CHAPTER 16: ARGUMENT

CHAPTER 16: ARGUMENT
It was Jake.

“I told you to behave. Didn’t I?” he said, his voice firm and serious, like he was angry.

I blinked at him, confused. “What did I do wrong? I was just trying to look,” I said, my brows pulling together.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he tightened his grip on my arm and pulled me away, dragging me back toward the living room, away from that hallway.

His hold was strong. Too strong for me to let go of.

“Let me go!” I shouted, trying to pull away. My voice echoed down the quiet hallway.

But he still didn’t say anything. He didn’t let go until we reached the living room.

“I said let me go!” I repeated, shaking off his hand as hard as I could.

I stepped back while breathing hard. My arm ached from how tight he held me.

I looked at him and was still confused. Still trying to understand what just happened and what's his problem.

"What the hell is your problem?" I asked while staring at him.

"I told you to behave. Didn't I?" he said in a fierce and sharp tone.

"I did! I was just checking the noise coming from the hallway!" I explained quickly.

I was still confused and curious, but I tried to make it clear that I was only trying to find out what it was.

"Then why can’t you just study the books I gave you instead of poking around things that are none of your business? Huh? Why can’t you just remember what I told you and at least try to fucking listen to me!" he shouted, his voice slicing through me more than a knife can.

I froze.

The way he yelled. The way his voice rose like I was nothing. Like I was a mistake he was tired of fixing.

He didn’t even ask if I studied. He didn’t look at the table. He didn’t notice the stack of books. The markers. The notes I wrote. All of it. Proof that I tried. That I did what he asked.

I just wanted him to be proud. Even just a little. Just once. But he didn’t see it. Maybe he didn’t care at all.

"Why can’t you just make things clear?" I asked softly. I tried to be calm even though my voice were trembling.

"I want you to learn and remember what I say. That’s it," he replied in a cold and steady tone while his eyes were still fixed on the floor like I wasn't even worth looking at. His presence was full of rage he didn’t bother hiding.

"I... I don’t know what’s in that room," I stammered while fighting back the tears. "I don’t know where the noise came from. I get scared of dark hallways. I was having anxiety, okay? I was afraid... because I was alone. You left me. But I tried to fight my fear just to make sure...... that it's no one. For my own safety."

I swallowed hard.

"I studied. I really did. I bookmarked the pages. I even used those fucking markers I don’t even want to touch again. I tried... because I thought maybe, if you saw it, you’d be proud. Just a little. I thought you’d notice. That you’d care to look at the table full of books... books I neatly organized just for you to see."

My voice broke. "But did you?"

I looked at him with teary eyes, hoping for at least something in return. Anything.

But he looked away.

"I don’t," he answered.

That was all it took. My chest ached. My lungs refused to breathe.

"You should’ve known what to do, Reina. You’re a fucking twenty-year-old woman. But you still act like a kid. And now you’re crying... pretending anxiety is some kind of excuse. Maybe they were right. Maybe your brother would've been better. Maybe... if he were still alive, he could’ve been a better heir than you."

That broke me.

I didn’t expect those words. Not from him. Not from someone I trusted this much.

"How could I have known?" I whispered. "No one even knows I’m losing my memories... not even my parents."

I turned my back on him before I completely fell apart.

I saw him flinch at my words. But I didn’t care anymore. And even if I did... I didn’t want him to know. Maybe it was my fault for expecting too much. For being stubborn. For being vulnerable in front of someone who clearly wasn’t ready to carry that weight. Someone I thought would understand.

But he didn’t.
And maybe he never will.

I went back to my room. Again.

I had no one in this house. Only my pillow could wipe my tears. Only my blanket could hug me. Only the bed could give me comfort.

Sometimes, non-living things feel more alive than people. They never hurt. They just stay.

Even though I wanted to ask Jake why he came home early, I didn’t. My emotions snapped faster than I could stop them.

I stepped out to the balcony and looked at the tree beside it. The same tree he once climbed when I didn’t let him in.

My eyes slowly shifted to the spot where I saw that man. The man I still don’t know.

“Who are you?” I whispered to no one.

My thoughts were heavy. I was mentally all over the place and mentally occupied that I even forgot about him.

Then my phone rang. It was Dad.

I picked it up, hoping for comfort.
“Dad?” I said.

“Ask Jake to help you clean the room next to yours,” he said right away, not even asking how I was.

“Why? For what?” I asked, though deep down, I already knew the answer.

“Your older cousin, Katie. She’ll be staying there,” he replied like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“She’ll stay here? For how long?” I asked again.

“As long as she wants. She plans to work in the company too,” he said.

“But—”

“Your mom’s still mad. She asked me to call instead,” he added quickly.

He knew I’d question it, so he turned the table first.

“Sorry about that, Dad,” I muttered.

But he didn’t say anything else. He just ended the call.

I looked back out toward the garden. That’s when I saw Jake. He was holding his chest. He was doing the butterfly method.

Was he... okay?