Bookd–Chapter 1
“Ariella, I’ve made up my mind. I’m willing to leave the Gutierrez family and go abroad to live with you,” Shyla Moran said over the
phone.
On the other end, her aunt Ariella Moran’s voice was brimming with joy.
“Great, Shyla, I’ll arrange your visa right away; it’ll take about a month. Use this time to hang out with your friends and classmates. You might not see them much once you settle in Landhall, so say your goodbyes.
“Especially Calvin, he raised you. Make sure you thank him properly.
Shyla nodded.
After hanging up, she got up from the balcony and went back to the living room, subconsciously looking at the photo on the table.
In the picture, the sunset sky was ablaze like fire, casting a warm glow on both of their faces,
Seventeen–year–old Calvin Gutierrez stood under the swing set, smiling as he pushed seven–year–old Shyla, her dress fluttering in the wind, brushing past the tulips in the garden.
Even after all these years, Shyla still remembered how happy she was on the day that photo was taken.
Unfortunately, times had changed, and she and Calvin could never go back to how things were.
Thinking of this, a hint of sadness flashed in Shyla’s eyes. She shifted her gaze to the distance, to the even more distant past.
The Moran family and the Gutierrez family had been close for generations, Calvin was ten years older than Shyla, and by seniority, she
had always called him Uncle.
When Shyla was seven, her parents died in a plane crash, and Calvin took her back to the Gutierrez family to raise her.
Perhaps feeling sorry for her losing her parents at such a young age, he always kept her by his side, doing everything for her himself.
He told her stortes every night to help her sleep, picked her up and dropped her ott at school no matter the weather, and bought her any interesting new toys he found. Day by day, bit by bit, he raised the little girl he brought back into a graceful young lady.
Because of his gentle and meticulous care, Shyla had always been attached to him.
When she reached puberty, she naturally and irrevocably fell for this man who grew up with her.
When Shyla was seventeen, Calvin, as usual, threw her a big birthday party.
At the party, he got drunk, so she helped him to his room.
Seeing the person she liked right in front of her, Shyla couldn’t help but lean down and kiss him.
The next second, Calvin opened his eyes and pushed her to the other end of the sofa.
Shyla didn’t get it, just thinking this was a perfect opportunity to confess her feelings to him.
But in Calvin’s eyes, what she was doing was utterly wrong.
Feeling it absurd, he flew into a rage.
“Shyla! Do you know that I’m your uncle?!”
“I call you uncle, but I have the last name Moran and you have the last name Gutierrez. We’re not related by blood.”
Sering that she still wouldn’t give up, Calvin scowled..
“I’m ten years older than you! You’re only seventeen, and you can’t tell the difference between family love and romantic love. And you don’t know what love is!”
Shyla always listened to him, but on this matter, she was particularly stubborn
Desu you’re rejecting me because you think I’m too young? It’s okay. I’ll grow up, and I’ll prove to you that I can tell the difference
between family love and romantic love!!!
her how that argument ended.
Shyla
yla didn’t remember
But from then on,
1, FVETY VE
year on her birthday, she would confess her feelings to him.
Calvin would reject her every time, but she never thought of giving up,
Her twenty–first birthday was coming up in a month.
But this year, she didn’t plan to confess to him anymore.
Because a month ago, Calvin brought his girlfriend home and introduced her to Shyla
Despite feeling heartbroken, she still forced back her tears and asked him if he was trying to use his girlfriend to make her give up.
Calvin glanced at her indifferently, his tone cold.
“Don’t be so self–centered. It’s perfectly normal for me to have a girlfriend at my age.”
The calmness in his eyes deeply hurt Shyla
She cried all night, her mind in chaos, constantly recalling the things that had happened over the years.
When dawn came, her aunt Ariella sent her a message.
“Shyla, do you want to come abroad and live with me?
was dealing
“Actually, when the Moran family was in trouble, I wanted to take you away, but my career wasn’t stable at the time and I with postpartum depression. So I put it off. You’re grown up now, it’s improper for you to stay with the Gutierrezes. Things are better here now. Would you like to come and stay with us?”
Shyla didn’t reply to this message, for she didn’t want to leave Calvin. She wanted to try for one last time.
י
But in the past few weeks, he constantly showed up in front of her with his girlfriend Rosa Meadows, like he was showing off on purpose.
They had done all the intimate things that couples would do, like holding hands, kissing, and hugging
Last night, he even let Rosa stay over and took her back to his room.
Shyla sat downstairs until three in the morning when she saw the light in his room go out and hear the groans coming from inside.
She covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face, soaking the sofa.
At that moment, she finally decided to give up, to stop liking Calvin.
