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After the Thorns

After the Thorns

Short Story · Emotional Realism
By:  Teal BrewsterCompleted
Language: English
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9Chapters
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Synopsis

Family Emotions

Remorse Family

Familial Bond

Homewrecker

Campus

Bias

Tragic Love

The night I earned admission to West Point, my younger brother, who had envied me since childhood, deliberately started a fight and seriously injured someone. When the victim's family came demanding answers, my parents dropped to their knees and begged me. "You've always been more capable than your brother. You can still rebuild your future." "But if Mason goes to prison, his whole life will be ruined." I gave in and took the blame, destroying everything I had worked for. My girlfriend, Vanessa Hale, despised Mason for constantly causing trouble. "Julian, you big idiot. "If you ever clean up another one of his messes, I really will leave you." Her eyes reddened behind the prison visitation glass as she defended me. Through three years in prison and monthly visits, she kept promising we would marry as soon as I was released. By the time I got out, my parents had moved to a new house. After a long search, the person who opened the door was Vanessa. Mason casually wrapped an arm around her waist and looked at me with open provocation. "Julian, let me introduce you to my fiancee." My parents stood nearby, rubbing their hands together. "They genuinely love each other. Don't try to take your brother's happiness away." Vanessa lowered her eyes and turned the new diamond ring on her finger. "You have a felony record now. If I married you, our future family would live under that shadow." Mason leaned closer with a grin. "Julian, I'm the better man now." I squeezed the crumpled West Point admission letter in my pocket and smiled too. Some debts had finally come due.

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Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When Vanessa Hale saw me, she froze and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Why were you released so early?"

Realizing how cruel that sounded, she pressed her lips together awkwardly.

A lazy male voice drifted from behind her.

"Honey, who's knocking this late?"

My younger brother, Mason Reckitt, raised an eyebrow at me and wrapped a possessive arm around Vanessa's waist.

"Julian, let me introduce you again. This is my fiancee.

"Since you're back now, you'll be just in time for our wedding next month."

Compared with me, her ragged ex-boyfriend fresh out of prison, the two of them looked far more suited to each other.

My parents heard the commotion and hurried over.

Their cheerful expressions turned cold the moment they saw me.

"Julian, did you escape?

"Go turn yourself in before you damage your brother's reputation!"

I smiled bitterly. "Did you forget? Today was my scheduled release date."

My parents' faces shifted from pale to flushed before they turned the accusation back on me.

"Of course we didn't forget.

"Are you blaming us for not picking you up?

"Today is your brother's birthday. Visiting a prison would have ruined the celebration."

Mom even grabbed a leafy branch from a vase and struck me with it.

"Your brother's company is preparing for an IPO. We can't let your bad luck contaminate it."

Seeing how thoroughly they rejected me, Mason made no effort to hide his satisfaction.

He even pretended to be generous. "Let it go. Julian finally came home, so let's not say anything depressing.

"My company happens to need a night security guard. He can work there for twenty-two hundred dollars a month."

Mom immediately boasted, "Your brother is a major businessman now. He manages hundreds of employees."

Even Dad, who was normally stern, softened when he looked at Mason.

"Julian, you should learn from your brother.

"A person can change after making mistakes. From now on, live honestly."

They knew perfectly well that I had spent three years in prison for what Mason had done.

Yet they rewrote the truth and nailed me to a wall of shame.

Their favoritism had begun when we were children.

If I touched a toy Mason liked, my parents beat me.

But when Mason tore up the certificates I treasured, they praised him for being strong.

Three times in a row, I earned the highest score in the district's college entrance exams.

Yet whenever Mason complained, "If Julian leaves for college, no one will play with me," my parents secretly canceled my applications and kept me from enrolling anywhere.

Eventually, I fought my way into West Point.

Just when I thought I had finally escaped that cage, Mason's violent stunt destroyed my future again.

Even the girlfriend who had promised to marry me after my release had become my brother's fiancee.

The admission letter in my pocket seemed to burn against my skin.

