Heartstrings on Fire (Agnes and Jared)
Chapter 201

Chapter 201

Jared's voice was low, "So I've always felt guilty about Ryder and my sister, because I didn't protect him back then. He was actually a cheerful kid who loved to laugh when he was little."

Agnes saw Jared beating himself up, and it broke her heart, but she had no clue how to comfort him.

The next day. Agnes and Ryder cycled to school together.

However, the whole trip was spent in silence.

After school in the aftemoon, Agnes, on a whim, went to see a shrink.

By evening. Agnes headed to the East Hall for a rehearsal.

The drama club members hadn't arrived yet.

Only Kerri was there, sweeping the hall.

Seeing Agnes looking down, Kerri hurried over, "Have you figured out what's up?"

That was Ryder's privacy, and of course Agnes couldn't make it public.

Agnes said, "It's about some stuff that happened when he was a kid. But it's a tough nut to crack because I went to consult a psychiatrist in the afternoon." Kerri asked, "What did the psychiatrist say?"

The psychiatrist said if the usual mental interventions have been tried, the only option left is to overcome psychological barriers through coercive

intervention"

Kerri was like, "You mean by forcing him to face his fear? Just keep taking pictures of him and forcing him to face?"

Agnes nodded, "But that's brutal, and it's not our place to do that."

Kerri anxiously said. "But we don't have time to change the roles now, what are we gonna do?"

agree to the forceful treatment," a cold male voice came from behind.

Agnes and Kerri turned around to see Ryder.

Agnes was like, "But you..."

Ryder calmly said, "Let's give your method a try."

By evening, all the members had gathered.

Agnes closed the hall door and switched off the lights..

She had borrowed some SLR cameras from the photography club.

Now everyone was standing under the stage with a camera

Ryder was alone on the stage, expressionless.

Agnes, serious-faced, said, "Let's kick things off."

At that moment, everyone lifted their cameras and started shooting, the dim hall was instantly lit up by the flashes.

"Ah! Ryder on the stage let out a low moan, instinctively covering his eyes with his arm.

He was about to fall, leaning against a prop on the stage.

Agnes immediately said, "Stop!"

"Don't stop, keep going"" Ryder struggled to say.

Everyone looked at Agnes She nodded and they continued shooting

Ryder on the stage looked like he was being tortured, his hand white-knuckled on a table, eyes tightly shut as if lost in painful memories, his body starting to shake uncontrollably In the end, he could barely stand, leaning heavily on the table.

Finally, Ryder collapsed.

Agnes rushed onto the stage, Ryder, are you okay?"

Then she immediately waved everyone to stop, "Alright, that's enough for today, stop recording

Ryder sat on the ground, curled up like a scared chuld, burying his head in his knees, trembling all over

He looked fragile and pathetic

Nobody had expected to see this side of the cold price they knew

Agnes told the others. "You guys can leave now I handle thas"

Everyone knew Agnes was taking care of Ryder's pride, so they all left

Only Agnes and Ryder were left in the hall, with a single, din light, creating a stilling atmosphere.