Chapter 1873: Was It... All a Lie? Part-1

While Young Aether and Lily went somewhere, Allen sat down on the chair with Noah sitting on his lap, quietly playing games on his tablet.

"Allen... What should we do now?" Emily asked as she sat beside him. "They would already be moving since the camera had been disconnected..."

Allen remained silent for a few moments, staring blankly ahead before finally saying, "I don’t know... Our plan failed. We... failed to protect them."

His hand moved slowly through Noah’s hair, gently ruffling it.

It felt as though every hope they had clung to had quietly disappeared.

His eyes trembled as he lowered his gaze. "We failed, Emily. There is nothing we can do now. If he comes, everything will be over. Whatever we say, whatever excuse we make... he’ll see through it."

Emily clenched her fist tightly. "How about... we tell them that the Vampire Queen’s Daughter came here, broke everything, and took Aether? After all, that’s the truth, right? In a way, it’s still true."

"..." Allen looked at Emily and slowly shook his head.

"That trick only works on people like Jonathan... not that man. He’s the man who changed our lives, the man who can manipulate the entire world without anyone realizing they’re being manipulated.

It’s impossible, dear... nearly impossible to deceive him. I’ve tried it many times. Every single time, I failed, and somehow, I still ended up playing exactly into his hands."

Emily bit her lip, her eyes widening as she glanced toward the broken device lying on the table, the remains of what Young Aether had crushed.

Her gaze lingered on it for several seconds before her body began to tremble. "The look... that he gave me. As if... I am..." Her voice weakened as she struggled to finish the sentence.

"Disgusting."

A tear slipped down her cheek as she rubbed her shoulders with both hands, as though trying to rid herself of the sensation still clinging to her skin.

"Like a whore... No, worse than them..." Her voice cracked as she looked down. "I am, right?"

Allen immediately shook his head. "You are not, dear. He was disappointed in you, that’s all." He paused, his voice becoming quieter.

"Go... reactivate camera. We still have to do what we can."

Emily took a slow breath, wiped the tear from her cheek, and nodded her head.

"Noah... why don’t you go and help your mother?" Allen asked softly.

"Waahh!"

Noah shook his head without even looking up from the game, refusing to leave his father as though he could somehow sense that Allen needed him after everything that had happened.

Allen gave a faint, tired smile and looked down at Noah for a moment before his eyes drifted back toward the broken device on the table.

He picked up one of the broken pieces and slowly turned it over in his fingers, examining its fractured surface.

"Lies... after lies... Fake after fake..." A faint, hollow chuckle escaped him. "Ah? Hahah..."

As his eyes began to blur with tears, Allen stared at the broken piece in his hand. "Indeed... Aether... We are... fake." His voice became quieter, almost as though he were admitting something he had spent years refusing to say aloud.

"We are... just..."

His words faded away as an old memory surfaced in his mind, dragging him back to one particular day... the day he had believed he had lost his friend.

***

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*

Allen Hatcher’s POV

It wasn’t that long ago... was it?

Drip...

Drip...

Drip...

The rain poured harder as a tall figure with slouched shoulders stood before me.

This was the same man who had once stood proudly and magnificently, carrying himself as though nothing in this world could ever bring him down.

But now... all I could see was a broken man who had lost everything.

Ssshhh!

Sshhh!

Vehicles rushed past behind me and in front of me... my only friend stood.

Just a few seconds away from... something that even I didn’t want to name.

I didn’t know what was covering my eyes anymore. Whether it was the rain, my own guilt, or the pain I had been carrying inside me, I couldn’t tell.

Whatever it was... it hurt.

"W-What are yo—"

Before he could ask me anything, I pulled my friend into one tight hug.

’It’s alright... everything will be alright,’ I told myself as he hugged me back with trembling hands.

I forced a smile onto my face, even though my voice came out unsteady.

"Let’s go.... Come on. Let’s get something to drink."

He stared at me without expression.

That empty look shook my heart more than any words could have.

’I’m sorry...’ I thought, clenched my fist and forced the words out through my trembling voice.

"E-Everything will be alright. Okay? You hear me? It’ll... it’ll get better."

I tried to smile again, but then he looked down at his soaked, empty pockets and quietly said,

"I... I don’t have any money."

