Chapter 85 Heartbreak
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Barnett took a deep breath, forcing the overwhelming guilt he felt for Aurora to the back of his mind.
He reached out and pulled open the desk drawer.
In an instant, his eyes were flooded with a cascade of awards that gleamed like beacons in the dimly lit storage room.
They hit him like a sledgehammer, leaving him stunned and speechless.
His hand trembled uncontrollably as he slowly extended it to pull out the stack of awards.
One by one, he carefully caressed them, each award telling its own silent story in the past twelve years, including six years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and three more of high school.
All chronicled Aurora’s brilliance and relentless effort.
There were awards for Aurora being student of the year. Each carried weighty honor, tangible proof of her achievements.
But rather than admiration, these accolades sliced into his heart like knives.
Behind every single award was Aurora’s hard work and her
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Fo. twelve long years, she had been celebrated by teachers and classmates alike, a model student, someone everyone looked up
- to.
And then? What happened when she came home to the Elvador Villa?
She was branded as cunning, malicious, troublemaking, and petty.
In their eyes, she wasn’t even worth as much as the delinquent
teens.
The more he stared at those awards, the more disgusted he
became with himself.
For years, he’d judged her through a lens of prejudice, never once seeing her for who she really was.
His hands shook violently, the rustling sound echoing in the
quiet room.
Unable to face what he was holding, he shoved the entire stack back into the drawer. His breathing grew heavier.
After several agonizing moments, he managed to calm down just enough to hesitate over another closed drawer.
Driven by curiosity, his hand hovered over the desk drawer again, ready to pull it open. But just as he was about to, he
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hesitated, his fingers trembling slightly before coming to an involuntary stop.
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Curiosity gnawed at him, mingled with dread. Slowly, he finally pulled it open.
A letter of acceptance from Vertar University stared back at him. Its embossed golden letters and solemn emblem seemed to glow with an otherworldly light, momentarily blinding him.
He gaped at it in disbelief, but no sound escaped his lips.
“This… this can’t be real…” he whispered hoarsely, his voice quivering like leaves in a storm.
Vertar University was the university that countless students dreamed of attending. Millions of candidates fought tooth and nail for a chance to get in, and countless others fell short.
Yet here it was: Aurora, the sister he had always misunderstood, hurt, and looked down on, had managed to grab the opportunity.
His hand moved toward the letter as if drawn by some invisible force, treating it like a fragile relic.
When his fingertips brushed against the paper, his whole body jolted as though struck by lightning.
Memories surged forward, including his mistrust of her, allowing her to be vilified by their family, the look of shock on her face during the trial when she was accused of attempted
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murder, and his indifference after she was sentenced.
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Each memory stabbed deeper than the last, shredding whatever remained of his composure.
His body began to quake violently, and his breathing turned. ragged and labored, as if he were drowning and fighting desperately for air.
The world spun around him, his vision blurred, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Barnett choked out, his voice breaking under the weight of despair.
“I destroyed her! I ruined her life with my own hands!”
Tears spilled uncontrollably down his cheeks, dripping onto the acceptance letter and smudging the ink.
Remorse and self–loathing etched themselves across his face, draining him of all strength until he collapsed into the chair, hollow–eyed and broken.
He realized then just how deeply he had wounded Aurora, far deeper than he’d ever imagined. These awards and this. acceptance letter were irrefutable evidence of the scars he could never heal.
Suddenly, dizziness overwhelmed him. Darkness crept into the edges of his vision, threatening to pull him under.
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Gasping for air, he fought to stay upright, clutching the edge of the desk for support.
It took every ounce of willpower to steady himself as the spinning sensation gradually subsided and his emotions settled.
With trembling hands, he wiped away the tears, preparing to place the acceptance letter gently back into the drawer. But a weathered diary tucked away in the corner caught his eye.
His hand froze mid–air as his heart was torn between instinct and curiosity.
Logic screamed at him not to open it. Whatever lay inside would likely deepen his pain and guilt. Yet the urge to understand Aurora was irresistible.
Against his better judgment, his fingers acted on their own accord, reaching for the diary.
As he opened the first page, a photograph slipped out. It was a family portrait.
His parents sat smiling in the center, his mother cradling Happy, their beloved dog who had lived eighteen happy years before passing away naturally.
After Happy’s death, the family mourned deeply, even holding a funeral for him.
The loss had been too painful, and after that, they never brought another dog into their home.
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To this day, Happy’s room remained untouched, filled with toys he once loved.
Standing beside his father, Barnett wore a proud smile, while Bertha nestled close to their mother.
They were a blissful family.
And there, separated from him by a deliberate gap, stood Aurora.
The image yanked him back to that day when the garden. bloomed with flowers in May.
Bertha had suggested taking a family photo in the garden.
Everything was ready when Bertha remembered Happy hadn’t joined them yet. She called out loudly for Happy.
A while later, Aurora had brought Happy over, asking shyly, “Barnett, what are you doing?”
He’d brushed her off casually, saying they were taking a family picture.
Her eyes lit up with excitement, assuming she was included too.
But when it came time to pose, her attempt to stand near him had irritated him.
Back then, aside from Bertha, he didn’t allow any other woman
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to get close to him. Without thinking, he pushed her aside, not knowing it hurt Aurora’s feelings.
Later, Bertha proposed a family vacation. Naturally, they agreed, packing up and leaving with Happy for a trip that lasted. until the final night of the holiday.
That evening, the first major argument erupted.
“Why didn’t you take me?” Aurora asked.
They were already exhausted from the trip, and when she confronted them with a questioning look on her face, Barnett snapped, “You’re not part of this family. Why should we bring you?”
Their dog had a place in the center of the photo, but Aurora had been positioned a full space away from them.
Even their dog had his own private room, meticulously cleaned by the housekeeper every day and filled with all of his favorite things.
But Aurora was forced to live in a dark, damp storage room with only a few broken pieces of furniture scattered carelessly around.
While the dog got to tag along on family vacations, Aurora, his blood–related sister, had to stay behind, left alone in that empty house.
Every month, they dropped over 10 thousand dollars on
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everything to make sure Happy lived the high life, including grooming, pest control, dog food, fish oil, calcium supplements, and vitamins.
But Aurora didn’t see a single penny from the family. Her tuition was paid for by her own hard work and the scholarships she earned through sheer determination and academic
excellence.
These images played in his mind like a slideshow.
Suddenly, a sharp pain lanced through his gut. Before he knew it, blood spattered across the desk.
His heart ached beyond measure.
