Chapter 2: Her Betrayal

I fluttered my eyes open, feeling the soft mattress beneath hugging my body. My head was laid on a soft pillow, while my lower torso was covered in a blanket. When I flitted my eyes at the side of me, Lindsey sat at the edge of the bed. She looked remorseful, and her cheeks were saturated with tears. Her lashes were drenched, her eyes were puffy, and her nose was florid as if exhausted from ceaseless weeping.

When her gaze landed on me, I stared at her with a blank expression. I wasn't feeling the urge to budge and right after what happened during dinner, I didn't know how I would face her.

"What did you do?" I asked, feeling a little dizzy.

Her lips parted, and she was about to utter her excuse, but nothing came out. She seemed to be finding her words, as she avoided my eyes.

"You told them, didn't you?" I asked again.

She nodded reluctantly, and I scoffed in disappointment.

Unbelievable. She was the only person I thought I could trust with this secret, but she betrayed me. My own sister betrayed me. I didn't know what pushed her into telling them, or if she was persuaded by our parents, but whatever her reason was, it would be unacceptable. I knew the consequences that might come if I told them about this, that's why I chose not to let them know, for now. But it seemed like the tables were turned and the joke was on me. My sister--- who was supposed to understand and empathize with me-- became selfish. Why did she have to do that?

"All I could say is sorry," she responded, her tone was filled with guilt.

"How could you do this to me?"

Her betrayal pricked my heart, and the loudness of Dad's anger still lingered in my head. If only she was smart enough to think about what judgment Dad was capable of doing, then I wouldn't be forced to kill a child. An innocent little child who wouldn't get a chance to step in the world.

"I--" she stammered. "I don't have a choice." She shook her head.

"What did they tell you?" I gripped the fabric below me and clenched my jaw from anger.

It took her quite a few seconds before she answered, "It was all me."

As soon as she said that, my blood began to boil. I could feel the vein bulging on my head, and my nostrils flaring as I balled my hands to a fist. My head spun, mouth became hard, and my muscles tensed.

What should I even expect from her? She had done the same thing when we were little, just in different circumstances. I was wrong for giving my trust to her, again. I was too blinded by my own attachment to the wrong person and never expected they wouldn't change.

"Why?" I mumbled, trying to suppress my anger.

Though I knew the reason behind her betrayal, I wanted to hear it come out of her mouth, just as much as I wanted her to admit she was wrong.

"Because I--" she fumbled over her words as they barely came out of her mouth.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, a look of guilt swept across her face. I shifted from the bed, pulling myself up to sit upright but with my head throbbing unbearably, it was impossible. Wincing in pain, I plopped myself back and landed on the pillow.

"Because I was mad," she budged.

She wasn't mad, I concluded. She was jealous.

I remembered when we were little, Mom and Dad had given me a pair of ballet shoes as a Christmas present because they wanted me to take ballet class. Lindsey never mentioned about being fond of the same thing as I was, so they had given her art supplies instead. She detested me for that, no matter how close we were at that time. So she broke my shoes, and my parents became infuriated. They thought I was the one who broke it in half and called me ungrateful. She didn't own up to her mistake, not until I caught her stealing something in my room.

She never changed.

"Mad is an understatement." I scoffed, shaking my head in disbelief.

"You can't blame me, Kourtney," she reasoned out, causing my breathing to shallow and my pulse sped up. "Our parents always have their attention drawn to you. They never give me the treatment you were having."

"You're jealous," I remarked, my tone laced with resentment.

"I wasn't jealous," she protested. "I just wish that I was as good as you."

"That's jealousy," I said, as my eyebrows knitted together. "You will kill an innocent child, Lindsey. Because you're jealous."

She gulped. Her eyes hinted wariness, pursing her lips as if suppressing the sobs that were about to escape her mouth.

"I'm really sorry," she sniffled, wiping the tears with her hand.

I scooted away from her, removing the blanket wrapped around my lower torso.

"I'm done with you." I leaned closer to her before whispering, "go to hell."

And with that, I stormed out of the room and headed downstairs. Mom and Dad weren't around, and I took this chance to sneak out to meet Liam. He needed to know.

~*~

I was standing in front of their house, as I wrung my wrist and bit my bottom lip in nervousness. It was already nine at night, and darkness covered the surroundings. The gust of frigid wind engulfed me, causing my lips to chap and my hair at the nape of my neck to bristle. I was still on my pajamas, and the fabric seemed thinner than it was supposed to be as it did nothing to warm my freezing body.

A few press of the doorbell later, the door flew open and I was greeted by Liam standing in the doorframe. His brown hair was tousled, and his blue eyes were filled with wonder. With all my yearning and anticipation, I ran for him and wrapped both my arms around his shoulders as he did the same with my waist. The warmth of his body was enough to calm me down, and it felt as if I was already secured.