HER PROMISE, MY SIN.

Chapter 1: The intruder

The sound of the doorbell ringing echoed through the entire house destroying the peaceful silence of our home, and right away i knew it was them. I was in the kitchen doing last minute touch up on the already prepared dinner invisible wrinkle in the tablecloth. For a moment, i felt nervous.Molly had been talking about him for months, Jason the man who had finally tamed my wild, flighty sister and today she is supposed to introduce her to us.

Then the door opened, and the air in the room felt stuffy, the room felt smaller than its normal size announcing that the person coming wasn't just ordinary but extra ordinary.

He stood in the doorway, a shadow blocking out the porch light with his one arm draped casually around Molly’s waist, a gesture of effortless possession. He was taller than I’d imagined, built with a rugged, quiet strength that seemed to demand the walls widen to accommodate him, his presence had filled our entire house before he even spoke.

"Moraine, this is Jason!" Molly’s voice was full of undeniable happiness, her eyes sparkly with love. She leaned into him, her head resting against his shoulder. "The man I’ve been telling you about,finally, right?"

I stood frozen for a moment, I had spent twenty-four years being the "sensible" sister, the one who looked before she leaped, who wouldn't do anything without thinking about the consequences, but looking at Jason was like staring into a sun that didn't want to be dimmed, and ihated myself more for the instant, electric recognition of him. He wasn't just a stranger; he was a catastrophe in a charcoal sweater.

Jason belonged to Molly, he was her promise, her safety net, her future, he was strictly off-limits, a sacred territory I had no right to even survey.

"It’s good to finally meet you, Moraine," he said.

He stepped forward, breaking the small distance between us, when he reached for my hand, I felt a physical jolt. His grip was firm, dry, and terrifyingly warm. His were eyes dark, steady, and locked onto mine, he didn’t look away like most people who would have blinked or looked away when they meet someone new, instead,Jason stared as if he were memorizing the map of my soul.

He held my hand alittle longer, just long enough for the heat of his palm to sink into my skin, and long enough for the me to feel those butterflies in my stomach.

"You too," I managed to choke out, my voice sounded strained, like a wire about to snap.

Dinner was a was Molly was a full of motion, pouring wine, passing the roast chicken, recounting stories of their trip to the coast. She was glowing, her eyes bright with the kind of happiness that should have made me feel protective but instead it made me feel like an intruder in my own home.

Jason played the part of the devoted fiancee , a man build for a happy ending marriage. He laughed at the right moments, he touched Molly’s hand when she reached for the salt. He was charming, articulate, and perfectly composed, but then, i noticed the gaps the moments when Molly was distracted by a story or was pouring water in the glasses. In those little moments, i would feel it, his gaze wasn't accidental, i could tell it was deliberate

The air in the dining room grew thick, pressurized. Every time our silverware clinked or our eyes met, it felt like a spark landing on dry kindling.

"Moraine is the artist of the family," Molly said, waving a fork toward the paintings on the far wall. "She sees things the rest of us miss."

Jason turned his head slowly toward me, the corner of his mouth twitched, not a smile, but something more dangerous, maybe it was a challenge. “I bet she does,” he murmured. “I bet you see everything, don’t you, Moraine?”

I stopped breathing for a second, his words just pierced through my heart making me feel like a frantic bird trapped in a cage. I looked down at my plate, it was still half full but the initial taste had vanished and now the food was tasting like ash. I told myself it was just nerves and that he was just being friendly, i kept lying to myself in the span of ten minutes, and not one of them stuck.

After dinner, the tension had reached a breaking point.,Molly stood up, grabbing the empty wine bottle. "I’ve got another bottle of the good stuff in the pantry. Don’t move, I’ll be right back."

She disappeared into the kitchen, her humming trailing off as the door swung shut.

Silence followed immediately she left, it was heavy and suffocating, Jason didn't look away he leaned back in his chair, his posture relaxed, his eyes fixed on me with a terrifying intensity. The "devoted fiancee" mask didn't slip it dissolved and dissapeared.

"Molly talks about you all the time," he said, his voice was lower now, a dark hum that vibrated in the small space between us. "She says you’re the one person she trusts more than anyone in the world."

Those words were meant to be a compliment, a testament to sisterhood, but coming from him, they felt like a trap. He was pointing out exactly how much I had to lose.

"Good," I whispered forcing myself to meet his eyes, trying to summon the "sensible" sister I used to be. "Because I’d never betray her, she’s my life."

Jason tilted his head, he didn't look guilty rather he looked amused. That faint smirk returned, carving a line in his cheek that I found myself wanting to touch.

"Is that right?" he asked softly.

He didn't move, but it felt like he was closing in on me. I could hear Molly in the kitchen, the sound of bottler opener cracking , the sound of the fridge door closing. She was ten feet away, and yet she felt like she was on another planet. In that moment, the truth crashed over me, I didn't just notice him, I didn't just think he was handsome but the truth was, i wanted him badly. I wanted the way he looked at me, I wanted the of his smile abd the danger he represented.

Jason reached out, his fingers touching the edge of my wine glass, his eyes never fixed on mine. It was a tiny movement, but it felt like he was claiming me, right there in the house where I grew up, while my sister was in the next room.

"You’re a very good liar, Moraine," he whispered.

Before i could even comment or say something to protect myself, the kitchen door swung open.

"Found it!" Molly announced, bursting back into the room with a fresh bottle and a radiant smile.

Jason’s expression shifted instantly back to the charming, supportive partner. He turned to her, his eyes softening as if the last sixty seconds had never happened. "Perfect, babe. I was just telling Moraine how lucky I am to be part of this family."

Molly beamed, pouring the wine, oblivious to the fact that the world had just shifted on its axis.

I looked at my sister,my beautiful, trusting sister and then at the man sitting next to her and i realized with a sickening jolt that the "something" that changed in me wasn't just a crush, it was a fracture. I wanted him and wanting him wouldn't just hurt; it would ruin every single thing I loved.

But as Jason’s eyes flicked back to mine one last time before the night ended, I knew the scariest part wasn't that I wanted him. It was that he knew it and he wanted it too.