Chapter 4 The Betrayal

BELA POV

Two Years Later

Time was supposed to heal things.

That's what people always said, anyway.

But for Bela Cruz, it only made the wounds deeper.

She had spent the last two years trying to forget Kyril Aleksandrov.

She avoided him like he was poison.

She stopped watching when he dropped Marianne off at school.

Stopped flinching every time his name came up in conversation.

Stopped imagining what it would feel like if he looked at her the way he looked at her sister.

And yet, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't erase him completely.

Because sometimes-when the house was too quiet, or when she passed by the kitchen where they once baked together-he would sneak back into her thoughts like a ghost who refused to leave.

So she did what she always did.

She buried it.

She smiled politely when he visited.

She answered his questions with short, safe answers.

She never let herself linger in his presence.

Never let herself look too long.

Never let herself hope.

And somehow, despite all of that... he still saw her.

Not as just Marianne's little sister.

Not as an afterthought.

But as someone real.

Someone worth noticing.

And maybe... someone worth wanting.

---

It happened on a rainy Tuesday.

A black car skidded off the highway near Taguig, flipping over twice before crashing into a barrier.

Inside were three people.

Her father.

His driver.

And a man whose name still made her chest ache.

The news spread fast.

Antonio Cruz was dead.

Kyril Aleksandrov survived with serious injuries.

The driver? Arrested.

The official report said it was a case of reckless driving-loss of control due to speeding and poor weather conditions.

But Bela knew better.

She knew her father.

He wouldn't have allowed anyone to drive recklessly-not with him inside.

Not with him inside.

There were rumors.

Whispers.

People saying it wasn't an accident.

That someone wanted them gone.

That the crash was staged.

But no one could prove it.

No one dared to investigate too deeply.

Because the ones who did?

They disappeared.

Or worse.

Aftermath came quickly.

Her mother fell apart.

Marianne stopped eating.

Bela became the glue holding what was left of their lives together.

They sold the mansion.

Moved into a small condominium unit in Quezon City.

No more maids.

No more private cars.

No more dinners with silverware and candlelight.

Just bills.

Debt.

Grief.

And silence.

So much silence.

The weight of it pressed down on her every morning, thick and unshakable.

She learned to live under it.

To move through it.

To pretend everything was fine even when nothing was.

But there were nights when the silence was too loud.

When the memories clawed their way out from beneath the surface.

When she lay awake in bed, staring at the cracked ceiling above her, wondering if Kyril remembered her.

Wondering if he ever thought about her.

Wondering if he blamed himself.

Wondering if he missed her father.

Then, just when she thought the worst was behind them-

Another blow.

One that nearly broke her sister completely.

---

Two weeks after the funeral, Marianne received a call.

She didn't speak during it.

Only listened.

Then hung up.

Her hands shook.

Her face went pale.

And then she whispered, "He broke up with me."

Bela froze.

"What?"

Marianne stared at the phone like it had betrayed her. "He said... he met someone else. That he doesn't love me anymore."

Bela's stomach twisted.

"That's not true," she said immediately. "Kyril wouldn't do that."

But Marianne didn't argue.

She just nodded slowly, like she already believed it.

Like she already accepted it.

"He said it's best this way," she murmured. "That we're not meant to be."

Bela felt something break inside her.

Because she knew Kyril.

And even now-especially now-she knew he wouldn't just walk away like this.

Not without reason.

Not without explanation.

Not without fighting.

Unless...

Unless someone made him.

Unless he was protecting her.

Or worse-unless he wasn't protecting her.

Maybe he really had fallen for someone else.

Maybe it was easier to believe that than the truth.

That maybe, just maybe... he never loved her sister at all.

Maybe he used her.

Used them.

Used their name.

Their money.

Their influence.

And when the empire crumbled?

He walked away.

Like nothing ever mattered.

---

In the following weeks, Bela watched her family fall apart.

Marianne stopped going to school.

She barely spoke.

Sometimes, she would sit on the balcony for hours, staring at the city lights like she was searching for something she lost.

Their mother worked nonstop.

Cleaning.

Cooking.

Calling old friends for help.

Doing whatever she could to keep food on the table.

And Bela?

She kept pretending.

Pretended that her heart didn't twist every time she heard his name.

Pretended that she didn't want to call him.

Yell at him.

Slap him.

Ask him why.

Why now?

Why like this?

Why her sister?

Why not her?

But she never did.

Instead, she buried it all.

Locked it away.

And told herself-

He never loved her.

He only wanted what we had.

And when it was gone...

So was he.

---

Late one night, while everyone else slept, Bela sat alone in the dim glow of a desk lamp, staring at the faded photo tucked between the pages of her old journal.

It was taken the day they baked the cake.

Kyril, sleeves rolled up, flour smudged on his cheek.

Her, standing awkwardly beside him, clutching a mixing bowl.

She traced the edge of the photo with her thumb.

He had looked at her differently that day.

Not like Marianne's sister.

Not like a burden.

But like someone he actually saw.

Someone he might've even liked.

Maybe even cared for.

And for the first time since the accident, she allowed herself to cry.

Not for her father.

Not for her sister.

But for herself.

For the boy who had been the first to make her feel seen.

And the same boy who erased himself from her life without a second glance.

She whispered into the dark:

"I hate you."

But even as she said it...

She knew it wasn't true.

She didn't hate him.

She hated that she still loved him.

Even after everything.

Even after the betrayal.

Even after the silence.

Even after the pain.

She still has him.

And that scared her more than anything.

---

♣️ END OF CHAPTER 2

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