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683words2026-01-26 11:22

Three years into my mental decline,
the Lawson sisters, Luna and Lydia, had grown tired of me.
They threw me out of the Manor House, my suitcase spilling its contents onto the driveway.

Shoved hard, I stumbled and hit my head on the slick steps outside the gate.
A dull, throbbing pain shot through my skull.
Luna Lawson looked down at me with disgust.
"Vincent Foster, we've paid back whatever we owed you."
"Get as far away as possible from now on!"
Lydia Lawson yelled sharply at me.

"Hurry up and leave!"
"Wait until Miles gets back and sees you're still here, he'll be upset again!"
It was pouring rain. Soaked and miserable, I stood in the downpour while they stayed dry under the eaves, completely unconcerned about what happened to me.
All because Miles Sullivan said he didn't want to see me living with them anymore.

It would make him sad.
So, they were throwing me out.
But the place they lived in, wasn't it my house?
...
I lay out in the rain for a full day and night.
It didn't earn me a single glance of sympathy from them.
The blood from my head wound mixed with the rainwater, streaming down my face, blurring my vision.
A Maybach screeched to a halt beside me, splashing filthy water all over me.
The driver stepped out with an umbrella and opened the rear door for the passenger.
I looked up.
It was Miles.
Dressed in a sleek black suit, looking pampered and privileged, he feigned surprise when he saw me.
"What are you still doing here?"
He waved a hand dismissively in front of his nose, wrinkling it in disdain.
"Even this rain can't wash away that reek of stupidity on you."
I blinked slowly, still processing his sarcastic tone.
Then, like a sparrow, he darted towards the Manor House entrance.
Luna and Lydia came out to greet him, chiding him for being reckless.
A few drops of rain had dampened his hair, and they fussed, bringing a towel to dry it tenderly.
But I was soaked to the bone, and they didn't spare me a thought.
Miles took Lydia's hand, his voice sugary sweet.
"Lydia, why is Vincent still kneeling there?"
"I nearly hit him with the car, it scared me!"
Lydia shot me an icy glare.
"Ignore him. It wouldn’t matter even if he got run over!"
Even though I was a fool, my heart could still feel pain.
I didn't understand.
These two women who were once so kind to me, why did everything related to Miles make them so harsh and hateful towards me?
My head grew heavy, my thoughts muddy..
I couldn't hold myself up any longer.
I crawled forward.
"Lydia... Luna..."
Miles let out an exaggerated, "Oh dear!"
"Luna, look at Vincent!"
"Isn't this just pathetic?"
"A grown man, crawling on the ground?"
Luna gently smoothed Miles' hair, her voice soft.
"He's an idiot, Miles."
"Naturally, he can't compare to someone like you."
Hearing this, Miles beamed a smug smile.
"Let's go inside, Luna, Lydia."
"It's freezing out here."
They readily agreed.
Seeing the heavy Manor House door about to slam shut, uncaring, I panicked.
I slipped and fell face-first into a muddy puddle.
Muck filled my mouth.
Still, I begged.
"Please... don't! Please, don't throw me out!"
Luna and Lydia's eyebrows twitched sharply.
Miles laughed openly, mockingly.
"Hahaha! Vincent, you're so pitiful!"
Pitiful? I didn't know.
All I knew was that my heart was full of Luna and Lydia.
I couldn't grasp why they were abandoning me.
"Don't look at him, Miles, it's disgusting."
Luna shielded Miles' eyes, guiding him protectively inside.
I sobbed wretchedly, my hands and feet numb with cold.
In that moment, a terrible clarity struck me.
Luna and Lydia would never be kind to me again.
After all, who could genuinely care for an idiot?
Their hearts and minds had long been completely stolen by Miles Sullivan.
Realizing this, a rare, piercing clarity shot through my foggy mind.
But it couldn't withstand the agony in my skull.
Darkness swallowed me whole.