Chapter 4

I didn't tell Brady or Josephine either.

I packed my things in secret.

Brady came by often after that, guilt written all over his face.

"Gideon, I'm sorry."

I sighed. I couldn't bring myself to curse him, but I couldn't forgive him either.

What we had shared in the past had been real, and so was the betrayal.

So all I could do was sit quietly on the couch without saying a word, waiting for Josephine to arrive with Owen and take him home.

Whenever that happened, Owen would throw himself into Brady's arms and excitedly tell him about whatever surprise Josephine had prepared this time.

Like the bottle of champagne Brady had casually mentioned wanting or the watch he'd wanted for ages but couldn't bring himself to buy because it was too expensive.

Listening to the familiar pattern, I couldn't help but laugh.

After all these years, the way she loved someone still hadn't changed.

Once they left, the apartment became quiet again.

The matching couple's mugs I couldn't bear to throw away, the sweaters we'd bought in the same colors... They all seemed to mock how blind I'd been.

My chat history with Josephine still contained nothing but bank transfers.

Somewhere along the way, she'd gone from telling me everything to not even sending a simple good morning message.

Every text I sent disappeared into the void without so much as a reply.

The day I was supposed to leave, someone started pounding on my door. I opened it to find Owen standing there alone.

"What's wrong—"

Before I could finish, Owen's fists slammed into my leg over and over, forcing me backward.

"It's all your fault! You're the bad guy! You're bullying Mom! Mom and Dad fight because of you every day! Mom cries because of you every day!"

I froze.

I couldn't understand how I'd already given up everything and was still somehow the villain.

I tried to explain things to him, but the little boy had completely lost control.

He grabbed a glass from the coffee table and threw it at my face.

"Ah—!"

I wasn't fast enough to dodge, and the glass pierced my eye.

The pain brought tears rushing to my eyes, but what flowed down my face was blood.

Still, he didn't stop. He sank his teeth into my hand. With all his strength, he tore away a piece of skin.

"Get out!"

I shoved him away as all the anger and humiliation I'd been suppressing finally exploded.

He hit the floor hard, landing directly on the shattered glass beneath him.

"I'm bullying your mother?"

I laughed, but my tears only fell harder.

"Owen, you're a bastard. You're the illegitimate child your shameless mother had with another man!"

Immediately, the front door flew open. Josephine rushed over and slapped me hard across the face.

"Gideon! He's just a child! How can you say something so cruel?"

The blow was hard enough to snap my head to the side. Her fingerprints remained clearly visible on my cheek.

Then she saw my bloodshot eyes and the blood running down my face. She froze. Fear flashed across her expression.

"Gideon, what happened to you?"

Brady pulled Owen into his arms. Glass shards were embedded all over the boy's arms and legs.

His eyes reddened with distress, his voice trembling. "Gideon, you can do whatever you want to me. I owe you that. But Owen is innocent!

"What gives you the right to treat him like this? From this day forward, we're not friends anymore."

He ripped the watch I'd given him from around his wrist and threw it onto the floor.

Before leaving, he deliberately stomped on it several times. Only after it was completely destroyed did he finally leave with Owen in his arms.

Josephine hurried after them, leaving me alone in the wreckage.

After getting my injuries treated at the hospital, I finally boarded my flight.

Before takeoff, I looked one last time at the city I had once called home, at the eight years I had let slip away.

From this day forward, both love and friendship would remain buried in the past.