In the end, the person who could pull me out of this nightmare was a stranger with no blood connection to me at all.
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9 Chapters
Chapter 1
When Vanessa Hale saw me, she froze and blurted out the first thing that came to mind."Why were you released so early?"Realizing how cruel that sounded, she pressed her lips together awkwardly.A lazy male voice drifted from behind her."Honey, who's knocking this late?"My younger brother, Mason Reckitt, raised an eyebrow at me and wrapped a possessive arm around Vanessa's waist."Julian, let me introduce you again. This is my fiancee."Since you're back now, you'll be just in time for our wedding next month."Compared with me, her ragged ex-boyfriend fresh out of prison, the two of them looked far more suited to each other.My parents heard the commotion and hurried over.Their cheerful expressions turned cold the moment they saw me."Julian, did you escape?"Go turn yourself in before you damage your brother's reputation!"I smiled bitterly. "Did you forget? Today was my scheduled release date."My parents' faces shifted from pale to flushed before they turned the ac
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Chapter 2
Seeing me remain silent, Vanessa sighed."Julian, I know you've suffered."But you're going to be my brother-in-law soon. You need to grow up."My parents immediately watched me with suspicion."Behave yourself now that you're back. You won't go hungry under this roof."If you're still angry, take it out on us. Don't try to destroy the young couple's relationship."Mason heard that and pretended to comfort me."Don't be too upset, Julian. It's not my fault Mom, Dad, and Vanessa love me most."It's my birthday. Why don't you stay for a family dinner?"The moment he finished, everyone looked at me.As though refusing would make me unforgivably cruel.They had forgotten it was my birthday too.Or perhaps anything connected to me had never mattered to them.I drew a slow breath. "No. I came back to sever ties with this family."Mason burst out laughing."You never even attended college, and now you have a record. Without this family, the only work you'll find is manual labor
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Chapter 3
Time seemed to stop.The wound at the back of my head and my newly injured leg throbbed with pain.But neither came close to the agony of my heart tearing open.The woman I had loved most had personally designed the trap that sent me to hell.Vanessa seemed to realize she had revealed too much.Her face went white and her lips trembled, but she could not produce a word.I stared at her in despair and asked softly, "Why?"Why would you treat me so cruelly?"Vanessa sighed as though I were the unreasonable one."Mason only started that fight because he was jealous of your grades."When you think about it, this all began because of you."You're intelligent and hardworking. You could find another path without college."Yet six years earlier, she had said she despised idle troublemakers like Mason.She was the one who encouraged me to sit for the entrance exams again and focus on studying.She had even promised to hide my plans from my parents so they could not destroy my drea
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Chapter 4
Watching me move cartons with practiced ease, Vanessa's expression briefly softened."Julian, you don't need to work this hard."Take the security job at your brother's company. It pays more and it's easier."Her shamelessness made me laugh.She had destroyed my life, and now she wanted me to beg my enemy for scraps.Vanessa studied me for a long moment before continuing."You're smart. I can persuade Mason to let you start in an entry-level office position."The two of you could work together. There would be nothing you couldn't accomplish."I put down the carton and sneered. "So Mason can keep feeding off me?"Then, when his company gets investigated for tax fraud, you can send me back to prison for him?"Vanessa finally lost patience."Everything I'm saying is for your own good."Other than Mason's company, what major employer do you think would hire you?"If you insist on fighting me, I have ways to make you agree."After she left, I could not shake the feeling that s
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Chapter 5
The instant the man spoke, every blow and insult stopped.I forced open eyes blurred with blood.Through a gap in the crowd, I saw a broad-shouldered man in a formal military uniform leading the way.Behind him, a team of military police in camouflage surged into the lobby.They moved with disciplined speed and pinned the attackers to the floor within seconds.The entire building fell silent.The officer at their head appeared to be in his fifties.His features were hard, and his gaze was sharp enough to cut.He ignored everyone else and came directly to me, lowering himself beside me."Julian Reckitt?"I opened my mouth, but no sound emerged.He asked nothing further and placed a steadying hand on my shoulder."I'm Major General Victor Rowland of Southern Defense Command."Captain Daniel Hayes was assigned overseas on short notice. Before leaving, he instructed me to come to Riverton and bring you back personally."It's fortunate I arrived several days early. Otherwise,
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Chapter 6
I was taken to the nearest hospital for treatment.Fortunately, most of my injuries were bruises, cuts, and a mild concussion.That same evening, the parents who had thrown me out somehow learned where I was and came to my room.The military police assigned to protect me stopped them at the door.Mom held an insulated container and called my name softly.It sounded like all the evenings in childhood when she called me to dinner.Back then, Mason had not been born yet.Perhaps the loss in my eyes was too obvious.The guards finally stepped aside and allowed my parents in.Mom opened the container and eagerly ladled out a bowl of chicken and wild-rice soup."Winters in Riverton call for something warm."Especially when you're hurt. You need to build your strength."She looked at me with such tenderness that it was as if the previous week had never happened.When I refused the bowl, she carefully raised the spoon as though she meant to feed me.I struck it from her hand, spi
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Chapter 7
Dad froze, but still tried to argue in a faltering voice."You're brothers. Blood ties don't disappear just because you're angry. You can't truly send your own brother to prison."Mason was sickly as a child, and raising him was difficult. I can't stand by while he destroys his future."Exhausted, I closed my eyes.When I opened them again, no attachment remained."I'll say this one final time. Mason must answer for what he did."Instead of begging me, hire him a competent defense attorney."My words extinguished their final hope.Dad collapsed into a chair, his eyes empty.Mom stopped wailing and stared blankly at the soup on the floor, seeming to age ten years at once.At that moment, someone knocked softly on the hospital-room door.A young military police officer entered."Cadet Reckitt, a woman outside would like to see you. She says her name is Vanessa Hale."The sound of her name made my stomach twist.My parents reacted as though they had been handed a lifeline.
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Chapter 8
After that day, my parents and Vanessa each returned to the hospital many times.Fortunately, I had already instructed the guards that I would see none of them.That bought me several quiet days.By the time I had fully recovered, Mason's judgment had been issued.That afternoon, General Rowland came to my hospital room personally with a document in his hand.He skipped the formalities, handed it to me, and summarized the result."Mason Reckitt received twelve years in state and federal custody for aggravated assault, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, false reporting, and related offenses."His company has also been seized and placed into liquidation over tax fraud and illegal business practices."I accepted the thin document, but it felt impossibly heavy.Twelve years. Exactly four times the sentence I had served for him.The law had finally given me justice."What about Vanessa?" I asked calmly."She was charged as a participant in the frame-up and for destroying eviden
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Chapter 9
Every sentence I spoke cut into her.Vanessa's face went white, and her lips trembled without forming a complete answer."I had no other choice at the time..."How could I possibly believe that?"So your only choice was to destroy my life and reward your affair?"Vanessa, stop pretending to be helpless. It only makes you more repulsive to me."Her eyes reddened."So you're doing all this to punish me?"I could..."She paused as though preparing to make an enormous sacrifice."I could end this pregnancy and come back to you."My only condition is that Mason stays out of prison."Her shameless proposal made me laugh.Vanessa mistook my laughter for delight.She lifted her chin, her confidence returning."You went through all this because you wanted me back, didn't you?"I'm agreeing now. Go get Mason released."I shook my head. "Do you honestly think I'd take back someone who betrayed me and is carrying his child?"Or have you always believed I was still the same fool y
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