CHAPTER 2
1899 Words
SCARLETT
The world ceased to exist. I stood there, paralyzed, a living statue watching my own heart get ripped out of my chest. The castle of illusions I’d spent three years building—the one where Leon loved me and Teresa was my sister—crumbled into dust, burying me alive beneath the ruins.
Their moans echoed in the room, underscored by the rhythmic, wet sound of skin hitting skin. It took a full, agonizing second for reality to break the spell. Then, a horrified scream tore from my throat.
It was loud. It was agonizing. It sounded like a dying animal.
They jerked apart instantly. Their gazes snapped to mine, and for a fleeting, pathetic second, I saw a spark of fear in their eyes. But it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
My lungs shrieked for air.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
I fisted the fabric of my white shirt, my knuckles turning white. Tears blurred my vision until they were just fleshy blobs in the center of the room, but they stared back with absolutely zero shame.
Leon slipped out of the sheets, naked and completely unbothered. He didn’t even reach for a towel. He just strolled over to where his clothes lay scattered on the expensive rug and pulled on his boxers like I was just an annoying interruption.
“Scarlett, what the hell are you doing here?” Irritation edged his voice, sharp and cold.
My blood boiled, the heat rising up to my neck. I stepped closer, my legs trembling so violently I thought I’d collapse. “W—what...” I choked out, my voice sounding small and broken. “What is this, Leon? What the f**k is this?”
“Look, I’m sorry you found out like this,” he said, sounding more bored than sorry. He didn't even look at me while he spoke. “I wanted to tell you eventually.”
“Tell me?!” I screamed, the first sob breaking through. Tears poured out of my eyes, hot and stinging. “Tell me what? That you were cheating? You were cheating on me? With her?!” I sobbed, my voice cracking into a million pieces. “On me, Leon? After everything? Me?!!”
My brain scrambled for an explanation, anything that would make this make sense. A prank? A nightmare? A hallucination brought on by my failing kidney?
It found nothing.
“I’m sorry, Scarlett, but we were never meant to be. I—”
“We what?” I let out a sharp, hysterical laugh that felt like glass in my throat. “This is a prank. It has to be. Teresa, tell me it’s a joke. Tell me you guys are just messing with me!”
He stood there, a towering 5’9”, his hair tousled and his body drenched in sweat—the literal evidence of their disgusting activities.
“Scarlett,” Teresa finally spoke up. She stood up, holding the silk sheet to her chest to cover herself, looking like a goddess while I looked like trash. “I know this is heartbreaking, but Leon and I belong together. You should be happy that I’ve finally found love.”
Her words tasted like copper and poison.
“You found love?” I whispered, the words trembling. “You found love with my Leon? My boyfriend? My entire life?”
“He was never yours,” she snapped, her fake mask finally slipping. “Leon loves me. We love each other. We always have.”
I turned my gaze back to Leon, who was standing there like a hollow doll. “Speak up! Leon, say something! Tell her she’s lying!”
“Scarlett, look. I get that you’ve done a lot for me. I get that you love me. But I don’t love you. I just don't.”
The words were a dagger straight to the heart, twisted for maximum damage.
“I never loved you,” he continued, his voice gaining a cruel strength. “You were just always there to take care of me. You were convenient. I thought I could learn to love you, but you’re just... unlovable. I tried, but we don't belong together.”
“We don't belong together? Leon! We have been together for three years! I gave you my all! My heart! My kidney!” I screamed, and the pain in my side flared up as if on cue. “I gave you my kidney, Leon! I sacrificed my health! My entire future for you, and you—”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
Another stab. This one was deeper, determined to end me.
“I never asked you to do all that,” he said, his voice turning ice-cold. “I never asked you to take care of me, or to love me, or to give me your organ. You did that of your own free will. Don’t try to pin your choices on me now.”
I froze, the air completely leaving my lungs.
“I get it, you did a lot, and I’m grateful,” he said, taking a step toward me like he was talking to a stray dog. “But you can’t expect me to give my whole life to you just because of a transplant. Having your kidney doesn’t mean you hold some special, permanent place in my life. Stop being so dramatic.”
I staggered back, a fresh wave of tears rolling down my cheeks. I blinked, trying to grasp the sheer, unadulterated cruelty of the man standing before me.
“Huh?” was all I could manage.
