( 16 YEARS AGO: FLASHBACK )

At the far end of the playground, hidden beneath the wide canopy of a large tree, Grayson sat with his head bent over his mathematics textbook, carefully tucked away where no one would easily notice him.

His pen kept dancing diligently over his jotter, with intense urgency to solve the math problem.

‘ I got it.’ He told himself with a smile that threatened to nudge in when he got the answer right.

But he didn't smile, instead, his breath quivered and just then his eyes fell on his bruised hand, he blinked and slowly covered it with his sleeve.

“ Hey.”

His head...