Chapter 43: The Truth That Breaks Us ⚠️

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My throat closes up.
Tears burn at the edges of my vision.

"They loved me."
His voice breaks.

A single, fractured note-so soft, so unbelieving, that it destroys me.

Tears slip down my face.

"They loved me so much."

Yoongi is breathing hard.
His whole body is locked in tension, fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles have gone white. His jaw is tight, his chest rising and falling with barely controlled rage.

"I read the diary." Taehyung sniffles. "My mom... she wrote about me every day. About how much she loved me. How much my dad loved me. How they wanted me to grow up happy."

I reach up, cupping his cheek, my hands shaking.
"Tae-"

But he laughs.
A broken, shattered sound.

"They lied to me."

His whole body shudders.

"They lied."

His aunt. His uncle.
The people who were supposed to care for him.

The people who looked him in the eye, year after year, and told him he was nothing.

"They didn't love you."
"They left you with nothing."
"No one wanted you,
You were just a burden."

                    But they had

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But they had.
They had wanted him.
They had loved him.

And the people who had
took him, hurt him
Had ripped that love
from him.

Had made him believe
he was unwanted.
For years.

"I found out," he whispers, "that they only took me in because of the money."

Yoongi shudders beside me.

"It was written in the will. That they could only get their share if they took care of me. If they made sure I finished school. If I had a good life."
His voice cracks.

"They never cared about me."

Yoongi trembles.

"Tae."
His voice is raw.

Taehyung inhales sharply.

"I confronted them."
His breath stutters, uneven.

"I told them I was leaving. That I wouldn't let them have a single won."

And then-
A bitter, broken smile.

"They beat me worse than ever."

I sob.

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