They Chose Him, I Left
Chapter 30 We’ll Let Today Slide
Kenneth had no intention of stepping out of the car.
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But Lucas stood right in front of it, immovable, determined to
block his path until he got what he wanted.
Left with no alternative, Kenneth finally reached for the door
handle. Before getting out, he turned to Marianne and said, “You
should stay here.”
“No way,” she replied at once. “I’m coming with you.”
Her quiet resolve stirred something in him. The frustration that
had been boiling under his skin seemed to dissipate slightly,
soothed by her presence.
Lucas didn’t miss the subtle exchange between them, the warmth
in their eyes, the unspoken understanding, and his jealousy
deepened.
He hadn’t anticipated this. All the effort he’d poured into that elaborate scheme, hoping to drag Kenneth’s name through the mud, had amounted to nothing. Worse yet, it had drawn the two
even closer.
He’s just a sickly wreck. Why does he get all this loyalty?
The bitterness festered in his chest, nearly driving him mad. And Яet outwardly, he wore the perfect mask of humility.
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Chapter 30 We’ll Let Today Slide
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approaching in a hurry. Without hesitation, he bowed deeply, the picture of remorse.
Gasps rippled through the onlookers. All eyes turned to him.
“Kenneth, please, just forgive me,” Lucas said, his voice trembling
as he played the victim with practiced ease. “If you’re angry, then take it out on me. Eleanor and Victoria had nothing to do with any
of this!”
Kenneth looked at him, unmoved.
The act was far too familiar and far too tiring.
Even Marianne, who hadn’t spent much time around this group, couldn’t hide her irritation. “Seriously?” she said flatly. “You’re doing this again? Are you just addicted to stirring up drama?”
Lucas stiffened at the words.
He slowly lifted his head and gave her a wounded look, his voice soft and pitiful. “Please, just help me talk to Kenneth. I’ll admit to whatever he wants, as long as he’s willing to forgive us.”
“If you really know you messed up,” Marianne replied coldly, “then maybe leave us alone and stop making things worse.”
There was nothing veiled about the disgust in her tone. She had already formed her opinion of Lucas from what Kenneth had told
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What does he take me for, an idiot?
Lucas caught the disdain in her eyes and clenched his teeth inwardly.
She wasn’t like Eleanor and Victoria. She wasn’t going to be swayed by cheap theatrics.
“Lucas? What are you doing here?” Victoria’s surprised voice broke through the tension.
Lucas‘ lips twitched faintly.
Perfect timing!
“You okay?” Eleanor stepped up beside him.
Lucas gave a performance worthy of the stage. “I’m fine… It’s just that Kenneth’s still angry with me.”
“Why’d you come here all by yourself?”
“I didn’t want to see you two upset anymore. So I borrowed some money and came here to apologize.”
The moment the words left his mouth, both girls‘ expressions softened into worry and guilt.
Eleanor, especially, seemed shaken, clearly still feeling bad for
having blamed him earlier. “Lucas… we really put you through all 3/8
that?”
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Today Slide
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“It’s alright,” he said with gentle sincerity, like someone who carried the world’s burden without complaint. “As long as you’re both okay, that’s all that matters to me.”
Marianne watched the three of them put on their little show, her stomach churning.
She leaned over and muttered quietly to Kenneth, “That guy’s a manipulative piece of work.”
Kenneth nodded. “Way more than you think.”
Even he hadn’t seen through Lucas right away. That, more than anything, said it all.
The sight of the two whispering to each other only stoked Victoria’s fury.
Without hesitation, she stormed up to them, her voice sharp with displeasure. “Kenneth, how long are you planning to keep this up?”
Kenneth recognized the familiar accusation and resisted the urge to roll his eyes in public. He simply spread his hands. “I haven’t done a single thing. Seriously.”
“Exactly. It’s not like we laid a finger on anyone,” Marianne chimed
in, unable to hold back.
She couldn’t stand how Victoria always dumped the blame 4/8
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on Kenneth without even trying to understand what actually
Chapter 30 We’ll Let Today Slide
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Kenneth?”