’Oh, God... I wish I could die.’

My vision blurred even more. My hand began to tremble as I clenched my jaw, desperately trying to keep my face from breaking.

Then I forced a cheerful expression onto my face.

"Who asked you for money?"

"..."

He remained silent.

"Haha... it’s my treat, alright?"

I couldn’t hold myself together anymore. This felt worse than fucking death. Fucking... I...

I clenched my fist and wiped my nose with the back of my hand, trying to steady my breathing.

"I-It’s my... sniff... it’s my treat. So stop worrying about it."

"..."

He still remained silent, staring somewhere beyond me as though something inside him had simply gone missing.

"You don’t have to talk about what happened. You don’t have to pretend you’re okay, either. Just... come with me."

I didn’t want to leave him like that.

I couldn’t leave him like that.

I would never be able to forgive myself if I simply walked away while he wore that broken expression on his face.

So I took him away.

I took him away from everything, just to give him a moment of peace. Even if that peace lasted only for a few minutes, I wanted to give it to him.

"Get on... Hold on to me."

I said it as I climbed onto the bicycle and waited for him to hold on before riding away, taking him farther and farther from the place where everything had fallen apart.

Away from the heartbreak.

Away from the pain others had given him...

Including myself.

Sometimes, I wonder... if there really was a Hell, I would definitely be going there.

A hollow laugh escaped my lips as I rode through the rain. Eventually, I took him to a bar and got us a private room.

I wanted him to have somewhere he could finally let everything out without worrying about who might hear him.

A large jug of beer was placed between us.

I smiled at him warmly, even though my heart was breaking behind that smile.

"Go on... drink it. This will make you forget the pain... forget everything. Just drink it, man."

My lips kept trembling as I said those words because I knew the truth.

This wasn’t going to heal anything.

It was only a temporary escape.

But even if it was only for a moment...

It’s alright.

It’s... alright...

Right?

Soon, he let loose and started drinking everything in front of him.

Gulp... Gulp... Gulp... Gulp!!

He emptied the entire glass in one go.

I gave him a weak smile and refilled his glass. Even if it was alcohol, I hoped he could find some peace in it, even if only for a little while. I took small sips from my own drink and waited patiently for him to let everything out.

After three rounds, he finally broke down.

"T-The fuck does she want me to do, huhhhhh?"

"Does she think... I’m not trying enough? Huhhhhh? These fucking assholes didn’t give me the fucking job!... And even if I do get one... they barrreeeely let me stay for one or two months!"

His voice was slurred and hoarse from the alcohol, but the anger behind his words was painfully clear.

I remained silent as I listened to him. I knew... I knew how hard he had been trying and how desperately he had been struggling just to keep himself together.

If I were in his shoes, I knew I would have given up long ago.

Honestly, sometimes I wondered how he was still moving forward when the world around him seemed determined to give him nothing but pain.

"Tell me, Allen. What the fuck was I supposed to doooo? It’s not like I wanted to be jobless, am I?!....ha... You know how much I’ve been tryinggg... don’t you?" He asked.

I nodded slowly.

"I know."

"You know? Hickkk... You?"

"Yeah."

I placed his glass back on the table.

"You’re doing your best to get whatever job offers you can. You’ve been doing that for years. I know that, man, and I’ve always appreciated it."

He stared at me.

For a brief moment, the anger in his expression weakened, and I saw something beneath it.

Desperation and Exhaustion.

A man who simply wanted someone to tell him that his efforts had not been meaningless.

That was all I needed.

Please become my Aether again... I beg you.

"See? You can see it, but that fucking idiot thinks I’m doing it on purpose..."

His fingers tightened around the glass.

"She looks at me like I’m some fucking parasite. Like I wake up every morning and decide, ’You know what? I think I’ll stay unemployed today just to piss her off.’ Hahah..."

His laughter sounded bitter, almost painful.

I sighed quietly and shook my head.

"That’s not what she—"

"Then what is it? What the fuck is it, Allen?"

I fell silent.

I knew this was what was best for him right now.

Let him pour everything out.

Let him say every ugly thought he had been forced to swallow.

So I waited.

I listened to him.

I nodded when he spoke.

He complained.

He broke down.

He smiled.

