Part 3Sleight of Heart
About 2,161 characters · Part 3 is the last of the three Parts printed here; Part 4 continues in the official app.
After tailing Parker for a few weeks, Westfield High held its first major standardized midterm examinations of the semester.
When the monthly Honor Roll and GPA rankings were pinned to the main hallway bulletin board, Parker looked like a thundercloud ready to burst.
He didn't utter a word of complaint, but he coldly pushed away the breakfast sandwich I offered him.
I looked up at the names at the very top of the bulletin board:
Rank 1: Julian Cole.
Rank 2: Parker Hayes.
The male lead and second male lead have always been bitter rivals, the System chimed in. They fight for the top spot academically, and emotionally, Parker is the female lead's childhood friend—yet he stands zero chance against the brooding, untouchable Julian.
I nodded slowly. The System had already briefed me: Clara Brooks, the original female lead, would soon transfer here specifically to chase Julian.
In the original plotline, Parker’s obsession with Clara derailed his academic focus completely. He never beat Julian again.
After high school, Parker shipped off to Europe to remake himself into a cutthroat corporate titan, hoping to return and win Clara back.
But by the time he returned, Clara and Julian had already tied the knot in a high-society wedding.
He remained unmarried for the rest of his life, pulling dirty strings behind the scenes in desperate attempts to drive a wedge between them. He became the textbook definition of the bitter, toxic second lead who ruined himself for unrequited love.
The main couple’s bond proved unbreakable. Clara eventually cut him off entirely, shattering what was left of his heart. Parker spiraled into chronic depression, and despite inheriting his family’s billion-dollar conglomerate, the relentless emotional torment wore him down into an early grave.
I extracted two fundamental takeaways from this tragedy:
One: Confidence is vital. I needed to rebuild Parker's self-esteem.
Two: Joy is paramount. I had to keep Parker happy.
I found Parker ditching class, sprawled on a weathered bench beneath a massive oak tree behind the athletic fields.
Hearing my footsteps, he squeezed his eyes shut and snapped, "I'm in a foul mood. Don't bother me."