I Was Meant to Fly, but They Clipped My Wings

I hurried ahead as the music played through my earphones. I thought I could get away from this mess, but Diana Fowler suddenly broke away from the two thugs. She gazed at me with eyes full of tears, clutching my arm so hard she left two bloody scratches. "Help me, Levi!"I instinctively shook off her hand, acting as though I had encountered something terrifying.In my past life, I had saved her out of a brief impulse of kindness, only to have both of my legs broken by the thugs. I needed an enormous sum for medical bills, but she was nowhere to be found. I had gone to the police and needed a witness, but she didn't appear back then.In the end, Diana brought the police into my hospital ward instead. She pointed straight at me and yelled, "It's him! He's the one who attacked me two nights ago! If those two kind strangers hadn't scared him off, I might not be alive right now!"I was fresh out of surgery at the time. I was so enraged as I listened to her distort the account that I cou

I finally understood why Diana had been so determined to leave those bloody scratches on me and why they had retreated so quickly once I reached the cafe. It turned out that they already had a contingency plan in place. Diana was doing everything in her power to ensure my destruction.Mom suddenly woke up due to the commotion. She opened the door and saw the handcuffs on my wrists right away, nearly fainting from the shock. She still moved to stand in front of me to protect me, saying, "You must have made a mistake, officers! Levi has always been an honors student and even has a commendation for bravery! He's incapable of committing a crime!"Mom reached out to me with trembling hands, tears streaming down her face.Those police officers remained completely indifferent. "We'll determine whether your son has committed a crime after a full investigation. You can rest assured that we won't wrong the innocent or let the guilty escape."Having said that, they pushed me along and began

I knew that forging a hotel record would require my ID and also an inside man at the front desk of the hotel. I had no memory of ever chatting with Diana, so I wondered where these messages came from. I was completely muddled by the whole situation while the police officers kept pressing me for answers.I shrugged, my hands out, and said, "I won't sign anything or answer any questions until my lawyer gets here.""You'd better start talking, Levi Sullivan! You ought to know that we've found out that your father was involved with the criminal underworld—"I bolted upright, my eyes bloodshot and my body trembling all over from rage. "You'd better shut your mouth this instant! You have no right to speak about my father!"It was then that Mom rushed in with a lawyer, accompanied by Martin Wagner, my teacher, and David Johnson, Dad's colleague.Officer Johnson served with Dad, who died in the line of duty while working as an undercover operative. He was the most knowledgeable person r

I had spent my time identifying the person behind the setup following my release from custody. I had also designated Officer Johnson for my emergency speed dial. I then put a real-time tracking app on Mom's phone, allowing her to monitor my real-time location. If I ever failed to answer her calls, she could use my coordinates to report it to the police. I had been staying at home to minimize any risks, avoiding social outings entirely. It wasn't until one day when several members of the school team—people I was barely on speaking terms with—unexpectedly contacted me with an invitation to hang out.I had a bad feeling, but I still went anyway. I had just reached the venue when they claimed that surviving my troubles was a sign of future blessings, all while they constantly tried to get me to drink.I refused the drinks, explaining that I wasn't a drinker, which made them seem offended."Do you regard us as beneath you now? Do we not belong to the same team? You ought to know that

That night, an unexpected visitor showed up at my house—Diana, who had been released on bail. The Millers had paid a fortune for a lawyer to secure Kevin's release, and Diana had been granted bail as well.She fell to her knees at my entrance, sobbing hysterically. "Please have some mercy on me, Levi! Do you plan to drive me to death with these slanders? I'll kill myself right here if you refuse to withdraw the case!"In the meantime, the neighbors all stepped outside to see the commotion, chiming in with various pieces of advice."Why are you taking it out on the young woman?""How heartless of you to push such a young woman to the brink like this!""What's the point of all this hatred? You should both just compromise and call it even!"They moved to help Diana up while acting as if they were doing a good deed. I recalled my past life when I was detained—those people hadn't spoken like that back then. They expected me to show leniency, yet none of them had offered to share the w