Parting of Love

Chapter 1

When I was seven, my dad died in the war, and I was taken in by one of his men, Uncle Ray. He was nothing like the stiff, formal men in suits I’d known. Ray was vibrant, outgoing – I never really saw him as a father figure.

When I turned eighteen, he threw me the biggest coming-of-age party in town.

At the end of the party, I handed him a drink, spiked.

That night, he was both forceful and restrained, his eyes glazed over as he looked at my face.

“Holly, why did you try to kill yourself? Your dad is gone, but I can take care of you.”

Hearing those words, I struggled with all my might, but he only pressed harder.

“Trying to run again? If it weren’t for your dad, you’d have been mine years ago.”

My mind exploded. Holly. My mother’s name.

1

The party ended, and I gave Uncle Ray the drink someone had offered me, thinking it was just a nightcap.

By the time I realized the drink was drugged, it was too late.

But I had been waiting for this day for so long. I was half-pushed, half-willing into Ray’s bedroom.

“Baby, I’ve waited so long for you. Tonight, I’m not waiting any longer.”

Hearing his low, husky voice in my ear, my heart leaped.

So he had feelings for me too. He’d been waiting for me to turn eighteen.

The thought thrilled me. I responded eagerly, the pain barely registering.

“I love you too. I’ve always loved you.”

I’d seen Uncle Ray bring home countless women, all gorgeous and glamorous. So I’d specifically chosen a little black dress for this night.

He frowned, taking off his jacket and putting it around me. “When did you get so… grown up?”

“You’re always so sweet and pretty in white.”

My heart, chilled by his earlier words, ignited again.

It was like a wildfire.

Until his final words plunged me back into the ice.

“Holly, I finally have you.”

Holly. My mother’s name.

Uncle Ray, as one of Dad’s men, often came to our house for dinner.

Mom always giggled and told me to call him “brother.” Maybe that’s when my inappropriate feelings began.

Now, all I wanted was to escape the suffocating feeling.

The harder I struggled, the more vicious he became, his eyes red with rage.

“Don’t run! Don’t you dare run! What does he have that I don’t?!”

I would rather have drunk that poison myself, to end this charade, to have never known his vile intentions.

In the haze, my thoughts drifted back to the day my father died in the war, and my mother took her own life.

A circle of men in suits waved at me.

“Wendy, come to Uncle. We’ll take good care of you.”

“Wendy, come to Auntie. Auntie has candy.”

Amid the noise, I reached for Ray. “Uncle, hug!”

He scooped me up, smiling.

“Call me Uncle.”

That word, “Uncle,” followed me through childhood and into adolescence.

My dark, forbidden desires were all connected to that word.

The next morning, strong arms held me tight, as if afraid I’d disappear.

But sand slips through your fingers the tighter you clench.

He opened his eyes, a whirlwind of emotions flashing through them: tenderness, joy, confusion, shock, rage.

“What the hell?!”

Ray threw the covers off and shoved me out of bed.

He’d stripped me bare.

He pressed his temples, his forehead pulsing with veins.

“Wendy! I thought you were as gentle and quiet as your mother. I never imagined you’d do something as vile as drugging me!”

“I’m your uncle! Your guardian!”

He’d forgotten everything from last night, only remembering the drink I’d given him.

I laughed coldly. “So you took me in because of my mother?”

I’d always believed it was out of gratitude for my father’s mentorship.

Never once did I suspect his lust for my mother.

Mentioning my mother enraged him further.

“You dare mention your mother? You’re disgusting, not even worthy to touch your mother’s little finger! Get out!”

I stood up, naked, and admitted openly, “Yes, I’m disgusting. Disgusting enough to lust after my uncle who raised me, but you? How much better are you?”

He roared, “What do you mean? Even if you were naked in front of me, I wouldn’t have touched you if you hadn’t drugged me!”

“Get out! Get out of my house!”

I gathered my shredded clothes from the floor and pulled them on.

The maids and bodyguards, summoned by Ray’s shouts, lowered their heads the moment I emerged from the room.

I went to my room, and in the bathroom mirror, the tattered clothes couldn’t hide the marks on my skin.

Anyone who saw me would know what had happened.

A guardian and his ward, two lunatics who ignored every moral boundary.

I could leave for college in South City after summer. College meant I could finally escape.

I stayed in my room all day until the maid called me for dinner.

At the table sat a woman in a halter top and a big, wavy hairstyle, affectionately clinging to Ray’s arm. She had a mole, just like my mother’s.

I swallowed my disgust and politely greeted her. “Hello, Sister.”

Ray swept his arm across the table, sending porcelain crashing to the floor.

“Sister? Julie and I are getting engaged. Do you even know how that works?”

No matter who was with Ray, they were all young and beautiful. I always called them sister. He’d always laugh and tease, “So informal.”

Julie, oblivious to his anger, soothed him. “Don’t be so mad, honey. It was just a slip of the tongue. She’ll learn.”

“I think she needs some discipline.”

Dinner was a disaster.

That night, feeling stifled, I sat by the pool to clear my head.

Julie approached, smiling.

She raised her wine glass. “I was wondering why Ray was so mad earlier. I just heard from the maid.”

“You’ve had feelings for Ray all this time. Humph, countless women in this city would kill to be with him. He’s seen it all, and he got tricked by the one person he trusted most.”

Ray wanted me to call Julie “Mother,” but this woman before me had nothing maternal about her.

