Loving My Brother's Best Friend

The Secret That Broke Me

After hearing Sam’s confession, she froze. She didn’t know what to do. Her world seemed to stop. She remembered all the beautiful memories she spent with Matt, and she began to question herself if those were all a lie.

After a few minutes, she noticed that Liam was looking for her. She didn’t have the energy to walk. When he saw her, he smiled at her, but he suddenly changed his aura when he saw Matt and Sam quietly talking at the corner. He walked faster, and when he held Loraine’s hand, her knees collapsed. She couldn’t walk properly, and her hands were trembling.

“Are you okay, Loraine?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” she whispered.

He gently held her hand and continued walking, but Matt tried to block their way. Sam pulled his wrist to stop him. Matt’s face became dark as he looked at Liam holding her hand.

“Matt, let them go. Everyone is watching us,” Sam whispered.

“I don’t care!” he angrily said.

“Please, Matt, listen to me.”

“Bro, you listen to your girlfriend,” he said in a cold voice.

Matt stood face to face with Liam. Unable to control his anger, he grabbed Liam by the collar and pulled him closer. When Matt tried to punch him, Loraine immediately stepped between them.

“Please stop,” Loraine said.

She looked at Matt seriously. His expression turned into shock and confusion.

“Seriously!?” he said.

“From now on, stop bothering me!” Loraine said.

Matt took a deep breath, and he gave way. He angrily removed Sam’s hand from his wrist and watched Liam and Loraine walk away. When they were gone, he looked at Sam with furious eyes.

“Are you happy!?” he asked.

“Matt, you don’t need her. We are your family,” she replied.

Sam held his shoulder, trying to convince him to reconcile with her, but Matt turned around and looked sad. Sam hugged him from behind.

“Our child needs you.”

“Why did you keep it secret when you gave birth!?”

“I told you, I was young and scared at that time. I didn’t know what to do!”

“I can be a good father, but I can’t force myself to love you again.”

“Please give us one chance to complete our family!”

“I’m sorry.”

Sam started to cry. She hugged him tightly.

“Why!?” she asked.

Matt didn’t answer. He removed her hands and continued walking. Sam was left behind, still crying.

Liam politely opened the door of his car and helped her sit down and fixed her seatbelt. He slowly drove the car, opened the music, and rolled down the window. She noticed that they were going to a different location, but she trusted him. He parked the car and assisted her while getting down. He held her hand and continued walking until they reached a bench.

“Wait for me here. I’ll be quick,” he said, then he walked faster.

After a few minutes, she could see him rushing back to her. He was excited to give her the ice cream. He also bought chips, milk tea, and cotton candy. Instead of being annoyed because he treated her like a kid, she laughed loudly.

“You treat me like a kid, Liam.”

“No,” he said.

“But thank you!” she said and hugged him.

“You know, every time I’m sad, I always buy sweet food,” he said and looked at her.

“Loraine, hmmf..?”

“What!?”

He held her hand, and she could feel that he was shaking.

“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t be mad, please!”

She was really confused, so she looked him in the eyes.

“Please promise this is the last time I’ll see you cry because of him.”

For that moment, she couldn’t answer him directly. While looking down, her tears slowly started falling.

“It’s okay if you want to cry,” he said.

He wiped her tears and hugged her.

“Please forget him.”

“Okay,” she said.

He looked into her eyes and smiled.

“Let’s eat.”

Today reminded her of what happened back then in the park. Same scenario, but a different person. They finished eating the food and stood up. He asked if she still wanted to go to the mall, but she refused because she wanted to rest. He agreed, and they went back to the car.

As they arrived at Loraine’s house, she didn’t bother asking him to come inside because she knew he was tired too.

As she entered her room, she slowly sat on her bed, looking at their picture with Matt, her brother, and her in the middle.

“I was never part of your story,” she whispered.

A tear fell on the picture frame as she put it in a box, including the leaf from the rose he gave her on her birthday, the small teddy bear, the bracelet he gifted her on her birthday, and also the customized keychain, a souvenir from when Matt was in Japan. She deleted all their conversations, texts, and call logs. She removed all the pictures that included Matt one by one. She wanted to move on. She locked herself in her room the whole day. She didn’t have an appetite.

The next morning, Loraine arrived at school. Everyone was looking at her. A rumor had spread across the campus. All the students began whispering.

“Matt has a child with Sam,” a girl said.

“Really!?” the other replied.

They stopped when they saw Loraine.

She didn’t react and continued walking up the stairs. She saw Kelly. She smiled at her and waved her hand. Kelly was excited to see her and hugged her.

“I really missed you, Loraine.”

She hugged her tightly and kissed her on the left cheek.

“What happened to you!? You became thinner!?” she asked.

She looked at her from head to toe. Kelly couldn’t believe that after being gone for one week, she had become thinner. She was excited to give her the gift.

“Open it!”

“When I saw that, you were the first person I remembered. I know you will like it.”

She widened her eyes when she saw it. She quickly hugged Kelly.

“Thank you so much!”

They released each other when they heard a voice. When they looked around, Liam was standing behind Loraine.

“Hmff, how about me?” he whispered.

“This is for you,” Kelly said.

Liam was surprisingly happy when he opened the gift. He couldn’t believe that Kelly gave him his dream signature cap from one of his favorite live bands in America.

In return, he asked the two girls if they wanted to eat at the nearby new restaurant owned by their family after class. The girls agreed.

Their teacher entered the room and started teaching. A couple of minutes later, she noticed that Matt passed by her classroom with his brother. Her brother waved at her, and she smiled, but Matt didn’t look at her.

Everyone was busy answering the test paper. The teacher stood up and asked them to submit their papers. Before she could submit hers, Liam took both of their test papers.

“I’ll submit them,” he said.

After that, he quickly asked the girls to wait for him at the main gate while he got the car from the parking area, and they followed him.

As soon as Liam arrived, they hopped in. When they arrived at the restaurant, Loraine felt nervous, but she didn’t mind it. They entered the restaurant, and one of the staff greeted them and led the way to their private room. The staff opened the door and assisted them. They were given a menu.

Loraine asked Kelly to order first because she would go to the restroom. Kelly smiled as a sign that she agreed. While walking in the hallway, someone suddenly bumped into her.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the staff said.

“It’s okay,” she said.

Loraine was about to leave when the door beside her suddenly opened. A man was carrying trays of food. She was surprised when she saw Matt’s parents, Matt, Sam, and her parents. It seemed they were discussing something important.

She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but she heard something that broke her heart.

“Let’s keep them engaged for now. After Matt graduates, we can proceed with the wedding,” one of the adults said.

Engaged?

Wedding?

Her knees were trembling, her heart was pounding, and she felt frozen. She continued to walk, but her knees weakened, and she fell. Luckily, Liam caught her. He hugged her, and her tears began to explode. She cried quietly and hugged him tightly. Liam gently rubbed her back and closed his eyes, Kelly stepped in front of Matt, blocking his way.

“Let her go,” she said firmly.

Matt swallowed hard and looked away. He silently went back inside the room. Kelly walked toward Loraine and gently rubbed her back.

“It’s okay, Loraine,” she whispered.

To be continued…..