Chapter 112


    But I didn’t turn to look at him as my sister continued, “I am not Mamá, Lina. You can tell me.” My sister


    batted her eyshes, and I heard how Gonzalo cleared his throat. “Or share with the group—fine,


    whatever.” She rolled her eyes at her fiancé. “Come on. We are listening. Did you guys hook up first?


    And if so, how many times?”


    Daniel, who had been oddly quiet for someone who was supposed to be having a good time, sighed


    noisily. “I don’t think there’s any need to share that with the group.”


    My gaze swiveled in his direction, finding him with a deadpan expression.


    “Thanks, Dani,” Isabel gritted out between her teeth. “But I’ll let my sister decide if she wants to share


    her sexcapades with the table.”


    Oh Lord, did she just call it sexcapades?


    At the change in Isabel’s tone, Gonzalo wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her against


    his side. I watched Isabel’s body rx immediately, letting go of what I knew were years of contained


    animosity toward her fiancé’s brother.


    Sighing silently, I felt a pang of guilt slice across my chest. It was unprecedented, and I had no reason


    to feel responsible for the situation, but at the same time, it was hard not to let some of the weight fall


    on my own shoulders.


    In an ideal world, the best man wouldn’t be my ex. In that same world, I wouldn’t have panicked when


    learning that he was engaged while I seemed to be stuck in time and alone, and I wouldn’t have felt the


    need to lie to my family and tangle myself into the web of deception I had woven. Perhaps, in that ideal


    world, the man by my side would be there because he loved me and not because I had struck a deal


    with him.


    But those scenarios were hypothetical and therefore unreal. Unattainable. And each of them painted a


    picture that was far from the truth. In the real world, there was a consequence to every decision I made.


    To every choice that I ever took. A perfect world where life happened neatly and ideally didn’t exist. Life


    was messy and often hard. It did not wait for anybody to be ready or to expect the bumps on the road.


    You had to grab on to the wheel and steer your way back to yourne. And that was all I had done.


    That was what had brought me to where I was. For better or for worse.


    It was unfortunate that the one man who Gonzalo shared DNA with was not only my ex, but also the


    man who had been the other half of the rtionship that was the catalyst for me leaving everything I


    Material ? N?velDrama.Org.


    had once called home. But I had made the choice to date him. My university professor. The man who


    would introduce my sister to the love of her life.


    Because life wasn’t ideal. It turned and bent. It spun you out for a minute and swung you right back in


    the next.


    Contrary to what most believed, when I had applied for the program abroad that had taken me to New


    York, a year after everything had blown up in my face, I hadn’t been escaping Daniel; I had been


    escaping the situation that my rtionship with him had thrust me in. Granted, in the process, he had


    also broken my heart. And that was what everybody saw. The scolded, heartbroken runaway. But the


    damage went beyond a simple breakup. After that, I went through the worst year of my life. I almost


    quit uni and threw away my education. My future. All because people, those I had considered friends at


    some point, spun disgusting lies about me. And it hadn’t only scarred me; it had also impacted my


    family.


    For one, that sadness that everybody had regarded me with stuck to me across time. And the very few


    times I hade back home, single, it had thickened until solidifying into something that I carried with


    me.


    Even my parents in a way. I could tell they were scared I’d never bounce back from it. Which was


    stupid. I was over Daniel. My singlehood had nothing to do with that. I simply … struggled to trust


    somebody enough to give myselfpletely. I managed to keep myself one or two feet from anything


    that had the potential to hurt me. And that always ended one of two ways. I either walked away, or I


    was the one who was walked away from. But at least, I dide out of it wholly.


    As for Isabel, she had gone from loving Daniel for giving her Gonzalo to threatening the best man’s


    balls. Repeatedly. And while she turned into my fiercest protector and cheerleader, the breakup never


    shook the foundation of her own rtionship. Which was evidence of how much they adored and loved


    each other. Besides, over the years, she hade to ept that even if Daniel had been at fault for a


    part, he hadn’t done anything besides ept to break some unspoken rule about dating a former


    student. Society had done the rest.


    Which didn’t give me—or Isabel or Daniel—the right to force Gonzalo to pick a side. Something that


    Isabel hade to terms with. Eventually. In her own way.


    “There were no sexcapades, Isa.” I shook my head lightly, trying to shove all those thoughts and


    memories away.


    “Not even one? Come on. You guys work together. And I saw you during the ser match. You—”


    “It was a very boring and uneventful meeting,” I interrupted her. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”


    Isabel’s mouth opened, and I was left with no choice but to elbow my fake boyfriend.


    Maybe Aaron’s confirmation would appease her.


    “Correct,” he said, and I could hear the amusement in his voice. “No sexcapades took ce.”


    I watched my sister’s lips clip closed.


    “Unfortunately,” he added.


    My own mouth was the one mping down then. Or it fell open and to the floor—I didn’t know.


    Don’t look at him. Don’t look shocked. This is all part of the deception.


    Focusing on my sister, I ignored Aaron’sstment and smiled—hopefully naturally.


    Isabel reached for the bottle of sidra and poured a culín in my ss, filling only the bottom of it. Exactly


    how tradition stated sidra had to be served. Once she had served


    me a culín, Isabel proceeded to do the same with Aaron’s ss. “You are not telling me something.”


    Her eyes narrowed to thin slits as she pushed our drinks in our direction. Then, she leveled only me


    with a look. “I can see it in your eyes. Drink.”


    I didn’t think she was bluffing. Lying wasn’t something I was particrly good at, and my sister had the


    sibling ability to see right through me.


    Tags:


    Source: