After Hearing His Thoughts, I Cut Him Off

After Hearing My First Love Rafael's Inner Thoughts, I Pulled My Investment

When I was walking home with my first love, I suddenly heard his inner thoughts.

[Claudia is so annoying, always insisting we leave school together every day.]

[If I didn't need her family's resources for business, I wouldn't even bother pretending to care about her.]

[It's pouring rain outside. I wonder if Giuliana brought an umbrella.]

I froze mid-step.

Giulianathe beautiful scholarship student who just transferred here.

Rafael stood before me with downcast eyes, his jawline tight and aloof.

He clearly hadn't spoken aloud, yet his voice continued to explode in my mind.

[I heard Giuliana lives in the poor part of downtown. The roads there aren't very good either.]

[I'm really worried about her. I wish I could walk her home.]

[If only I could find an excuse to ditch Claudia...]

My footsteps halted. I felt momentarily stunned.

Rafael lifted his eyelids, his expression cold and indifferent as he glanced at me.

We'd known each other for years. I knew he was naturally distant and reserved, never good with words. I'd long grown accustomed to this way of interacting.

But now, I seemed to see clear, unmistakable disgust in his eyes.

Suddenly, a timid female voice came from the back door of the classroom.

"Rafael, I... my umbrella broke."

I instinctively turned around. Giuliana was standing behind me, though I hadn't noticed when she'd appeared.

She clutched a broken floral umbrella in her hands, one of the ribs hanging down limply.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't bother you, but I'm afraid my textbooks will get wet..."

She trailed off, then quickly glanced up at Rafael. Her eyes were red-rimmed, brimming with grievance and anxiety.

She'd just transferred here last week and rarely spoke to other students.

Her sudden request for help caught me off guard.

After all, Rafael was notorious for hating to be bothered. He spoke and acted without sparing anyone's feelings.

But this time, after a moment's thought, his low voice suddenly rang out:

"Claudia, I can't go home with you today."

"Since Giuliana lives so far away, I'll walk her home instead."

Rafael's expression remained ice-cold as always.

If I hadn't heard those inner thoughts, I might have actually believed this was a purely rational decision.

"What about me?" I asked with a touch of mockery.

Rafael frowned, then spoke: "Isn't your driver waiting at the school gate?"

"Just make do with her umbrella for now. Your house is close anywayyou won't get wet for more than a few steps."

With that, he shoved Giuliana's umbrella into my hands without allowing any refusal.

Seeing my silence, Giuliana's expression filled with guilt and unease.

She twisted the hem of her shirt with her fingers and spoke in a trembling voice:

"No, how can Claudia use this broken umbrella..."

"I'm sorry for causing you both trouble."

"Never mind, I'll just run home."

She made as if to leave, but Rafael grabbed her arm.

Rafael looked at me in silence, frowning, his thin lips pressed into a cold line.

But his inner voice rang out in my mind.

[Claudia's definitely going to throw a tantrum again. I'm so sick of it.]

[All her life, she's just relied on her family's power, thinking everyone should revolve around her.]

[But I really don't want to indulge her anymore. I like Giulianado I have to spell it out?]

[Giuliana can't possibly walk home in the rain...]

I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe, as if something in my chest was slowly shattering.

Before Rafael could speak, I voluntarily stepped back:

"You two go ahead."

Rafael let out a relieved breath and turned to the side, his voice gentle: "Giuliana, give me your backpack."

Giuliana glanced at me hesitantly.

Then she nodded obediently and ducked under Rafael's umbrella.

Before long, their silhouettes disappeared into the curtain of rain.

I looked down at the ground.

Then I tossed Giuliana's broken umbrella by the back door and walked into the rain.

At the school gate, Sargent's car sat with its lights on.

He froze for a moment, then quickly grabbed an umbrella and ran over:

"Miss Claudia, why are you alone? Where's Rafael?"

"Let's go home first."

I leaned back against the seat, my eyes stinging.

When I got home, my mother's face was full of worry.

She dried my hair while chattering:

"What were you thinking, child! Why are you soaked like this? Where's Rafael? Doesn't he walk you home every day?"

"Look at youyour lips are completely pale! Your father's still overseas on that business deal. If he finds out, he'll fly back overnight..."

"Mom." I interrupted her with downcast eyes, my voice hoarse. "I want to go back to my room and sleep."

Her gaze lingered on my face for a moment.

She didn't press further, instead turning toward the kitchen to tell the housekeeper to prepare dinner for me.

I changed my clothes and went upstairs.

Behind the closed door, all sounds were shut out.

But the scenes from earlier kept replaying uncontrollably in my mind.

I thought of the faint smile that curved Rafael's lips when he faced Giuliana.

Then I recalled the way he looked at mefull of perfunctory dismissal and impatience.

At this moment, I finally believed with certainty that those inner thoughts I'd heard weren't hallucinations.

So that's how it was. Beyond using me, Rafael felt nothing but disgust toward me.

We'd known each other for years. I'd thought he was naturally aloof, maintaining that cold demeanor with everyone.

Only today did I see through it all. He wasn't incapable of expressing emotionhe just despised me.

In the quiet room, my phone suddenly rang.

On the screen, the caller was Rafael.

The moment I answered, Rafael's voice came through with an accusation:

"Claudia, did you go home and tell your parents something?"

"It rained so hard today. I was just walking Giuliana home. Did you really have to complain to my father about it?"

His breathing came through the receiverrapid and irregular.

I rarely saw him lose his composure like this.

