It was late afternoon. The sunlight had softened, no longer blinding, but still bright enough to tint the white facade of the main school building with a pale golden hue.

The vast campus of Crownwood High School, a prestigious private institution reserved for the children of Los Angeles’s upper class, was in a state of turmoil.

Police sirens wailed through the air, radios crackled with static and voices, and the sound of a restless crowd buzzed all around.

The area around the five-story building had been sealed off with yellow police tape. Inside the perimeter, large rescue air cushions had been fully inflated, ready in case the worst should happen.

Students and teachers were kept far from the scene, whispering anxiously among themselves.

Up on the rooftop, a girl of about fifteen or sixteen stood beyond the safety railing. Her long brown hair whipped in the wind, and her school uniform skirt flapped wildly around her shaky legs.

She gripped the railing tightly, but her eyes, locked on the ground far below, held a terrifying sense of finality.

The officers on the rooftop stood frozen, tension in every muscle. No one dared make a move, afraid that even the smallest action might trigger the girl to jump.

A girl with short black hair and an attractive face hurried over to Alex Rios, her expression tense. Leaning in close, she whispered in his ear,

“Captain, negotiations aren’t working. Try a different approach.”

Lucy Edna’s voice carried a hint of urgency.

Detective Lieutenant Alex Rios furrowed his brows, making his already striking features appear even colder and sharper. He looked down at the briefing file on Natalie Quinn - the girl standing precariously outside the rooftop railing - searching for a breakthrough.

Just then, the door to the emergency stairwell burst open.

A young man, around 5'11", stepped into view. He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, with the collar of his crisp white shirt buttoned all the way to the top. His golden blond hair, long enough to touch his collar, was neatly slicked back, revealing a pair of vivid ocean-blue eyes behind a rimless pair of refined glasses.

He looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, undeniably handsome, with a classic kind of beauty. Though somewhat slender, his presence exuded elegance and calm, like an aristocratic gentleman from another era.

The sudden appearance of the young man made Alex instinctively narrow his eyes. His chiseled face showed a flicker of suspicion and assessment. At the same time, a thought crossed his mind:

“Who’s this rich pretty boy? All polished up like he’s heading to a rooftop ball. Can’t he see the cops are in the middle of an operation?”

Before Alex could wonder for long, the young man stepped forward, pulled a credentials from the inside pocket of his suit, and said,

“Dr. Adrian Monroe. Criminal psychology specialist, professor at UCLA. I was assigned by RHD to support SCIU.”

***

UCLA: University of California, Los Angeles.

RHD: Robbery-Homicide Division.

SCIU: Special Circumstances Investigation Unit.

***

Alex glanced at the credentials, then looked up to meet the man’s strikingly handsome face. His sharp eyes shimmered with suspicion, but he gave a small nod to show he understood.

Adrian continued, his voice calm but firm, “I want to talk to the girl.”

Alex’s brows drew together slightly, he clearly wasn’t convinced by the young consultant, who looked more like a spoiled trust-fund heir than a professional.

But time was ticking. After only a few seconds of hesitation, Alex gave a terse nod. He lowered his voice and warned,

“She’s extremely agitated. Be careful.”

Adrian nodded. He handed the file in his hands to Lucy and calmly walked toward the railing where Natalie was standing.

“Don’t… don’t come any closer or I’ll jump!” Natalie screamed, her voice sharp with panic. She reacted with intense alarm to Adrian’s approach.

The other officers on the rooftop immediately tensed, nerves stretched taut.

Alex cursed under his breath at Adrian’s impulsive move. He should’ve never handed such a critical task to this guy. But now, with no other option, all he could do was clench his fists, any rash interference might make things spiral out of control.

Adrian gave a slight shrug.

“I won’t come any closer,” he said evenly, then changed direction and walked toward a different section of the railing, roughly sixty feet from where Natalie was standing. Far enough to ease her anxiety, yet close enough for her to hear him.

Then, without any warning, Adrian placed a hand on the railing and leapt over it.

His movement was fluid and unhesitating, as if he were stepping onto solid ground rather than the edge of a five-story building.

Everyone on the rooftop gasped in shock. A few officers nearly rushed forward to pull him back. Someone couldn’t help but shout out.

Natalie, no less shaken, stared wide-eyed, her pale face turning even whiter.

In stark contrast to the tension gripping everyone else, Adrian looked perfectly calm. He casually sat down on the outer edge of the rooftop wall, legs dangling over the side, gently swaying in the air. He looked utterly at ease, almost like he was enjoying himself.

