Aurelia grew up without much love from her mother, and she never thought her real dad would ever come into her life. But then, he did. Now, she wonders if it's too late for him to rescue her from the darkness her parents left her in, or if there's s...
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I shouldn't have come out here.
I needed space. My head had been spinning all night, and the only thing that calmed the chaos inside me was Storm. My little puppy. He didn't know what was going on, didn't care about all the tension in the house. All he wanted was attention, food, and playtime—and for some reason, that simple innocence made me feel less like a stranger in this house.
I'd stepped outside to walk him, to take a moment to breathe, but I should have known better. The moment I stepped onto the porch, I saw him—Ramón. I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart dropping at the sight of him.
I should've just turned around and gone back inside, but he already noticed me. Of course, he did.
"What do you want?" His voice cut through the air, cold and harsh.
I wasn't prepared for it. It made my stomach twist, but I couldn't back away. Not now.
"I—I just needed some air," I mumbled, hoping my words were quiet enough that he'd leave it at that.
But Ramón's gaze hardened as he took a step toward me. I didn't know if it was because I was standing there or if it was because I had dared to exist in his space, but he made no attempt to hide his disdain. His eyes ran over me like I was some nuisance, something beneath him.
"You don't belong here."
I felt the words before they even registered in my head. The sting of them hit hard, like a slap across my chest. But it wasn't new. I had always known. Since the moment I stepped into this house, this world, I had never truly belonged.
I hadn't grown up with them. I didn't know any of these people the way they knew each other. They had their bond—years of memories, of shared experiences, of a history that went back farther than I could ever reach. And then there was me. The outsider. The girl they didn't know, but were told to accept. The girl who barely understood the rules of the game.
But hearing it from Ramón, hearing it so plainly—it was like the words had weight, as if they were the final confirmation of something I'd feared all along.
I swallowed hard, feeling a lump in my throat. "I'm not trying to be here," I whispered, but he didn't even flinch.
His eyes hardened, his lips curling into a faint sneer. "Figures," he muttered, turning away from me, as if it were all just an annoyance he couldn't wait to rid himself of.
The silence between us felt like it stretched on for ages. Storm nudged at my leg, looking up at me with big, soft eyes. But even his comfort couldn't break through the suffocating tension Ramón had left hanging in the air.
"You know, you're just a reminder of things I don't want to deal with," Ramón added, his voice rough, but steady. "A reminder of things I can't fix."
His words were like a punch to the stomach. He didn't need to explain. I understood exactly what he meant. I was the thing they didn't want. The thing they could all pretend wasn't there, just for a little while longer.
Ramón didn't stop. He took another step, not sparing me a second glance, as if I were nothing more than a fleeting inconvenience.
I stared at his back, unable to find the words to speak, my throat closing up. It didn't matter that I was standing right there, that I had asked a question. He had already decided who I was. And in his eyes, I would always be the outsider.
"Just... go back inside, okay?" His words were flat, dismissive.
I should have said something. I should have told him that it didn't matter, that I didn't care what he thought. But the truth was, I did care. I wasn't immune to it. And even if I didn't belong, his words still hurt.
I didn't fight him. I didn't have the strength to. I just turned away, my feet heavy on the ground as I walked back toward the house, Storm trotting alongside me.
The door clicked shut behind me, and I leaned against it, my head resting against the cool wood. I closed my eyes, trying to find a moment of peace, but there was none. There never would be.
I didn't belong here.
And no matter how hard I tried, I never would.
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