A Love Lost in the Years

At first, I expected packing to take forever.

However, when I was done, I realized I owned very little.

Every piece of clothing I had was a gift from Wesley, who used to say, "You're so beautiful, my princess. You deserve nothing but the finest."

Now, those clothes were drenched and reeked of a foul, unexplainable odor.

I had gone from being his cherished treasure to a worthless parasite.

Hidden among the clothes were a few photographs. They were taken by Nathan—quiet reminders of our happier times, moments of joy frozen forever.

Nathan used to be obsessed with photographing me, saying he wanted to capture every version of who I was.

Whenever we took group photos, the two brothers always competed to stand closer to me, but now, in those very pictures of the three of us, my face had been ruthlessly crossed out in red ink.

I couldn't bear it any longer—I grabbed everything and tossed it into the trash without a second thought.

Just then, Wesley and Jade came downstairs and caught me.

A flash of shock crossed Wesley's eyes—after all, I used to cherish those photos like priceless treasures. That quickly faded into a sneer as he taunted, "So this is how you waste our family's money, huh?"

There was a time when Wesley spared no expense just to see me smile, but now, in his eyes, everything I did was wrong.

I had lost the right to be stubborn, and with it, the will to stand up for myself.

I said firmly, "I will repay Mr. Hawthorne for every penny I've ever spent."

"Our family doesn't care about the money, but remember this—don't ever cause trouble for Jade again."

Jade pulled Wesley aside. "Wesley, don't waste your energy on those who don't matter. I want to get to the Prism Room. Let's move."

My footsteps wavered as a flood of memories crashed over me all at once.