where I wanted him.
My phone rang.
Alice.
I answered.
Her voice was broken by tears.
“A-Arthur…”
She struggled to speak.
“Thank you.”
I remained silent.
“Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
I paused.
“Don’t mention it.”
Then I added:
“You’re my friend.”
I ended the call.
I stared at the blank screen.
Friend.
The word felt strange.
Almost foreign.
I wondered whether Alice actually believed it.
Then I smiled faintly.
Of course she did.
That was enough.
The following morning, I showed the message to our teachers.
The reaction was immediate.
The faculty held a meeting to evaluate the situation.
Not long afterward, our homeroom teacher entered the classroom.
His expression was unusually serious.
“Jack has been removed from his position and temporarily suspended from the university pending disciplinary review.”
The room fell silent.
Alice looked relieved.
Almost happy.
I remained quietly at my desk.
My hands were folded beneath my chin.
Everyone in that classroom had laughed yesterday.
They had watched Alice suffer.
They had whispered.
They had judged.
And now they were pretending nothing had happened.
Interesting.
Jack had been punished.
Alice had been vindicated.
The problem should have been over.
But it wasn’t.
Because punishment wasn’t the same as consequence.
And forgiveness wasn’t the same as forgetting.
I looked around the classroom.
One face at a time.
The students who had laughed.
The students who had stared.
The students who had whispered.
The students who had done nothing.
I memorized them.
Not because they had hurt Alice.
Because they had shown me something about themselves.
People reveal who they are when they think the consequences belong to someone else.
A faint smile touched my lips.
Jack had only been the beginning.
The real lesson hadn’t even started.
Jack’s story may be over… but Arthur’s story is only beginning.
What do you think Arthur will do next?
And more importantly… Who do you think will be the next person to cross his path?
Leave your theories in the comments.
See you in the next chapter.
Alice In His Arms scene ↓↓ https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ms4-e5JwJYIU2XBQQ65uonwZoB3sfB9_/view?usp=drivesdk Jack At Gunpoint scene ↓↓ https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EB01UarOXlt7n1VMbvH1jFjNZ4EGdxeQ/view?usp=drivesdk