He was a living, breathing person, from eighteen to twenty-five now.
He'd been like a great tree standing across the whole span of my youth, and I couldn't let go. I truly couldn't.
Even now I remembered my twentieth birthday, junior year of college.
To give me a gift, Byron had crammed in three part-time jobs on top of his classes, staying up night after night.
And on my birthday, he slipped a tiny diamond ring onto my ring finger.
"Willow, this is all I can manage right now."
"But don't worry. I'll swap it out for a bigger diamond one day, and I'll marry you."
Later, I really did receive that bigger diamond from Byron.
But the boy who'd once had eyes only for me was gone, and I'd never see him again.
Isabel finished changing and stepped out of the bedroom just then, standing meekly beside Byron.
"What's wrong, Byron? Why is Willow here?"
"Are these Willow's parents? What brings them over so late?"
Over? Here?
So Isabel had already started treating this place as her own home.
A little thing like Isabel, that small scheme of hers could never slip past the ears of the adults in the room.
My parents' faces darkened at once.
Seeing this, Kathryn quickly waved Isabel over.
"Isabel, come here, sit beside me."
Kathryn clearly hadn't said anything harsh, yet Isabel grabbed Byron's arm as if something had frightened her.
"Byron, say something. What's going on? Why is the mood so strange?"
"I'm so scared."
I didn't want to make things hard for Isabel.
She did harbor that kind of feeling for Byron, but for things to have come this far, the one most at fault was still Byron.
He was the one who blurred the lines, time and again. He was the one who let it slide, time and again. He was the one who went soft, time and again.
That was what made Isabel so brazen.
I looked at Byron.
"So this is the 'little sister' you kept insisting on?"
"Ask the adults here right now. Looking at this, who seems more like your girlfriend, me or Isabel?"
A flicker of panic crossed Byron's eyes.
He put distance between himself and Isabel.
"Willow, let me explain, I…"
But before he could finish, Isabel pressed close to him again, clutching his arm.
"Byron, don't go. I'm scared."
"What on earth is going on today? Why is Willow being so harsh? Is she angry because I went and joined your wedding photoshoot yesterday?"
My father, who had been holding back his anger without a word, finally couldn't take it anymore.
He slammed his palm down on the coffee table.
"This is absolute nonsense!"
"Call it off! This marriage ends today!"
