Allen Ju's voice remained calm as always, unchanged by everything that had just happened.
"Are you insane!"
Mia Liao's expression changed at those words. Her eyes widened, and shock and disbelief flashed across her pretty face—quickly replaced by anger.
Allen Ju had never once gone against her wishes.
Especially with so many pairs of eyes watching.
Mia Liao was stunned by Allen Ju's blunt refusal. She found it hard to accept and felt utterly humiliated.
"He injured Nightstar's people! Are you really going to drag your entire Ju family into this mess for a guy like him?"
Mia Liao snapped, her face twisted with anger: "Allen Ju, I won't allow you to be so reckless! Snap out of it right now!"
As she spoke, she strode toward Allen Ju.
When she reached him, she grabbed Allen Ju's arm with both hands.
Everyone watching fell silent.
A hush fell over the crowd.
Only Mia Liao’s increasingly twisted expression stared directly at Allen Ju’s now even calmer face.
Tyler Tai, Kyle Liu, and a few others sensed trouble, while Sylvia Xia felt uneasy.
Frank Bi and Calvin Zheng stood there, with no intention of stepping forward.
Selina Wu stepped forward again, reaching out to hold Evan Lin’s wrist, showing her support.
Leon Lu coughed, while Gloria Rong and Wanwan Sun looked at Allen Ju with concern.
The situation was too sudden; all were Allen Ju’s childhood friends and understood the sadness hidden beneath his calm face.
She looked panicked and disheveled, her expression frantic.
Over the years, Mia Liao used her connection with Allen Ju to help the Liu family build relationships.
But if Allen Ju cut ties and stopped listening to her, the Liu family no longer had the strength to hold their place in the circle.
Just look at today—even Tyler Tai and the guys she brought only gave her face because of Allen Ju.
Back then, Tyler Tai was king of the courtyard kids, and Mia wasn’t the prettiest girl, so Tyler never really favored her much.
It wasn’t until Mia leaned on the Third Young Master’s name that she got closer to Tyler Tai.
She even dreamed that if she could once again prove Allen’s loyalty, maybe Tyler would become her boyfriend.
But not all lovers end up together.
She never saw this coming.
Today, Allen Ju flipped the table—he’s done playing along.
"He doesn’t deserve to be your friend, and he’ll drag your Ju family down! Don’t change the subject!"
Before she could finish, Allen shook his head: "He’s my friend. Whether the Ju family gets involved is my problem, not yours."
You want everyone in the circle to know that Mia Liao can control Allen Ju—that whatever you say, I’ll do, so your Liu family can latch onto the Ju family’s backing.
I’ve always understood how it works.
Allen suddenly sighed, and Mia’s angry, tense face froze in place.
Her body trembled; for a moment, she was speechless, just staring blankly at Allen.
I get it. I know your motives. Until today, I didn’t mind your little schemes, didn’t mind using my Third Young Master status as your backdrop.
But the one thing you shouldn’t have done was drag my friend into it.
With that, Allen pointed to Evan Lin, then spoke in a low voice: "Everyone here, take a good look."
This man is my friend. My friend is nobody else’s business.
As he spoke, the sadness faded from Allen’s eyes; his smile thinned, and he looked at Mia’s pale, trembling face: "Sister Mia, this is the last time I’ll call you that."
Thank you for leaving traces in my life worth remembering. Thank you for all the years I spent thinking about you.
But from today on, it’s all over.
From now on, we’re strangers, each living our own lives. I won’t be the boy who’s happy just to follow behind you—I’ll be the Ju family’s Third Young Master, Allen Ju.
Take care of yourself.
Allen spoke in a deep, steady voice.
"Allen..."
Mia felt the world spinning: "You can’t treat me like this!"
"When we were kids, I was the one who took you out to play—how can you repay me like this?"
She staggered forward, steps unsteady, reaching out as if to pull Allen into her arms.
She looked panicked and disheveled.
All these years, Mia Liao used her connection with Allen Ju to help the Liu family build relationships.
But if she lost Allen Ju, if he stopped listening to her, the Liu family didn’t have the strength to keep their place in the circle.
Just look at today—even Tyler Tai and those guys she brought only gave her face because of Allen Ju.
Back then, Tyler Tai was the king of the courtyard kids, and Mia wasn’t the prettiest girl, so Tyler never really favored her much.
It wasn’t until Mia leaned on the Third Young Master’s name that she got closer to Tyler Tai.
She even dreamed that if she could once again prove Allen’s loyalty, maybe Tyler would become her boyfriend.
But not all lovers end up together.
She never saw this coming.
Today, Allen Ju flipped the table—he’s done playing along.