Beneath The Surface: A Family's Secret

Beneath The Surface: A Family's Secret

Gavin

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My life was a laundry cycle of servitude. A straight-A student, yet at home, I was just the maid, my younger brother Kevin' s muddy jersey a constant reminder. My parents, Karen and Rick, lived through his fleeting athletic glories, barely acknowledging my existence. Then came the Spring Break survivalist trip to the Nevada desert, Kevin's latest TikTok obsession, eagerly championed by my parents. I warned them about the aggressive wildlife, the missing hikers, but my mother's hand found my cheek, silencing me. Deep in the desert, our SUV got stuck, and as darkness fell, a chilling tap on my window turned our ill-fated adventure into a nightmare. A starving mountain lion shattered the glass, its claws tearing into my arm. But the real terror wasn't the beast; it was the cold calculation in my mother's eyes. With a sickening shove, Karen pushed me out of the car, right into the lion's path. The door slammed shut, the lock clicked, and my last sight was their taillights speeding away, leaving me for dead in the dark. Their relief was palpable, and I died knowing they abandoned me without a second thought. I was consumed by the grit of the sand, the tearing pain, the animal' s hot breath, but most of all, the chilling indifference of my own family. How could they? How could my own mother make such a conscious, fatal decision to discard me? Why was I always the problem they needed to eliminate, the buzzkill they had to silence? Then, the familiar smell of bleach filled my lungs. I gasped, eyes flying open, standing in the laundry room, Kevin' s muddy jersey in my hand. I was back, and this time, the cold, hard block settling in my chest wasn't sorrow or fear, but a thirst for revenge. Not this time. This time, they would pay.

Introduction

My life was a laundry cycle of servitude.

A straight-A student, yet at home, I was just the maid, my younger brother Kevin' s muddy jersey a constant reminder.

My parents, Karen and Rick, lived through his fleeting athletic glories, barely acknowledging my existence.

Then came the Spring Break survivalist trip to the Nevada desert, Kevin's latest TikTok obsession, eagerly championed by my parents.

I warned them about the aggressive wildlife, the missing hikers, but my mother's hand found my cheek, silencing me.

Deep in the desert, our SUV got stuck, and as darkness fell, a chilling tap on my window turned our ill-fated adventure into a nightmare.

A starving mountain lion shattered the glass, its claws tearing into my arm.

But the real terror wasn't the beast; it was the cold calculation in my mother's eyes.

With a sickening shove, Karen pushed me out of the car, right into the lion's path.

The door slammed shut, the lock clicked, and my last sight was their taillights speeding away, leaving me for dead in the dark.

Their relief was palpable, and I died knowing they abandoned me without a second thought.

I was consumed by the grit of the sand, the tearing pain, the animal' s hot breath, but most of all, the chilling indifference of my own family.

How could they? How could my own mother make such a conscious, fatal decision to discard me?

Why was I always the problem they needed to eliminate, the buzzkill they had to silence?

Then, the familiar smell of bleach filled my lungs.

I gasped, eyes flying open, standing in the laundry room, Kevin' s muddy jersey in my hand.

I was back, and this time, the cold, hard block settling in my chest wasn't sorrow or fear, but a thirst for revenge.

Not this time. This time, they would pay.

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My world revolved around Jax Harding, my older brother's captivating rockstar friend. From sixteen, I adored him; at eighteen, I clung to his casual promise: "When you're 22, maybe I'll settle down." That offhand comment became my life's beacon, guiding every choice, meticulously planning my twenty-second birthday as our destiny. But on that pivotal day in a Lower East Side bar, clutching my gift, my dream exploded. I overheard Jax' s cold voice: "Can't believe Savvy's showing up. She' s still hung up on that stupid thing I said." Then the crushing plot: "We' re gonna tell Savvy I' m engaged to Chloe, maybe even hint she' s pregnant. That should scare her off." My gift, my future, slipped from my numb fingers. I fled into the cold New York rain, devastated by betrayal. Later, Jax introduced Chloe as his "fiancée" while his bandmates mocked my "adorable crush"-he did nothing. As an art installation fell, he saved Chloe, abandoning me to severe injury. In the hospital, he came for "damage control," then shockingly shoved me into a fountain, leaving me to bleed, calling me a "jealous psycho." How could the man I loved, who once saved me, become this cruel and publicly humiliate me? Why was my devotion seen as an annoyance to be brutally extinguished with lies and assault? Was I just a problem, my loyalty met with hatred? I would not be his victim. Injured and betrayed, I made an unshakeable vow: I was done. I blocked his number and everyone connected to him, severing ties. This was not an escape; this was my rebirth. Florence awaited, a new life on my terms, unburdened by broken promises.

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