My Guardian's Cruelest Love Game

Holla

o, secretly hoping he'd grab my arm, tell me I was being foolish, that I belonged here with him. He never did. He'd simply nod, his expression unreadable, and say, "If

rt wasn't aching for him to stop me. It was aching for escape. I wasn't hoping for a react

the most important ones you have to make for yourself. And sometimes, the hardest choice is the one that sets you free." She pushed her glasses higher on her nose. "The MIT pro

lifeline. "I'll do it, Professor," I whispered, my voice thick with emotion. "I promi

I believed that if I kept busy enough, if I worked hard enough, the searing pain in my chest would dull, the emptiness would fill, an

I pushed open the door to the guest room-my new room-and froze. Kendrick was there, sittin

flicker of the old hope. I clutched my backpack tighter, my

ne with my father's picture inside, that he'd given me on my tenth birthday. I hadn't worn it in years, had forgotten abo

symbol of the love I'd lost, the love Kendrick had replaced. He was holding it so gently, almos

he coldness he'd shown me for months. His actions were a confusin

unning away, causing mischief... it's not the answer. Don't be mad at me." His words were alm

olding a precious memory. It was a cycle I knew too well-his mild concern, my desperate clinging, followed

ldering ember, occasionally flaring with a cruel gust of wind, only to be extinguished again. The sheer

he emotion that raged within me. "And I'm not 'sulking.'" The

when I didn't fit into his neat little boxes of emotion. He pulled an ornate invitation f

ortant event. I expect you to be there." It wasn't a request. It w

word a quiet surrender. I didn

Chrissy will be there. I don't want her upset." The unspoken threat hung

t help myself. "Do you love her, Kendrick?" The words

long and agonizing. He said nothing. But in his eyes, in the subtle tightening of his

nt tradition. But a designer tote bag, overflowing with Chrissy's art supplies, sat there, a vibrant, unde

Amirah!" she chirped, a knowing smile playing on her lips. "That seat's mine now, da

ystematically erasing me from every corner of his life. Even the passenger

ir easy banter, Chrissy' s hand often resting on Kendrick' s arm. They discussed art, law, their plans for the weekend. I listened, my presence

ushed conversations and the clinking of champagne flutes. Chrissy

ost violent swirl of colors, depicting a woman's face, ravaged by tears, her eyes wide with a r

he suffocating nature of a love that can never be returned, the agony of yearning for someone who sees you as nothing

She had seen right through me, through my broken heart,

ted, turning to Kendrick with a dazzling smile. "So

ed and precise, devoid of emotion. "It's... vivid. But I find such overt displays of

dissecting my very soul, my deepest pain, and deeming it immature. Chrissy had painted my heartbreak, and

. I couldn't breathe. I had to get out. I turned abrupt

with false concern, followed me. "You look a littl

e, Chrissy. Just a little overwhelmed by... the sheer emotiona

family now, after all." She took a step closer, her voice dropping to a consp

eer. "Don't think I haven't noticed, little girl. All your pathetic little games, your desperate attempts to cling to him. It's over. He chos