He lost himself.

And through all of it, all I could do was sit there and watch my friend slowly fall apart in front of me.

What a good friend I am...?

Sometimes, I laughed at myself for being like this.

One moment, he cursed her.

The next, he praised her.

He couldn’t accept the reality of what was happening to him, and perhaps a part of him still desperately wanted to believe that everything could somehow return to the way it was before.

My eyes began to blur as my heart ached. I bit my lip and tried to control myself, but then he spoke those words.

"She said... she’d rather sleep with another man than raise a child who isn’t hers..."

"Heheh... he... he... wee..."

His broken laughter collapsed into a sob.

Those words shook me to my core.

What the fuck did that bitch say to him?

I stared at my friend as he cried in front of me, unable to hide his pain anymore. My vision blurred as tears gathered in my eyes.

Why?

Why did she say those words?

Did she not know... how much they would hurt him?

I watched him cry... cry before me like a child who had lost everything and had no idea where to find it again. His shoulders trembled with every broken breath, and the man I had once known as strong, stubborn, and impossible to bring down now looked unbearably small in front of me.

My heart trembled. I couldn’t watch him like this anymore... This was so wrong.

This was utterly disgusting!

How could someone do this to another person?

I moved closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, gently trying to pull him back together. My fingers trembled against him, because I was afraid that if I let go, even for a moment, he might completely disappear into the darkness he was drowning in.

"Aether... She is... just leave it, Aether. Let her go."

I swallowed hard. He continued to cry, harder and harder, each sob shaking his body and striking my heart again and again. I wanted to tell him that everything would be fine, but the words felt like a cruel lie.

"She didn’t deserve you."

I shook Aether’s shoulder again, trying to bring him back to himself.

"Come on, buddy. Don’t cry..."

My own voice began to crack.

"Y-You’re making me sad. I’ve never seen you this broken, man..."

I had never seen him break like this.

Not once.

I had seen him angry. I had seen him exhausted. I had seen him humiliated, rejected, and forced to swallow his pride just to survive another day.

But this was different.

"What do I deserve?"

"What did I do wrong?"

"Why does the world... hate me so much?"

He asked me those questions, questions that even I didn’t know how to answer.

It’s all my fault, Aether...

It’s all my fault!

I should have been there!!

I should have noticed how badly he was hurting before he reached this point. I should have said something. I should have pulled him away from all of this before the weight became too heavy for him to carry.

I should have...

I should...

I felt myself breaking inside, unable to find a single answer that could ease his pain.

What could I possibly say?

That the world wasn’t cruel?

That things would eventually get better?

That tomorrow would somehow be kinder than today?

I couldn’t even believe those words myself.

But then...

"Maybe... Maybe I should leave this place." He said as if... he acknowledged it!

My face turned pale.

My entire body froze for a moment.

What did he just say?

Leave?

No.

No, no, no.

Not you.

"I’m... done. I... I can’t move anymore, Allen."

"I can’t."

"This is... is... tiring me."

"I’m... tired."

His voice became quieter with every word.

"Maybe... maybe giving up isn’t so bad."

"Maybe I can finally rest—"

SLAP!!

I slapped him.

The sound echoed through the room, and for a moment, everything went completely silent.

My hand burned.

But I barely felt it.

My eyes immediately filled with tears. I hadn’t cried since I lost my parents. I had buried that part of myself so deeply that I had almost forgotten what it felt like to completely lose control of my emotions.

But this... This felt deeper than any pain I had ever experienced in my life.

Losing my parents had broken something inside me.

But watching Aether willingly throw himself away felt like watching the last piece of my family disappear in front of my eyes.

With a broken voice, I said,

"Y-You fucking asshole! You’re ready to give up your life over a woman?"

My hands trembled.

He was going to leave me?

My only friend?

The only person who had remained beside me through all those years?

Why would he say something like that?

So what if she left?

So what if she thought he wasn’t worth anything?

What about our friendship?

What about all the years we spent together?

What about every stupid conversation, every drink, every argument, every time we laughed when life gave us nothing worth laughing about?

What about...

"Me?"

I stared directly at him, forcing myself to meet his broken eyes.

"What about me? Aether... what about our friendship?"

