Chapter 12 – Breaking Point
The first day out of the hospital should have felt like relief. The air was warm, the sky clear, and Conor should have felt lighter finally walking outside again. But his body still ached, his steps still unsteady, and the weight on his chest never lifted.
Chad and his friends had offered to drive him home, but Jaime insisted. The silence in the car was suffocating. Neither brother spoke, both drowning in unspoken words.
When they pulled up to the house, Allyson was waiting at the front steps. Jaime's lips curled into a smile, relief washing over his face—until he saw her expression. Cold. Tired. Done.
"Ally?" Jaime rushed to her, but she held her ground.
"I can't do this anymore." Her voice was flat, final. "I can't be with someone who throws accusations without proof, who doesn't trust me."
Jaime's throat tightened. "What are you talking about? You were with someone else! Conor saw you—he told me!"
Her eyes flickered with disbelief, then hurt. "I was with my coworker, Jaime. We were outside grabbing coffee near his office. That's all. Flirting? That's what you wanted to believe. And instead of asking me, you chose to believe your brother's twisted version."
Conor froze on the porch, his blood running cold. He hadn't meant to cause damage—he thought he'd seen the truth. The guilt hit him like a blade.
Jaime turned slowly, his gaze locking onto Conor. Fury burned in his eyes. "You... You told me you saw her! You ruined everything!"
Conor's voice cracked, weak. "Jaime, I—I swear I thought—"
But Jaime's rage was louder than reason. His chest heaved, his hands shaking. "You've always been like this. Messing things up. Making me look like a fool. And now?" His voice broke into a scream. "You made the one person I loved walk away!"
Tears stung Conor's eyes. "I didn't mean—"
Jaime's words cut sharper than any knife.
"I wish you were dead, Conor. Do you hear me? I wish it was you gone instead of my happiness."
The world seemed to stop. Allyson gasped, horrified. Conor stumbled back a step, his face pale, his heart breaking into pieces that could never be put back together.
The silence that followed was unbearable. Jaime's chest rose and fell violently, his anger trembling in his fists, but in Conor's eyes there was only devastation.
For the second time in his life, he heard the same message echoing from the two people who mattered most:
"You shouldn't exist."
And deep down, he wondered if maybe they were right.
That Night
Conor sat hunched over his desk, the small lamp casting a pale circle of light. His hands shook as he opened the worn leather diary, the one place he could bleed without anyone seeing.
The pen hovered for a moment before pressing down. Words spilled out in messy, uneven lines:
"I ruin everything. Jaime's right—maybe the world would be better without me. At work, at home, even with him... all I ever do is destroy the people I love. I'm tired of breathing when it hurts this much. Maybe if I disappeared, no one would have to carry me anymore. Maybe I wouldn't be a mistake."
The ink smudged where his tears fell onto the page.
He closed the diary slowly, hugging it to his chest like it was the only thing keeping him from falling apart completely. But inside, a darker thought whispered—how long until even this won't be enough?
✨ Cliffhanger for Chapter 13:
Jaime lies awake in his room, guilt gnawing at him even through his anger. His mind flashes back to Conor's trembling voice in the hospital, the way he avoided answering about what he was hiding. He clenches his fists.
He's keeping something from me. And I'm going to find out what it is.
Meanwhile, in the next room, Conor's diary sits hidden—its latest pages darker than ever, carrying words Jaime isn't ready to read.