Chapter 4

Sarah stared at the shredded letters, her face a mask of confusion and dawning panic.

"Ethan, why did you do that? Those were... our memories."

Her voice trembled slightly. She was losing control, and she didn't like it.

Ethan continued to sort through a small pile of books on his desk, his movements calm, deliberate.

He felt... light. The weight that had been crushing him for years was finally lifting.

The obsessions, the pain, the endless loop of betrayal – it was fading.

He glanced at her, his expression unreadable. "Just getting rid of some clutter."

He needed to maintain this pretense for a little longer. Just until he was gone.

Sarah seemed to relax, a small sigh escaping her lips.

She misunderstood his calmness as a sign that he was just having a momentary lapse, that he would soon be back to being her Ethan, the one she could mold and control.

"Oh. Okay. Well, don't throw out anything too important."

Her condescending tone returned. "You know, you really need to be more considerate of Kevin. He' s still very shaken up after that... incident in Ms. Albright' s office. You shouldn' t provoke him."

Ethan almost smiled. Provoke him? Kevin was a self-winding drama machine.

"What am I supposed to provoke him with, Sarah?" he asked, his voice laced with a sarcasm she didn't seem to catch. "My vast fortune? My luxurious lifestyle?"

He gestured around his tiny, bare room.

He thought of Kevin, with his new clothes, his feigned illnesses, his effortless acquisition of everything Ethan had ever valued – Sarah' s affection, his mother' s attention, even his grandmother' s locket.

Sarah frowned, missing the irony. "Don't be like that, Ethan. You know what I mean. You need to apologize to him. For upsetting him."

Ethan stared at her. Apologize to Kevin? For what? For existing?

The absurdity of it was almost funny.

He thought of Kevin' s "fragile nerves," the endless parade of anxieties and depressions that only seemed to manifest when Kevin wanted something.

Ethan calmly picked up a textbook. "Kevin has you, Mom, and Gary to comfort him. He doesn' t need my apology."

Sarah' s eyes flashed with anger. "You' re being impossible! If you don' t start showing some remorse, some willingness to be part of this family, then... then our wedding might have to be postponed. Indefinitely."

It was an ultimatum, delivered with the full expectation that he would crumble.

She turned and left, confident that he would come crawling back, begging for her forgiveness, ready to sacrifice anything for her.

Ethan watched her go, a profound indifference settling over him.

He didn't care anymore.

He tried to pack his single duffel bag. He owned so little. A few changes of clothes, some worn-out textbooks, the advanced math books Petey had given him.

His life felt empty, stripped bare.

Brenda and Gary returned later that evening. They were cold, their faces hard.

"Kevin is still not well," Brenda announced, her voice accusing. "It' s your fault, Ethan. Always stirring up trouble."

Gary just glared at him.

Then Brenda said something that made Ethan' s blood run cold.

"Ethan," she said, her voice flat, devoid of any emotion. "Kevin... he needs Sarah. He told us. He says he' s in love with her. And she' s so good for him, so calming. You need to step aside. Permanently. For Kevin' s sake."

Ethan stared at his mother, his mind reeling.

The sheer, unadulterated shamelessness of it. Give up his girlfriend, his fiancée, to his manipulative stepbrother.

He felt a chill seep into his bones, colder than any winter wind. Her words were like shards of ice.

He finally found his voice, a raw, ragged sound.

"What am I to you, Mom? Am I even your son? I' ve given up everything. My room, my money, my dreams. Now you want Sarah too? What' s left?"

Brenda flinched, but Gary stepped forward, his face contorted with rage.

He grabbed Ethan by the shirt. "You ungrateful whelp! You owe us! You owe Kevin! If you don' t agree to this, you' re out! Out of this house, out of this family!" He shoved Ethan hard.

Ethan stumbled back, his despair a tangible thing, a crushing weight.

He felt like a cosmic joke, a plaything for a cruel god.

The front door opened, and Sarah walked in. She looked pale but resolute.

She didn' t look at Ethan. She addressed Brenda and Gary.

"I' ve been thinking. About Kevin. About Ethan."

She took a deep breath. "I think... I think Ethan and I should postpone the wedding. For a while. Until Kevin is more stable."

Ethan just stared at her, his heart a dead thing in his chest.

He felt nothing. No anger, no surprise. Just a vast, echoing emptiness.

He was so tired. So incredibly tired.