Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

Jasper was still waiting outside?
Jonah was also astonished to hear that.
Last night, it had continued to rain heavily for the better half of the night. The rain stopped, then started again this morning. An
upcoming typhoon was also forecasted tonight.
Jasper was just standing there without a drop of water to drink or a bite to eat. Was that how he wanted to die?
"Jasper has been outside all along? Since last night? What do you mean?"
Alyssa's captivating eyes were as wide as they could be. She grabbed Silas' shoulders tightly and shook him with all her might.
"Spill! What in the world is going on? You have all seen Jasper, haven't you? Have you all been hiding it from me alone?"
"Stop! Stop shaking me, Lyse! You're making me feel sick!" Silas felt like his entire world was spinning, and he couldn't focus his
eyes.
"Lyse! Calm down!"
Jonah hurried forward and grabbed a hold of her wrists. He pulled her into his arms. "It's Jasper's own choice, whatever he
chooses to do. If he wishes to stand there, so be it.
"He won't be able to stand there forever. He will have to leave, sooner or later."
One could say that he uttered those words with a double meaning.
"Even if he ends up standing there forever and turns into a rock, it is also simply what he deserves!"

Upon being reminded of the hardships Alyssa had endured in the past, Silas was consumed by anger.
"He is merely trying to torture himself to earn your pity. He is just dreaming of being a one-trick pony! He's delusional if he thinks
that he can make US forgive him just like that! No way! I will not forgive him even if he gets struck down by lightning outside!"
"This matter is between me and him! What does it have to do with all of you?"
Alyssa was enraged. Her eyes turned red, and she struggled to free herself from Jonah's arms. "Did you all see him yesterday?
Did Winston meet with him, too? Did you all gang up against him?"
"Settle down. Lyse..." Jonah enveloped Alyssa around her waist as he patted her on the back, which was trembling.
"What are you saying, Lyse? Did we gang up against him? We were just outraged by the injustice you went through. We were
only trying to avenge you!"
"I don't need you to do that!"
Alyssa's bloodshot eyes widened with anger. Her breathing had quickened and became unsteady.
"Why do you all have to be such busybodies? Do you think that what you did was for my own good? You were all just oppressing
Jasper as a way to relieve your own guilt!"
Jonah and Silas felt like they had been stabbed right in the heart!
While Jonah was distracted, Alyssa seized the opportunity to escape his embrace. She then ran toward the entrance to
Heightsnew Villa.

Alyssa flung her sandals aside as they were getting in her way. She'd rather run barefooted along the lengthy yet splendid
corridor.
She still hadn't seen the man she loved.
But her heart was already beating out of her burning hot chest. This mansion, which was more like a cage, didn't matter to her
anymore. Her sole focus was racing toward Jasper.
Suddenly, Alyssa froze.
Not far away, Liam was watching her with his eyes ablaze. He was standing his ground, just like an ice mountain that could not
be scaled.
Even though he was on his own, the air around him was fierce. He was unstoppable.
"Are you on your way to see him, Lyse?"
"Liam, get out of my way." Alyssa was panting. Beads of sweat covered her fair and smooth-skinned face.
Liam furrowed his brows slightly and shook his head. "You have been the dumb one for three years. Is that still not enough?
Wake up. He's not worth your time."
"If he's not worth it... Then who is?"
Alyssa's chest heaved up and down. Tears welled up in her eyes from her heartache. "When I was 11, he saved my life! When
we faced off against the terrorists at the battlefield in Luminara, we fought together, and he protected me with his life!
"Last year, when I was trapped on Crater Mountain due to the landslide, and Kontina, Shelland Island... He diverted the shooters'
attention so that Jonah could get away. He also took the bullets for me!
"Tell me, Liam... If he isn't worth it, then who the hell is?"
"I understand. Lyse. When you were 11, Jasper was the one who saved you. Because of that, you had always worshiped him.
You're seeing him through rose-tinted glasses.
"He's an angel to you, and you have unmet desires. These caused you to be unable to accept anyone else. I can see where you
are coming from."

Liam closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he opened his eyes again, the look in his eyes had become resolute.
He continued, "But, that year, he hadn't saved you because of who you are. It also wasn't because he loved you. It was only a
coincidence and nothing more."
"Liam! How... How could you say that?" Alyssa's voice cracked. She was anxious and infuriated.
"After that, everything he did was only to redeem himself and to make it up to you. And during those three years, you have shed
so much sweat and tears for him. You have repaid all of his kindness a long time ago."