Dating Jake was so blissful.He had nothing but love and affection for me, and he understood me without exchanging words. It was such a wonderful and odd feeling. Before I met Jake, I did not know that it was possible to find someone who understood me as much as he did.We watched movies and went to theme parks and music festivals. It was as if we were doing everything I missed from my past relationships.Jake would do random things that made my heart flutter. He would peck my cheek while we held hands and whispered in my ear.'You smell delicious.'When I got home from work, he would be seen wearing an apron with a table of mouth-watering food, waiting patiently for me to come home.He was such a perfect boyfriend to the point where there were times I thought I was trapped in some sort of euphoric dream.The joy and contentment had me forget that humans could not possibly be that perfect and that they were bound to have some flaws.
I discovered Jake's secret purely by accident.There was a period when he would frequent his father's company. He said there were things he had to sort out for his father.One time, I went with him and waited for his meeting to end in the guest room.Perhaps it was rare to have guests in the guest room. Two employees started chatting just outside the room by the door. They started talking about what happened within the Young family as they were chatting.One person even directly mentioned Jake Young."Young Junior has always been a smart kid. He pretended to run away from home in order for Missus Young to put her guard down. He even stood low to pursue a regular woman, fooling people around him that he was just a simple-minded man who thought of nothing but women.""Is that so? Jakey looked like a harmless dove. Turns out he's quite the cunning fox after all!""Right? I guess kids with that sort of background had to be clever one way or another."As their voice grew further,
Jake brought me back to his house.It was raining, and we did not have an umbrella with us. We were drenched from head to toe, and it was a dire and embarrassing sight.In his spacious room, he dug out a heaping amount of photo albums, diaries, and a medical diagnosis."Miss Johnson, these are all my secrets over the years. If you're willing to learn, I'm willing to show you my insides—bare and raw."However, if you decide to leave me after you're finished, please don't tell me. I'm afraid of the extent I'd go to make you stay…"His head hung low the whole time, avoiding my eyes. The corner of his mouth and eyes trembled, holding back his tears. I did not know what to feel when I reached out to the things in front of me.I read the first page of the medical diagnosis.Jake Young, fourteen years old.Diagnosed with erotomania. I braced myself for what I was about to find out. The photo albums were filled with photos of me. Every single page.In that instant, I felt a chil
I rarely opened up to anyone about myself.I have kept a diary since I was six years old because my mother passed away the very same year.It was a day of heavy rainfall in the summer. The wind murmured unforgivingly as myriads of cicadas buzzed harmoniously.I woke up from a nap, and an unearthly sound filled the air.Bolts of flashes lit up the darkened sky as a wall of rain drummed on the ground. The mansion was vast and pitch-black, and its silence was deafening.I called out for my 'momma', but there was no response.I followed the whirring sound of thunder up the stairs, passing the long hallway. Step by step, approaching nothing but the worst nightmare of my entire life.There she laid as a single strike of lightning lit up the dark room, illuminating her face.She looked at peace—sound asleep.Later, the mansion was swarmed with people, filling the air with heavy and muffled sobs. I stood behind the adults, crisscrossing through the crowd. In front of me was Jerome You
At that time, I thought she would wake up.It was after the countless nights spent in bed alone when my untold amount of 'momma' was met with silence as I wept myself to sleep. Only then did I realize that she was not coming back and that I would never see her ever again.I started keeping a diary. Word by word, I recorded my feelings toward the world around me.Not long after my mother's burial, Jerome Young brought back a younger woman he said was my new mother.I would never call her that. Never.I had found my late mother's diagnosis papers. She was diagnosed with major depressive disorder.Along with it was a letter she wrote for me.She apologized to me over and over again in the letter.Father's betrayal and pressure from her own parents were too overwhelming for a girl who was brought up in a wealthy family and was given everything she had ever wanted.On that thunderous rainy day, she decided to take her own life under the impression that I was still in my piano class
After Veronica Choice married Jerome Young, she tried to win me over.It was funny how the homewrecker who killed my mother was still trying to get me to like her. Had she forgotten what she did, or was she trying to make up for what she did to cover up her guilty conscience?I hated Veronica Choice, and I hated Jerome Young.However, ever since then, I learned how to disguise myself.Perhaps the adult world was permeated with a sense of conceit. They thought every child was naive and easily manipulated.Presents, toys, snacks, and candies were all there was to a child's world.At least, that was what Veronica thought.I was so cooperative with her performance that I had successfully convinced her that I was a good-for-nothing kid who was pampered by his wealthy family.It was a useful disguise. Within all those years in the Young family, she never wasted her time and effort to plot against me. She spent her time seeking medical advice from countless places as she tried to conc
Avery Johnson appeared in my life by complete chance.When I was in ninth grade, Veronica had a massive argument with Jerome over his affair with a young starlet.They had been at loggerheads for the longest time. Veronica was the type of woman to be highly skilled at manipulating men. They would fight every morning, then make up by the end of the day. It was clear they would never call it quits, no matter how bad the fights were.Eventually, I grew sick of the noise.One day after school, I distracted the driver and snuck off to wander outside. Then, out of nowhere, it started to rain.The rain only grew heavier.I ran to the entrance of a fast-food restaurant since I ran out of options.I had a deep fear of rain. It tended to remind me of the past.I squatted by the door, watching the clouds darken more and more. Just as I contemplated whether or not to call my driver to come and get me, the door behind me opened. I heard a gentle voice coming from behind me."Hey, do you wa
I was unsure of what came over me after that, but I started going to the fast-food restaurant every day after school.I found out that her name was Avery Johnson. She mentioned that she was a student who worked part-time while studying at the university nearby.A lot of the things I said to her, on the other hand, were far from true.The name I gave her was my classmate's name.The truth was that I did not want to show her the real me. That person was ugly inside and out, feared and resented by many.I complained to her about the amount of homework I had, just like the other kids in my class did. I ranted about the endless tutoring classes I was sent to every weekend. I rambled on and on about cartoons I had never even seen, as well as the abundance of toys I had at home but never touched.I had told her one truth—my parents had an awful relationship. They fought all the time, and that was why I never wanted to go home.She reacted with great sympathy. Sometimes she would sneak