Chapter 2
I stayed silent, unsure of how to respond, my heart heavy with a mix of emotions. Darius grew anxious as silence stretched between us.
“Rina, what’s wrong? Are you upset?” he pressed, concern edging his voice. “Where are you? I’ll come get you right now!”
He was still attentive, sensing my emotions even from a distance.
“I’m at home. I don‘ t want to go to the meadow today.”
There was a brief pause before he spoke again, still trying to comfort me.
“Alright, I’ll come home right away to be with
you.
He didn’t question why I had canceled. It wasn‘ t that his love was so deep that he could overlook my feelings. It was because he had successfully proposed to Alina in the perfect setting, leaving me in the shadows, as if I were nothing more than a passing thought.
When Darius entered, I had just stepped out of the bathroom, water still dripping from my hair. My heart sank as I saw Alina behind him, a smile plastered across her face.
“Why did you bring her here?” I asked, my voice filled with warning, frustration bubbling beneath the
surface.
Was he really so eager to rub salt in my wound?
Darius looked a bit guilty, rubbing the back of his neck as he often did when he was nervous.
“Rina, I ran into Alina downstairs. She insisted on coming up to apologize for the past…”
I watched him coldly, unimpressed by his excuses.
“Rina, I was young and didn’t understand. I’m really sorry for the way I treated you.”
I turned to Darius, my voice trembling as memories of the past flooded my mind.
“So, you expect me to forgive them–both mother and daughter?”
The pain of memories–the bruises from the past, the loss of my family, and the torment I had endured–swelled within me, threatening to overflow.
I didn’t ask why he had fallen for Alina; it would show weakness. It was of no consequence.
I waited, stubbornly silent, as Darius’s guilt seemed to evaporate, replaced by an irritating sense of
annoyance.
“Rina, Alina didn’t know better back then. She’s sorry and has been for years. Why not let go of the past?”
The torment I had suffered, both physical and emotional–that’s what I considered the past.
Refusing to forgive Alina wasn‘ t about holding a grudge. Darius was the one who helped me when I was hurt, so he understood how much I loathed her and her mother.
Yet, he chose to love Alina and stand against me.
When Darius reached for my hand, attempting to broker peace, I pulled away sharply.
“Darius, what gives you the right to ask me to forgive them?” I asked.
Behind my father
his death, they didn’t even care enough to mourn him.
s back, they had mistreated me, tricking him into believing I was the villain. After
Darius stared at my hand, now red from where I had pulled away, confusion clouding his eyes. “Rina, I’m trying to help you. You have no parents now, and Alina and her mother are the only family you have left. Why not let go of the past?”
“You need to move forward, right?”
His words were meant to comfort me, but impatience seeped into his calm tone.
He could not hide it even if he wanted to.
But the warmth and care I once felt from him were now gone. Not that it mattered now.
I could feel my heart, already fractured. I did not think it could break any further.
The pain was so intense I could barely speak. The bond, making it more painful.
Alina’s eyes were filled with fake sorrow, but I could see the smugness hidden beneath.
“Rina, it s okay if you can’t forgive me. I’ll keep repenting until you accept me as your family.” “I have had enough of you. Leave now!”
Chapter 3
