Betrayal

But as I looked into her eyes, I noticed a flicker of guilt clouding her expression. Before I could inquire further, she gave me a sad smile, and a sense of foreboding settled over me.

 

"It's alright," I reassured her, though my curiosity gnawed at me. Something didn't feel right, but I pushed the feeling aside, unwilling to spoil the moment for my sister.

And then, in a bombshell revelation, Crystal dropped the news that would shatter my world into a million pieces. "Asher and I are getting married," she announced, her words hitting me like a ton of bricks.

 

The fork slipped from my hand, clattering against the fine china as my eyes widened in shock. Crystal's gaze locked onto mine, and in that moment, I felt a surge of pain and betrayal wash over me.

 

My chest tightened, and I struggled to draw breath as the room spun around me. The voices of my parents became muffled, distant echoes in the chaos of my mind.

 

And then, as if to add insult to injury, Asher did the unthinkable. He reached for Crystal's face, tearing her gaze away from me as he leaned in to kiss her, his lips devouring hers with an intensity that made my heart ache.

 

The pieces of my shattered heart fell away, leaving behind a raw emptiness that consumed me from within. Tears streamed down my cheeks unchecked as I watched the scene unfold before me, feeling as though I were invisible, insignificant in the face of their love.

 

"Mom, dad, I want to marry Crystal, and I hope you'll give us your blessing," Asher declared, his smile a cruel twist of fate as he looked towards our parents for approval.

 

I looked from Crystal to Asher, the pain in my chest intensifying with each passing second. I couldn't bear to witness their happiness, not when it came at the cost of my own heartbreak.

 

"How could you do this to me?" I whispered, my voice barely audible above the din of the room. Tears continued to fall unabated as I turned away from the table, unable to bear the sight of their betrayal any longer.

 

As I turned away from the table, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was my mother's. "Aurora, sweetheart, please understand—" she began, but I shook her off.

 

"No, Mother, I don't want to understand," I snapped, my voice trembling with anger and hurt. "You all knew about this, didn't you? You knew Asher was going to marry Crystal, and you didn't even bother to tell me?"

 

My father's face was etched with guilt, but he said nothing. My mother's eyes pleaded with me to calm down, but I was beyond consolation.

 

"I thought we were a family," I spat, my eyes blazing with tears. "But I guess I was wrong. You're all just a bunch of liars and hypocrites."

I stood up from the table, my tears streaming down my cheeks. "Sky," I heard my sister call my name, but I didn't have the strength to turn back. How could Crystal do this to me? How could she go behind my own back and fall in love with Asher, knowing full well I had feelings for him?

 

 

"What a joke," I muttered bitterly to myself, the pain in my heart too much to bear.

 

But before I could fully process my emotions, someone grabbed my shoulder, and I turned to see my mom glaring at me, her eyes filled with disappointment and anger.

 

Before I could utter a word, her hand came down hard, the sound of the slap echoing in the room. My eyes widened in shock. This was the first time my mom had ever raised her hand to strike me.

 

"Mom," I stuttered, feeling my heart shatter into a million pieces. "How... how could you?"

 

"How dare you spoil your sister's welcome party!" she yelled, her voice filled with fury.

 

My heart sank even further, the weight of my mistake crushing me.

 

"Mom, that's enough!" Crystal's voice cut through the tension as she came up behind me, pulling our mom away gently. Her touch felt like a mix of comfort and betrayal, and I couldn't bring myself to meet her gaze.

 

"Can't you be happy for your sister just this once?" My father's voice added to the turmoil in the room, his disappointment palpable. It felt like the ground was crumbling beneath me, leaving my heart in even more pieces than before.

 

I wanted to speak up, to defend myself, but the words caught in my throat. How could I explain the ache in my chest, the betrayal I felt from the two people I loved most in this world?

 

"It's not her fault that Asher fell in love with your sister," my mom's voice pierced through the silence, her eyes still blazing with anger directed at me.

 

"So they knew," I whispered, my voice barely audible as I looked at Crystal, who couldn't meet my gaze, her eyes filled with guilt.

 

"So I'm the villain here," I continued, the tears flowing freely down my cheeks now. The realization that my own family saw me as the antagonist in this twisted tale tore me apart.

 

I had always known that my parents favored Crystal, but I never thought it would come to this. I never thought they would side with her even after she had stabbed me in the back.

 

I knew that I would never be loved like the way my parents loved my sister.

 

While Crystal followed the footsteps of my dad by becoming a neurosurgeon, my parents also wanted me to follow the footsteps of my mother.