“You heard me. I’ve had enough. I’m tired of you, Scarlett. I already said thank you. I appreciate the organ, but that’s it. Debt settled. Don’t try to use it to force yourself into my life. You look pathetic.” He sneered, his lip curling in disgust. “You’re still young. You’ll find someone else to obsess over.”
He kept talking, but my brain had crashed. My heart had shattered into a billion pieces, each one stabbing me from the inside. I stared at the devil I had loved; the man I gave up everything for. My college scholarship, my health, my future. This was the same man who had begged me for that kidney. The same man who spent countless nights singing to me, swearing he couldn't live without me.
My gaze caught the faint scar on his abdomen. It matched the one on mine. A permanent, physical reminder of the piece of me he carried inside him.
“Scarlett, you know I care for you,” Teresa said, her voice dripping with that fake, sugary sympathy that made me want to gag. “You’re my best friend, and that’s why I’m telling you this. Leon and I belong together. Just accept it.”
“Best friend?” I looked at her, really looked at her. A mocking smirk lingered on her lips. She was enjoying this. She was feeding on my misery, my ruin. “Best friends don’t take each other's boyfriends, Teresa. Best friends don’t stab each other in the back! They don’t f**k their best friend’s man while she's working double shifts to pay the bills!”
“I didn't want to hurt you,” she said, but a grin crept onto her face anyway. “But Leon loves me!” she barked. Leon reached out and held her as if she were the one breaking.
She wasn't. I was. I was being crushed into fine, gray dust.
“It was always about you,” she continued, her voice rising. “For once, let me be happy. Stop being so selfish, Scarlett.”
Selfish? All my life, I had put others first. My mother, Leon, Teresa. They were my priority. I had given everything to the people I called my world, but you don’t hurt the ones you love. You don’t shatter the people who care for you.
“You’re disgusting,” I muttered, a cold, hard anger finally rising through the grief. “You’re both disgusting. Forget about being a best friend, you aren’t even human. You’re heartless.”
“Watch your mouth, Scarlett,” Leon snapped, his eyes darkening.
A hollow laugh bubbled up in my throat. “No! I loved you both! I gave you everything you asked for! And you took the only things I had left! You’re a disgusting w***e, and you—”
The words screeched to a halt as a hand connected with my face. The force of the slap thundered through the room, the sound echoing off the high ceilings. My head tilted to the side, and the metallic taste of blood immediately filled my mouth.
I froze. My ear was ringing in sharp, high-pitched pain.
“Now get out!”
I blinked, stunned. He had slapped me. Leon had actually put his hands on me.
“Guards!” he yelled, his voice booming. The doors burst open instantly, and men rushed in. “Bundle her up and throw her out of here. If I ever see her here again, you all will be fired.”
Strong hands grabbed my arms, pinning them to my sides.
I didn’t fight.
I didn’t say a word.
I couldn't. I just let them drag me out like trash while Leon and Teresa watched with those tiny, sly grins.
I slammed against the pavement hard outside the gate. I watched as the heavy iron bars shut and the locks clicked into place with a final, metallic thud.
I was out.
I was nothing.
I didn't cry. I didn't utter a word. I just turned and walked away.
The streets were devoid of life, just like I was. I walked aimlessly, my heart a ruin, my lip split and dripping blood onto my white shirt. The physical pain was nothing—it was a whisper compared to the screaming silence of the betrayal.
I loved them. I had given them my time, my body, and my soul because they were the only family I had left. They were my only motivation to keep breathing.
And now, I had lost everyone. Mother, father, sister... and now them.
Maybe my father was right. Maybe I was cursed. Maybe I was never meant to be born, never meant to walk this earth. It was time to correct that mistake.
★
I stood on the edge of the bridge, watching the rise and fall of the dark ocean below. The water swayed to the rhythm of the night breeze, shimmering under the moonlight. It looked beautiful—too peaceful a place to end a life as messy as mine.
I’d be a stain on the ocean. A taint on the waters.
I gripped the cold metal rail. This was it. This was how it was always meant to end. This was my fate.
I closed my eyes and I saw nothing. No good memories to hold onto, just blood, death, and betrayal.
It hurt. It hurt so much I couldn't breathe.
I clutched my chest with one hand and looked up at the moon. It shone brightly, mocking my misery.
“Goodbye,” I whispered.
Then, I let go.
I fell, my eyes shut tight, ready to embrace the cold, final darkness of the water.
The cure to my ache was but a few seconds away: death.
- Writer
