Once Aiden’s figure disappeared down the hall, Selene didn’t hesitate for a second before deleting the recordings she’d made.
My leaving was exactly what she wanted. There was no way she’d allow me to keep threatening her position.
Meanwhile, Nico and I left smoothly.
My mind was foggy. I stared out the window for a while before sleeping crept in.
I dreamed–a long, vivid dream–back to my childhood.
My father died when I was five. My mother raised me alone, pouring all her hopes and dreams into me.
I scored top marks on the SAT and got accepted into a prestigious university in the city.
She came with me to support my studies. Unexpectedly, she ran into her first love, who was now single again. After a few quiet meetings, they rekindled their romance.
To pay my way through school, I juggled several part–time jobs every day. I worked the night shift at a convenience store, where a few troublemakers noticed me.
Seeing me alone and working late, they decided to pick on me.
Outnumbered and weak, they dragged me into a dark alley near the store.
I struggled, and my voice grew hoarse. Just when I was about to give up hope, a boy appeared in front of me.
“Hey, I’ve already called the cops.”
The bullies scattered in fear, and a pair of steady hands helped me up.
From that night on, he waited at my workplace until I finished my shift to make sure no one bothered me.
At that moment, something stirred in my teenage heart.
One weekend, Pamela took me to a fancy restaurant, saying she wanted to introduce me to a man.
When the quiet, curtained–off private room door opened, I saw the boy I’d been thinking about nonstop.
He hadn’t expected to see me either, and his face darkened.
He didn’t have a good relationship with his father, and they started arguing right there at the table. He stood up to leave, and I followed him outside.
“Did you know all along?”
0.0 %
10:01
Chapter 6 Memories
I shook my head timidly. “I just found out, same as you.”
288 Vouchers
Later, my mom and his dad went away on a honeymoon and didn’t come back for months. Relatives told us they’d been caught in an earthquake and tragically died.
The day I heard the news, I packed my things, ready to leave. But he stopped me.
“From now on, I’m your family.”
He attended school and started a business simultaneously, never touching a dime of the money his father had left be- hind.
Spending every day together, my feelings for him grew wildly and uncontrollably.
We weren’t related by blood, and I thought we shared a genuine connection. But in the end, it was nothing but a com- plete, heart–wrenching lie.
I learned that, sometimes, love can be faked.
72.3 %
