Chapter 62
“What happened to me? Oh, please. I’ve always been this way. You never knew the real me, or maybe you Just never bothered to!” Noelle’s laugh was cold as she cut off Xavier’s words. “We’ve had nothing to talk about for ages. I haven’t forgotten what went down last night. I’m not some puppet you can play with. Go tell Winter to watch her back. If she slips up, I’ll make her wish she’d never crossed me.”
Noelle was not the type to be cold and unfeeling: she would not have turned this way if they had not pushed her to the limit.
After her outburst, Noelle rubbed at her eyes, her head hung low, and she forced a bitter smile. No matter how much her parents played favorites, she used to just get over it. She was great at making her own fun, or she would just hang out with her Grandpa, playing chess. Her Grandpa always said chess was a great way to calm down the mind.
Noelle tried to tell herself that her parents just wanted her to learn to stand on her own two feet. Then she saw how they doted on Winter, and she started to doubt again.
Years had passed, and she had always been thankful to Winter for saving her life when they were little. Meanwhile, Winter kept using that one good deed to take what was Noelle’s and always get her way.
As kids, it was toys and family affection. Now that they were older, it was her boyfriend, her love that Winter had taken!
That was it. She had enough.
She had paid back any debt from the past, and it was more than enough.
Xavier froze when he heard Noelle’s voice through the door. A strange feeling washed over him, like he was losing something precious that he could not quite catch–like trying to hold onto water or sand slipping through his fingers.”
“Noelle… about your sister… I need to explain. Please, open the door. We’ve known each other forever, and you’re amazing, but you’ve always been like a sister to me. Just a sister. You know how kind and generous she is. That year you were gone, I ended up spending a lot more time with her, and things just…. happened. I never wanted to hurt you. I meant to tell you when you got back, but we were afraid you wouldn’t take it well, so we…”
“So you two decided to sneak around and get engaged while I was away? And by the time I returned, you’d be an item, with everyone in Brookville thinking you’re the perfect couple. And me? If I say anything. I’m just the jealous little sister after her sister’s guy, huh?” Noelle’s voice was icy, cutting Xavier off as he tried to say, “Noelle, you’ve got it all wrong. We never meant to do this to you!”
“Really?” Noelle’s voice was laced with scorn. “If I hadn’t come back early, you would have had your happy little engagement party, right? None of you cared about how I’d feel. So why are you here acting all sorry now?”
“Noelle, please… don’t be mad at us for what happened. Don’t just run off with some random guy. Do you even know what he’s like? Do you know what he…”
“I know he treats me better than you ever did. He’s kinder to me than any of you. He wouldn’t betray me, not for all the money in the world.”