"Rafael," my voice was calm, "did you call just to blame me?"

"Or do you think that as long as my family doesn't ask, your father won't find out what happened today?"

Rafael fell silent for a moment.

Over the phone, my ability to hear his thoughts seemed to fail, but I could imagine his annoyed expression.

After a long pause, he finally spoke coldly:

"Couldn't you just explain things for me?"

"In the end, you're just throwing a tantrum, deliberately..."

I took a deep breath and cut him off abruptly:

"Rafael, why should I cover for what you did?"

The voice on the other end stopped dead.

I laughed coldly:

"You think your father heard about this from me?"

"Rafael, don't you have any idea how many people your father has stationed around us to keep watch?"

"After all, he knows better than anyone how many projects my family has handed over to..."

A dull thud suddenly came from the other end of the line.

Rafael spoke through gritted teeth:

"Are you done yet?!"

"What?" I continued. "If I don't say it, does that mean it doesn't exist?"

All these years, there were things I never mentioned, but that didn't mean I was unaware.

Rafael's family had many children and was a sprawling clan. Initially, Rafael was just the quietest, most unremarkable one.

The Walker family had been established in San Francisco for three generations, and I was their only daughterthe sole heir to Walker Corporation.

My parents doted on me and, by extension, looked after Rafael, my childhood companion.

Because of this, the Harrington family business, which had teetered on the brink of bankruptcy multiple times, not only paid off its debts but also secured countless resources and projects.

With the Walker family's support, Rafael gradually earned recognition within his own family.

The other end of the line went quiet for a long time, as if weighing pros and cons.

After a while, Rafael finally spoke in a low voice:

"Claudia, I won't contact you for a while."

"Reflect on yourself properly."

His tone carried an air of fearless indifference.

Before I could respond, he hung up.

After that phone call, Rafael and I entered a cold war.

I knew he was waiting for me to cave first, just like every other argument we'd had before.

The cold war lasted three days. On my way back to the classroom, Giuliana came running straight into me.

By the time I registered what happened, she was already sitting on the ground, clutching her ankle in pain.

Students in the hallway stopped in their tracks, their gazes converging on us.

From the crowd, a low male voice suddenly rang out.

"Claudia, what are you doing?!"

I looked toward the voice and met Rafael's disgusted stare.

Giuliana bit her lower lip, her voice weak:

"It's not Claudia's fault. I was walking too fast."

[And she's still making excuses for Claudia even now. Giuliana is just too kind.]

[I only ignored Claudia for a few days, and she's already taking it out on Giuliana. Still as spoiled as ever.]

[Once I take over my father's company, I definitely won't let Claudia off easy.]

Rafael's face remained impassive, but his inner thoughts exploded like rapid fire in my mind.

I glanced at the students gathered around to watch the drama, my tone calm:

"She's the one who ran into me."

Rafael frowned:

"Come on, what's the point of making excuses?"

"Did she sprain her own ankle just to frame you?"

His voice dripped with sarcasm.

I glanced at Giuliana's aggrieved face and said flatly:

"Yeah, because she knew someone would come running over like a dog to defend her without asking any questions."

The hallway fell silent for a moment.

Giuliana looked up with grievance, sobbing softly:

"Claudia, I know you don't like me, but how can you insult Rafael like that?"

"He was just trying to speak up for me..."

Rafael clenched his fists, knuckles white with restraint.

"Claudia, do you have to be this unreasonable?"

"Looks like these past few days haven't taught you where you went wrong."

I cut him off abruptly:

"If you think I'm being unreasonable, then don't associate with me anymore."

"I'll tell my parents when I get home. You'd better prepare yourself mentally."

[There she goes again, using her family's power to control me whenever she loses her temper.]

[Ha, it's all an act. If I give her the cold shoulder for a few days, she'll come crawling back like always.]

[Once she cools down in a couple days, I'll make her apologize to Giuliana.]

His inner voice laid out all his thoughts crystal clear.

"Do whatever you want. I don't care."

After a long pause, Rafael coldly dropped that single sentence.

Then he bent down, slipped one arm under Giuliana's knees, and lifted her into his arms.

"Bear with the pain. I'll take you to the nurse's office." He looked down at her, his voice gentle.

Giuliana rested against his shoulder, tears still streaking her face.

But the corners of her lips curled upward, and the look she gave me carried a hint of provocation.

I ignored them and turned toward the classroom.

My father finished handling overseas business and returned home that evening.

The study door closed. He sat behind the desk and casually tossed a stack of documents onto the table.

"Take a look. The Harrington family submitted these."

"That project on the east side of townRafael's father has approached me several times, but I've held off on making a decision."

"Claudia, what do you think?"

I understood my father's attitude toward the Harrington family.

All these years, Harrington Industries had relied on Walker Corporation's resources and connections to gradually establish a foothold in the business world.

My father had always been straightforward and forthright. He despised the Harrington family's calculating shrewdness.

In the past, I'd been infatuated with Rafael. Out of love for me, my father kept investing in and handing projects to the Harrington family.

After all, back then, my father genuinely considered Rafael a future son-in-law.

But after hearing about recent events, he'd clearly lost the patience to maintain that relationship.

I looked at him calmly:

"Dad, I was foolish before, but I've figured things out now."

"Our partnership with the Harrington family ends here."

He smiled faintly and pushed the stack of project proposals aside:

"Alright, then we'll do as you say."

"But I want you to rememberyou're my precious daughter, the future heir to this company."

"Claudia, you don't need to bow your head to anyone."