Seeing my silence, Julie continued, “If I jumped in, do you think Ray would believe it was you?”

She looked at me challengingly, sure I feared Ray’s wrath.

She stood up, walking towards the pool. I didn’t want any trouble, but as I reached for her…

She pulled me forward, then shoved me into the pool.

Water filled my lungs, a terrifying, burning sensation.

She stood on the edge, watching me thrash, a silent smile on her face.

In my final moments of consciousness, I heard her scream, “Help! Wendy jumped in the pool!”

When I awoke, Julie was sobbing in Ray’s arms.

“I know Wendy’s childish, she didn’t want me near you, so she tried to frame me, so you’d kick me out.”

Ray, already grim-faced, looked even sterner.

Seeing me awake, he roared, “Wendy! How could you be so cruel?”

“I’m getting married to Julie, and nothing you do will change that!”

I sneered. “The whole villa is covered in security cameras, just check the footage.”

I thought that would clear my name, but Ray said, “I’ve already seen the footage.”

Julie’s face paled. Then Ray said, “You walked to the pool yourself. Julie was scared for you.”

Julie nestled into Ray’s arms, triumphantly glancing at me. I forced a smile, but tears welled up.

Ray stood up with Julie, his face cold. “Leave her here. No one is allowed to see her.”

I spent two days in the hospital. Friends tried to visit, but Ray stopped them all.

After discharge, my best friend, Lily, took me to a bar.

“So you actually came out! Didn’t Uncle Ray always forbid it?”

I’d turned down countless party invitations, because Ray disliked it. He wanted me to be like Mom, gentle and quiet. But I’m not Mom. I like this kind of excitement.

I grabbed a drink and downed it.

“Screw him, we’re partying tonight!”

My friends cheered.

Lily tugged my sleeve. “Wendy, be careful, I think Ray’s over there.”

I looked, and in the dim light, Ray sat like a silent lion, watching me.

“So what? Let’s have fun!”

I bumped into someone. He caught me, then shoved me away.

I sat, staring at Ray and the man beside him, the man who’d given me the drink.

Ray beckoned to the man, his voice calm. “Mr. Lee, I don’t want to see her in your bar again. Tell your friends too.”

“Any bar that takes her in better be ready to face me.”

Mr. Lee nodded eagerly, then glanced nervously at me.

I smirked. He wanted to sleep with me?

Fine.

I stumbled toward Mr. Lee. Ray thought I was coming for him.

He sat straighter, watching me. Then I threw myself at Mr. Lee.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, whispering in his ear, “If Ray finds out you wanted to sleep with me, do you think your bar will still be open?”

He froze, eyes wide with fear.

“Wendy! Are you throwing yourself at every man you see?”

“Come with me!”

Ray pulled me off the man.

He dragged me to the car. His chest heaved with anger.

“Wendy, stop this nonsense.”

I sneered. “Whose intentions are impure?”

He stared into my eyes. “What do you mean?”

I couldn’t bring myself to voice those unspeakable thoughts.

I looked away, out the window. He sighed. “Julie is moving in tomorrow. Get along with her.”

As he said, Julie moved in the next day.

It was the first time Ray had officially brought a woman home. Apparently, he wasn’t as devoted as he claimed.

That night, I looked at the jade pendant my dad gave me and the hair clip from my mom.

Through the wall came Julie’s coos. “Oh, you really like this mole?”

“Don’t worry, Wendy’s in the next room.”

I closed my eyes, trying to block everything out. Eventually, the sounds stopped.

After a while, my door burst open.

Julie, in a camisole, still bearing the marks of passion.

“Well, you heard that, didn’t you? Ray’s mine, and you can’t have him!”

Why did she keep bothering me? The man was already rotten in my eyes.

She sashayed toward me, snatching the pendant and hair clip.

“Give it back!”

I lunged, but she dodged me.

After examining them, she said, “I thought it was something precious. It’s as cheap and disgusting as you are.”

Slap!

I wouldn’t let anyone insult my parents. I slapped her.

Her eyes blazed, and she threw the pendant and hair clip on the floor.

Still furious, she grabbed a glass and threw it at my head.

The world spun. I clutched my head, collapsing to the floor, her screams ringing in my ears.

My father’s jade pendant lay shattered before me, shards embedded in my knee.

I picked up the pieces, my hands stained with blood.

Ray rushed in, seeing this scene.

“What happened?!”

Julie, terrified, threw herself into Ray’s arms. “Ray, I came in to give Wendy water, and she got angry and spilled it. She scared me.”

I pieced together the pendant. “This is a jade pendant my father gave me. Did I break it myself?”

Julie looked flustered. She hadn’t known it was my father’s.

But Ray shrugged. “It’s just a pendant. So it’s broken.”

His eyes fell on the hair clip in my hand, his pupils constricting. He snatched it.

“Isn’t this Holly’s hair clip? What’s it doing with you?”

I looked up. “It’s my mother’s. What’s so strange about that?”

Before Ray could speak, Julie said, “It’s just a hair clip.”

Before she could finish, Ray slapped her.

She stared at him, incredulous, as Ray said grimly, “You’re not the one to speak.”

She thought the more expensive pendant being broken was fine, thinking both things were basically the same.

I wouldn’t let him touch my mother’s things. I reached for it.

Ray slapped me.

My head roared. The world seemed to disappear.

His voice boomed.

“Since you can’t take care of Holly’s things, let me do it for you.”