My voice trembled as I placed a hand against my own chest, feeling the weight of guilt and pain pressing against it.

"Did it never occur to you what it would do to me?"

I wanted to scream at him.

I wanted to beg him.

But beneath all that anger was something far more terrifying... Fear!

The fear of being alone again.

The fear of losing another person I loved.

I need to get him to pull himself together.

I cannot let him remain like this.

I need to do something.

Anything!

Even if my words were weak. Even if my promise meant nothing to him right now. I needed to give him something to hold on to.

I needed to give him a reason to wake up tomorrow.

"Then promise me this. Until the day I finally get my own life together, you are going to be my top priority. You are the only friend I have ever truly believed in and loved like family, so promise me that you will keep moving forward until that day comes."

He stared at my extended hand silently.

’Please take it... Please...’

My fingers trembled as I kept my hand extended.

’Please... I cannot lose you too.’

I had already lost my parents.

I had already experienced what it meant to wake up one morning and realize that someone you loved would never come back.

I couldn’t go through that again.

’Please, Aether... I beg you!’

I begged him silently, desperately hoping that he would take my hand.

Hoping that he would understand that he wasn’t alone.

Hoping that somewhere beneath all that pain, there was still a part of him that wanted to live.

Whether my wish had worked... or his will simply hadn’t given up yet, I didn’t know.

His lips slowly curled into a weak smile as he looked at me and muttered,

"That is a very gay thing to say, bro, especially when we are sitting here drinking together."

’THANK YOU, GOD!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!’

I screamed inwardly as I heard that familiar haughty tone for the first time since everything had fallen apart.

For a moment, I could barely believe it.

That’s all I needed.

That’s all I wanted.

That stupid, arrogant tone that told me he was still in there somewhere.

"Yeah, alright, then. Deal," Aether finally said in his usual haughty tone before reaching forward and firmly shaking my hand.

His grip wasn’t particularly strong, but I felt a strange relief the moment our hands met.

He was still here.

That was enough.

"I knew you could keep going, because you are stronger than you think you are. You are my best friend, Aether, and... I am not going to let you throw yourself away because somebody decided they no longer needed you."

I smiled gently at him, even though a part of me was still terrified that if I stopped watching him for even a moment, that fragile smile might disappear again.

We continued our banter as the heavy atmosphere in the room slowly began to loosen.

Then my pant pocket suddenly vibrated.

I flinched and straightened myself as I said,

"Fuck, I really need to use the restroom. I drank too much!"

Without waiting for Aether to respond, I hurriedly left the room.

The moment the door closed behind me, my smile disappeared.

When I reached the restroom, I entered the nearest stall area and stood before the mirror for a few seconds.

I stared at myself.

"Disgusting"

I mumbled, then I reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone, and looked at the caller that had been listening to our conversation ever since I found him...

[Caller ID: Penelope]

[Call Duration: 04:23:34]

"..."

I stared at the caller ID for several seconds.

My expression hardened before I finally asked coldly,

"Why did you do that?"

"..."

There was no answer.

Only dead silence.

I slammed my fist onto the handwash basin.

"Why did you... say that? If breaking up is all you wanted... then why the fuck did you say that?"

"..."

For a moment, there was nothing but silence.

Then, a broken feminine voice finally came through the speaker.

"Thank you."

Beep!

The call ended.

I stared at the phone in disbelief.

"That fucking bitch!!"

I slammed my fist onto the handwash basin again. "Don’t you dare cut my call after you fucking broke my friend!"

I immediately tried calling her bac—

Ring~

An incoming call suddenly appeared on my screen.

"Grandma?"

I frowned, wondering why she was calling me so suddenly.

I accepted the call.

"Grandma?"

"Allen, where are you right now?"

My grandmother’s voice sounded unusually urgent.

"Did something happen? Do you need me?" I asked worriedly.

But then I heard another voice faintly mumbling in the background.

My expression tightened.

That voice...

"Grandma... is there someone with yo—"

"Are you finished talking with my son, Allen?"

The familiar, cold, authoritative voice echoed through the earpiece.

My eyes widened in horror.

My blood seemed to turn cold.

For a few seconds, I couldn’t even breathe.

The phone nearly slipped from my hand.

"You have such a lovely grandmother... don’t you?"