His composure and ease stood in sharp contrast to the trembling figure of Natalie, who was clearly on the verge of ending her life.

“It’s really high,” Adrian remarked, then added, “Do you really want to jump from here? It’s going to hurt, a lot.”

Natalie pressed her lips together, unwilling to respond. But after a moment, she couldn’t help but speak up, her voice soft but firm:

“Go back inside. Just leave me alone.”

Even in such a desperate moment, she still found it in herself to care about others. She truly had a soft and gentle heart.

But in some cases, that same gentleness becomes nourishment, fertile ground in which cruelty and evil quietly grow.

Adrian shook his head, offering a calm smile.

“I won’t fall. Don’t worry.”

Adrian squinted down at the air cushion below, his tone as casual as if he were making small talk with the schoolgirl.

“You know, Natalie, if you jump from here, there’s no guarantee you’ll land on that inflatable cushion.”

Natalie pressed her lips together tightly, her face pale. She had come here to end her life, missing the cushion was exactly what she wanted.

Adrian didn’t wait for a reply. He continued,

“If your body tilts just a little as you fall, or if the wind shifts even slightly, you could hit the edge of the cushion instead…”

He raised a finger and traced a slow circle in the air, then spoke again, his voice lower and heavier.

“Your pelvis would shatter. Your spine would snap. Blood would pour from your mouth and nose... You might stay conscious for a few minutes, long enough to feel every shard of bone ripping through your insides.”

Then he pointed downward, toward the people below who were watching anxiously.

“If you’re still alive, they - doing their jobs - will try to save you. But all that will do is keep you breathing long enough to suffer more. If the fall doesn’t kill you instantly, with your spine crushed and your brain injured, you’ll spend the rest of your life bedridden. Or in a coma. Or insane.”

Natalie’s face turned even paler. She bit her lip, eyes glistening at the corners, but she said nothing.

Adrian didn’t press her. Instead, he let out a sigh and added,

“You’re such a beautiful girl, why choose such an ugly way to die? Aren’t you afraid that after you fall, that pretty face of yours will be crushed beyond recognition?”

Up until now, Natalie had remained outside the safety railing, refusing to speak to anyone. But Adrian’s words were like a trigger, they instantly unleashed the storm that had been building inside her.

“What good is being beautiful?” she snapped. “If I could, I’d gladly give up this face.”

The wind whipped her long hair around her face, and her uniform skirt fluttered wildly. The resolve in Natalie’s eyes now mixed with pain and bitterness, as if her very beauty were the root of all her suffering.

Natalie came from South Central, one of the most notorious poor neighborhoods in Los Angeles, a place plagued by violence, drugs, and crime. Three years ago, her mother died of a drug overdose, leaving thirteen-year-old Natalie without a home. She was placed in a group home under state care.

Through sheer determination and relentless effort, Natalie earned a full scholarship to Crownwood, a prestigious private boarding school. On her first day, she had allowed herself to dream of a future where hard work alone would lead to the success she deserved.

But reality turned out to be nothing like those dreams.

What she never expected was that Crownwood would become the starting point of a nightmare that had dragged on for over a year.

With her humble background, striking appearance, and outstanding academic achievements, Natalie quickly became a thorn in the side of Vivian, the girl known as the princess of Crownwood. Vivian was the daughter of a millionaire and one of the school’s major shareholders.

Natalie’s beauty naturally attracted the attention and sympathy of the teenage boys at school, many of whom stood up for her against Vivian’s bullying. But instead of backing off, this only fueled the flames of jealousy burning inside Vivian.

That was when Natalie’s nightmare began. Vivian framed her, and she was raped by the boys in Vivian’s circle. They recorded it and used the video to blackmail her, forcing her to remain their plaything.

Her body and soul had been violated beyond repair, and with her weakness held firmly in the hands of her abusers, Natalie had no choice but to endure it in silence. Time and again, she told herself that if she could just make it to graduation, she could escape, go far away for college and finally leave the nightmare behind.

But evil, once planted, only grows. And Vivian was no longer satisfied with keeping her cruel games a secret.

Gradually, Natalie noticed the whispers behind her back growing louder, the stares from her classmates filled with scorn and disgust. That was when she knew, Vivian had broken her promise.

Eventually, the psychological pressure became too much for Natalie to bear, and she decided to end her life.