"Why? It's one thing for them to bully me, but why, as my best friend, would you help them?"

The dress Shen Ting had bought especially for the class reunion was now in tatters, hanging from her body like rags. Clumps of her blood-streaked hair lay stark on the polished floor, and her face, swollen from the beating, stared numbly at her friend, questioning her over and over.

Why treat me this way? I've always been so good to you, doing everything to make you happy. Why betray me like this?

Wang Jie, initially feeling a twinge of guilt, gradually grew impatient as Shen Ting's persistent questioning continued. She glanced at Shen Ting's disheveled appearance with a look of disgust and turned her head away.

"I was threatened by them. You know how powerful they are. If I didn't join in, I'd lose the job I just got. You know I can't afford to lose it."

"For a job, you would betray our years of friendship? So, this is how cheap our bond was."

Shen Ting had endured the pain of the beating without shedding a tear, but upon hearing Wang Jie's words, her tears began to fall uncontrollably.

Wang Jie was her only friend. She had cherished this friendship for so many years, never expecting today's events to have been premeditated, with Wang Jie as one of the culprits.

God, please don't let me cry in front of her!

As the sushi she had eaten churned in her stomach, Wang Jie, looking at the poor-quality makeup smeared across Shen Ting's thin, dark face, felt a wave of nausea. She had endured enough. How could anyone be so ugly, so repulsive? Being friends with her had been suffocating.

"Our friendship is that cheap. You're going back to F City anyway. Let's not stay in touch. Delete all my contact info."

With a cold smile, Wang Jie smoothed her dress and turned to leave.

It took Shen Ting a long moment to process what had just been said. Ignoring the unbearable pain coursing through her body, she caught up with Wang Jie and grabbed her wrist, her voice trembling. "Don't go! Explain to me—why are you treating me like this?"

"What do you want?!" Wang Jie jerked her hand free and furiously wiped the area of her skin where Shen Ting had touched her, as if it had been contaminated. Her face twisted in revulsion.

Shen Ting's ears rang, her head throbbed, and a familiar scene before her made her whole body tremble uncontrollably.

She wasn't dirt or bacteria—she took two showers a day! Why did everyone react like this when she touched them? Aside from being a little ugly, what had she done wrong?

"Why are you doing this to me?" Shen Ting croaked out one last time, thinking Wang Jie wouldn't bother to answer.

But Wang Jie, filled with disdain, responded, "Do you really want to know? Fine, I'll tell you."

Sickened by Shen Ting, Wang Jie decided to discard all pretenses of politeness. With a sneer, she circled around Shen Ting, delivering her venomous comments.

"Look at you—tiny eyes, a huge, flat nose, paper-thin lips, skin darker than an old woman's, and hair like dry straw. You're disgusting. Why would I ever want to be friends with someone who looks like you?"

Wang Jie's lips moved, spitting out hurtful words that Shen Ting had heard hundreds of times from others throughout her life.

But hearing them from Wang Jie felt like a knife to her heart, cutting deeply.

"Yes, I'm ugly. But why did you choose to befriend me?" Shen Ting asked numbly, her nails digging into her palms to distract from the searing pain in her chest.

"Why?" Wang Jie stopped, her eyes gleaming as she looked Shen Ting up and down.

With a twisted grin, she replied, "Because you're so incredibly ugly that your ugliness makes my plainness look better. Standing next to you, no one would ever call me ugly, because you're far worse."

Shen Ting stood frozen, staring at Wang Jie's face twisted with triumph. "Hahaha, how does it feel? I tricked you for years, and you never even realized. How stupid can you be?"

"You've been lying to me this whole time?" Shen Ting's throat felt blocked by a heavy weight. It took all her strength to force out those words.

"So what if I did?" Wang Jie rolled her eyes and sneered. "Someone as ugly as you should count yourself lucky that anyone would be your friend, no matter the reason. And now you dare question me? Where do you get the nerve?"

"Is ugliness truly a crime?" Shen Ting muttered to herself.

All her life, she had endured mockery and disdain just because of her appearance. No matter how well she did something, people always found fault, forcing her to redo things over and over, enduring scolding and ridicule.

When she was young, she loved helping others. But whenever people saw her face, they would either scream or curse at her. No one had ever thanked her.

All because she was ugly!

Did she deserve to have no friends?

Did she deserve to be called a freak, a monster, a toad?

Did she deserve to work three times harder than others, only to be bullied by her colleagues, never receiving a promotion after two years in the same position?

"Isn't ugliness a crime? Just look at you. If I looked like you, I'd have jumped off a building long ago," Wang Jie spat, casting one last disgusted glance at Shen Ting before walking toward the lively banquet hall in her high heels.

A class reunion was hard to come by—she needed to seize the opportunity to cozy up to those who had made something of themselves. They might help her in the future.

Despite their years of friendship, even if it was fake, didn't she feel any guilt after saying such hurtful things?

With that thought, Shen Ting rushed forward and grabbed Wang Jie, her voice cold. "After all these years, have you forgotten how I treated you? You can't just dismiss me with a few words. What do you take me for?"

Wang Jie shrieked, raising her hands to hit Shen Ting's grasp. "Let go of me! You're disgusting!"

Ignoring the pain, Shen Ting tightened her grip. Her heart was dead to everything now—nothing mattered anymore. Part of her even hoped Wang Jie's cries would attract the attention of their classmates, exposing Wang Jie's ugly face for all to see.

"Let go of me, you freak! Are you deaf?" Wang Jie, being taller and stronger than the frail Shen Ting, clawed at her arm and wrist with her nails. Shen Ting gasped in pain but refused to let go.

Their scuffle started to draw the attention of onlookers from the banquet hall, and Wang Jie, noticing the growing crowd, gritted her teeth and dragged Shen Ting toward the staircase.

She brought this on herself—those people probably hadn't beaten her hard enough earlier.

With a resounding slap, Wang Jie threw Shen Ting against the wall, then kicked her viciously in the stomach. "Filthy wretch! How dare you touch me!"

Shen Ting groaned in pain, curling up on the floor. Wang Jie, still unsatisfied, kicked her twice more before adjusting her dress and walking away, cursing under her breath.

There's no way I'm letting you go! A fierce glint flashed in Shen Ting's small eyes as she struggled to her feet and, with all her might, tackled Wang Jie, slamming her head against the floor.

The echo of the impact reverberated through the empty space near the stairs.

Wang Jie was momentarily stunned but quickly reacted, throwing an elbow to push Shen Ting away. Before Shen Ting could recover, Wang Jie delivered a powerful kick that sent her flying.

Shen Ting felt herself lift off the ground, and before she could process it, her head slammed into the wall. The searing pain was followed by darkness, and she passed out.

Wang Jie watched as Shen Ting's limp body tumbled down the stairs. She was about to go down and kick her some more when she saw Shen Ting lying motionless, a pool of blood slowly spreading from the back of her head.

"Ahhh!!" Wang Jie screamed in terror. She had killed someone.