 

But instead I became a model.

 

Modeling had been my escape, my way of finding happiness outside of their expectations. But now, even that seemed like a hollow victory in the face of their betrayal.

 

I can't believe that crystal will do this to me.

 

I can't believe the person I had loved all these years will stab me in the back. I didn't care if my parents loved Crystal more because I couldn't summon hatred towards her.

 

I would take a bullet for her , I would take a stab for her without thinking but I didn't know that the person that I would sacrifice my life for was the one holding the gun pointing it at me and stabbing me in the back.

 

As I ran out of the house, the cold night air offering little relief from the turmoil inside me, I felt my heart shatter into a million irreparable pieces.

 

I ran as far as my legs could carry me, the sound of my own ragged breath mixing with the pounding of my heart in my ears. Each step felt like a desperate attempt to outrun the pain tearing me apart inside.

 

I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't care. All I knew was that I had to escape, to find some solace from the suffocating weight of betrayal and heartbreak.

 

Finally, my body gave out, and I collapsed by the roadside, my chest heaving as tears streamed down my cheeks, blurring my vision. The headache that had been building since the confrontation with my family was now a distant ache compared to the agony in my heart.

 

As I sat there, the world around me seemed to blur into insignificance. The empty roads stretched out before me, a stark contrast to the bustling life that continued on the sidewalk beside me. People passed by, oblivious to the storm raging within me, while cars whizzed past, their indifferent hum a painful reminder of how insignificant I felt in the grand scheme of things.

 

How do I feel? The question echoed in my mind, but there was no easy answer. All I knew was pain – a deep, gnawing ache that consumed me from the inside out. It was a pain born of betrayal, of shattered dreams and broken trust. It was a pain that seeped into every fiber of my being, leaving me feeling hollow and empty.

 

But beneath the pain, there was something else – a raw, aching vulnerability that threatened to consume me whole. It was the knowledge that despite everything, I still loved my family, still longed for their acceptance and approval. It was the realization that no matter how much they hurt me, I couldn't bring myself to hate them.

 

And it was this overwhelming sense of love and loss that brought me to my knees, tears streaming down my face as I cried out into the empty night, my heart laid bare for the world to see.

 

Aurora, I'm sorry, but Asher doesn't love you," Crystal finally admitted, her voice filled with a hollow emptiness that echoed the shattered pieces of my heart.

 

"And whose fault is that?" I exploded, my anger and hurt boiling over. How could she stand there and utter such words, as if she had no hand in the destruction of everything I held dear?

 

"This has been going on behind my back for the past seven years while I kept telling you how much I loved him," I continued, my voice trembling with a mixture of pain and betrayal. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks, leaving me feeling like the biggest fool in the world.

 

"Did Mom and Dad know about this for the past seven years?" I demanded, desperation seeping into my words as I clung to the hope that they hadn't been complicit in this deception.

 

"Answer me!" I shouted, my voice echoing into the empty night, pleading with the universe to give me some semblance of truth to hold onto.

 

"Yes, Aurora, they knew," Crystal's admission was like a knife to the heart, plunging deep into the core of my being and twisting mercilessly.

 

That was it. That was my breaking point.

 

"I hate you, Crystal!" I screamed, the words tearing out of me like a primal roar of anguish. "I wish you were never my sister. I despise you!"

 

The weight of my words hung heavy in the air, suffocating me with their raw intensity. But even as I lashed out in anger and pain, a part of me knew that the wounds inflicted by my own flesh and blood would never fully heal.

 

As I turned to cross the road, Crystal grabbed my hand, her touch feeling like a vice grip holding me in place against my will.

 

"Let me go!" I screamed, my voice laced with desperation and fear. But she refused to release me, her fingers digging into my skin with an iron determination.

 

In a moment of sheer panic and rage, I pushed her with all the force I could muster, watching helplessly as she stumbled backward, her eyes wide with shock and betrayal.

 

And then, as if in slow motion, I saw the headlights of an oncoming car, its horn blaring in warning as it hurtled towards us with terrifying speed.

 

I reached out instinctively, my hands trembling with fear and regret, but it was too late. The car struck Crystal with a sickening thud, sending her flying through the air like a ragdoll before she crumpled to the ground in a heap.

 

"Crystal!!!" I screamed, the sound tearing through the night like a wounded animal. But there was no response, only the eerie silence of death hanging heavy in the air.

 

I rushed to her side, my hands shaking as I desperately tried to shake her awake. "No, no, no, Crystal, please open your eyes," I pleaded, tears streaming down my face unchecked.