Betrayed in Love

I couldn't say how long I had been walking in the rain. My mind was heavy, and my vision blurred. When I finally regained my senses, I found myself standing outside the old house where my mother once lived.

The sight of the crumbling walls was heartbreaking, and I started to sob uncontrollably. After my mother's death, this old house and the handmade quilt inside were all that I had left to remember her by.

While she was alive, my mother supported us through her quilting skills. The quilt, however, was a labor of love, representing years of dedication. It depicted moments from my childhood with Kylo.

I often watched her stitch it with tears in her eyes. I knew she missed my brother and regretted not being able to bring him to live with us.

After she passed away, Kylo's resentment towards us reached its peak. He made several attempts to disturb the peace of the old house, trying to destroy anything that reminded him of our mother.

I could understand his hatred, the kind of anger that could no longer be directed at someone who's gone. But I couldn't stand by and watch him destroy the remnants of our past.

It was during one of Kylo's aggressive visits that Selena appeared. She approached me with an offer:

"If you become my loyal follower, I'll protect your mother's belongings."

I had no choice but to agree.

From that day on, Selena made it a point to make my life difficult. I understood her animosity. It stemmed from a university hiking club outing where partners were required. I avoided pairing with her, yet she pursued me relentlessly.

In a twist of fate, she ended up falling into a lake outside campus. Unaware that she couldn't swim, I came back to save her, only to find her on the brink of unconsciousness.

Kylo had been following me in the shadows, seizing the opportunity to capture her soaking appearance on camera. Knowing she was a wealthy girl and fearing any potential romance, he used those nearly compromising photos and my desire to preserve my mother's memory as leverage to keep me silent about the incident.

Though I initially left, I couldn't shake the fear of leaving Selena in danger, so I returned. Midway, I was ambushed by Kylo and spent a week in the hospital recovering from his attack.

It was only later that I discovered the full extent of what happened that day. Selena was nearly assaulted by a passerby and owed her "rescue" to Kylo's timely intervention.

From that day forward, she despised me. I had opportunities to explain, but she never believed a word I said. With Kylo always lurking, my voice was stifled.

Now, watching the old house that Selena had ordered Kylo to tear apart, I felt a grim satisfaction in having kept my silence.

If she was truly that merciless, then she deserved the volatile presence of Kylo—a ticking time bomb with antisocial tendencies—by her side.