Chapter 2 The Beginning of My Ruin

My girlfriend and my best friend had been wrapped in each other's arms, tangled together on the bed in the room I'd prepared.

In that instant, all the happiness I'd ever known came crashing down.

I snatched the birthday cake off the table and hurled it at them.

Kieran dropped to his knees in front of me, tears streaming down his face as he pleaded, "Mason, I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen…"

I trembled with rage and raised my hand to slap his hypocritical face.

However, before I could strike him, Everly seized my wrist in a painful grip. She shoved me backward with such force that my forehead slammed into the corner of the table. Agonizing pain shot through me, and warm blood instantly blurred my vision.

She shielded Kieran behind her, her gaze as cold as a blade. "If you have to blame someone, blame me. Leave Kieran out of this!"

Yet, he only beat his fists against her shoulder, crying out, "This is all your fault! You made Mason misunderstand us! Mason, I swear I'll never see Everly again. Please, don't tell anyone about this, especially your mother… I don't want to lose the family I've fought so hard to gain. You know I've had nothing since I was a child."

Back then, seeing his reddened eyes, I had been foolish enough to soften.

I pressed a hand against my bleeding forehead and nodded through my sobs, agreeing to keep their filthy secret. Little did I know that my moment of weakness would lead me straight into an abyss, from which there would be no escape.

Not only did Kieran fail to change his ways, but he became even more brazen, taking everything from me one piece at a time. In the end, he resorted to the most despicable means imaginable to kill the mother who had cherished me like her most precious treasure.

Once again, tears flooded my eyes.

…

At some point, Everly pushed through the crowd and pulled Kieran into her arms. Mackenzie, too, crouched beside him and gently rubbed his cheek, reddened where I'd struck him with the cake.

But when she turned to look at me, her eyes were glacial.

"Are you done making a scene, Mason? What's the point of dredging up all this ancient history? You failed to hold on to Everly's heart. She had every right to choose Kieran. Why should everyone else take the blame for your failures?"

A chill spread through my body, leaving nothing in my heart but bitter contempt.

Eight years had passed, yet she was still just as incapable of distinguishing right from wrong. The people I'd trusted with my whole heart had betrayed me together. Kieran had schemed relentlessly to steal everything that belonged to me. Yet somehow, in Mackenzie's eyes, I was to blame.

The fury I'd suppressed for so long erupted instantly. I screamed at her, "Ancient history? What about Mom? Was her life just ancient history, too? Kieran caused her death. Do you think you can just sweep that under the rug?"

The anger on Mackenzie's face froze. She stared at me in bewilderment, completely stunned. "What are you talking about? Wasn't it because you deliberately made things difficult for Kieran back then, and Mom got caught up in the argument and had an accident?"

Looking at her bewildered expression, I felt as though an icy hand had clenched around my heart, squeezing so tightly that I could barely breathe.

Back then, everyone had believed Mom's death was an accident. Even the daughter she had cherished most never bothered to investigate the truth behind it.

…

After I caught Everly and Kieran together, they had broken their promise to stay away from each other. Instead, they had grown even more brazen.

Kieran deliberately flaunted his relationship with Everly in front of me, telling me about the limited-edition watches she had bought him and the vacation destinations she had taken him to. He had even gone to Mom and twisted the truth, accusing me of bullying him.

"Mom, Mason's hated me ever since Everly started paying a little more attention to me. He's been getting his classmates to corner me and shove me around at school. They've even thrown my books into the toilets… I can't take it anymore…"

Watching his eyes grow red with tears, I trembled with desperation. I wanted to defend myself, but his aggrieved sobs drowned out my words. "I know Mason resents how close Everly and I have become, but I haven't stolen anything from him!"

My mother frowned deeply, disappointment filling her eyes. "Mason, I've taught you to treat others with kindness. How could you be so intolerant of Kieran?"

She turned, picked up the wooden ruler from the corner of the room, and brought it down hard on my back. The searing pain cut straight to the bone. I sobbed uncontrollably, choking out desperate denials, but Mom refused to listen.

"Kieran has been timid and unfortunate since childhood. If you hadn't bullied him so relentlessly, would he have come to me for help?"

She beat my back until the skin split open, leaving me unable to sleep on anything but my stomach for days.

Later, I developed a high fever that refused to break for three days and three nights. Only then did Mom finally soften.

She stayed by my bedside and said helplessly, "Alright, I'll speak to the Lockwood family and arrange for you and Everly to get married as soon as possible. That way, you'll stop letting your imagination run wild."