“Shut up! No one asked for your opinion!” Victoria snapped. She’d already been humiliated on stage earlier, and after being repeatedly challenged by Marianne, she was itching to claw the
girl’s mouth right off her face.
But the sharp ache still pulsing in her arm kept her from making
any rash moves. The sting of her earlier embarrassment lingered,
reminding her not to act out again.
She turned her glare to Kenneth. “How about this? We’ll drop everything if you just apologize. That’ll be the end of it.”
“We’ll let today slide, too. No hard feelings,” Eleanor added smoothly, as if the offer were some kind of benevolent gift.
Neither of them seemed even remotely aware of how absurd they sounded. On the contrary, they acted like they were granting him
a rare favor.
Kenneth let out a sharp laugh, so angry he almost found it funny. “Wow. I never realized just how thick–skinned you two really are.”
Forgive me? For what, exactly?
What the hell did I do wrong?
“Kenneth, come on, just apologize,” Lucas urged from the şidelines, fanning the flames with practiced subtlety. A few loose 578
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strands of hair fell across his brow, half–shielding the bitterness
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He’d already stirred the pot this far, and now all it would take was one apology from Kenneth to make it all seem like nothing happened.
But what he really wanted, more than anything, was for this mess to blow up completely.
He stepped forward again, feigning sincerity. “Kenneth, I’m the one who wronged you. But Victoria and Eleanor have always treated you so well. You didn’t have to speak to them like that.”
“Lucas…” Eleanor’s expression softened, clearly moved.
Victoria, meanwhile, lifted her chin, adopting a posture of grand benevolence. “Can’t you just be reasonable for once, Kenneth?
Own up to your mistakes.”
“What a joke.” Kenneth’s voice was low, but cutting. “I don’t need your forgiveness. I’ve never done anything that needed forgiving.”
His temples throbbed with pain. He lifted a hand to rub at his forehead, weariness written all over his face.
“Maybe we should just leave,” Marianne suggested gently, her voice tinged with concern. “There’s no point standing around letting them stir up drama.”
But that single sentence set off a chain reaction.
“Wow, seriously?” Lucas jumped in, his eyes narrowed at her. 6/8
Vou really gonna sit there and stir things up between them?
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Victoria are just worried about Kenneth’s health.
“And you’re saying they’re the ones making a scene?”
His words struck exactly the right chord with Eleanor and Victoria.
Back when they were still at home, they had always assumed it was thanks to their care that Kenneth had managed to live so well.
But now that he’d gone abroad, he acted like an ungrateful brat, completely ignoring everything they’d done for him.
“Worried about his health?” Marianne shot back, her tone crisp, every word deliberate. “Is that why you’re humiliating him in front of everyone?
“Is that how you show you care, by turning everything into a scene? Just look at him. His face is pale as a sheet!”
Her words struck home. Only now did Eleanor and Victoria notice how unwell Kenneth truly looked. His complexion had drained of
color.
For a moment, uncertainty flickered in their expressions.
But Lucas wasn’t about to let that change the tide, not when he’d
worked so hard to manipulate the narrative.
He doubled down, flipping the story yet again. “Come on, Kenneth hadn’t been so heartless toward them, none of this
would’ve happened in the first place.
if
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Chapter 30 We’ll Let Today Slide
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“Kenneth, they’ve both decided to forgive you. Can’t you just say
sorry?
“After everything they did for you… even if you’re not friends anymore, you still owe them that much.”
“Exactly!” Victoria seized the moment. “You’re just a damn ingrate!”
Marianne’s temper flared at the insult. She was about to snap back when Kenneth suddenly caught her wrist, stopping her.
The fury in his expression had vanished. In its place was a cold, unsettling calm.
His sudden composure threw the others off balance.
Lucas‘ brow furrowed, a vague unease crawling up his spine.
Still, he pressed on, desperate to keep control of the narrative. “You’re not really going to deny everything they did for you… are
you?”
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