Shattered Inside (Yandere!Cheater x Reader)

XXXII

"Hannah, I think that's enough," James pressed through his teeth, all the while trying to send her a friendly yet threatening smile. Though he was glad that his sister was getting along well with Lily, he didn't want his new friend to find out about all the embarrassing things he did as a child — those peculiar moments that still haunt him, and make him cringe whenever he lies in bed, about to fall asleep.

The little girl ignored his polite request to stop, and thus he had no other choice but to stand up, walk over to her, and drag her out of the room — just so that he could avoid embarrassing himself even more in front of Lily. "But I haven't even gotten to the funny part yet—" Hannah whined and protested in vain. Lily couldn't help but laugh as she witnessed the scene of brother and sister fighting with each other outside in the hallway.

"I swear you'll be the death of me—" James groaned, closing the door to the living room behind him. "Why can't you tell her something good about me? Something like, 'Oh, Lily, James is the best big brother in the world! He always helps me whenever there are monsters hiding under my bed. Oh, he's such a great guy!'" He tried his best to mimic his little sister's high-pitched voice, mocking her, of course.

Hannah started laughing uncontrollably. "Hey, I was just about to get to that part!" she defended herself, as much as she could through the laughter that spewed out of her rumbling lips.

James rolled his eyes, albeit playfully. "Yeah, after three more embarrassing incidents, right?"

"You guessed it!"

Still, James retained a sparkle of authority in his blue eyes as he knelt down in order to be on her eye level. "But for real, stop please. Why don't you talk about yourself? It's not fair — nor is it nice — that you always talk about me."

"Okay... okay, I'm sorry." Hannah jumped at him, enveloping him into a hug. "I didn't mean to make Big Brother angry."

"It's okay, Hannah. I know you didn't have bad intentions — at least I hope so."

"Children, we can hear you from the kitchen." Their father's head came out from the end of the hallway, and he eventually entered their vision with plates full of food in his hands. Upon finding his two children hugging each other, the smile on his lips widened in joy. He, too, used to be close to his older sister, Leslie, when they were younger. By now, the gaping hole in his heart she had left behind after her gruesome death had healed, and no longer brought pain. Those times were over, now that he had managed to not lose another loved one to this cruel world again; he couldn't have lived with himself if he really had lost you to that man forever.

"Dad, do you need help with the food?" James asked as he carefully took the two trays out of his hands, lowering one so he could hand it over to Hannah.

Ethan was snapped out of his trance upon the weights leaving his hands. The children had already left him standing, and advanced towards the dining table where their guest was probably waiting. The smile returned; he considered himself lucky to have such helpful children.

So much was at stake: He had a family now. He couldn't afford to let all of that spiral down the drain just because of some shady affairs. Taking a shaky breath, he started to return to the kitchen. Heavy thoughts were clouding his minds; he felt conflicted.

After Leslie's murder, he had only joined his uncle's gang to find justice; he was deeply disappointed by the police's inability to punish the culprit, so he took matters into his own hands with Marko's help. That's how he had slipped into the greedy hands of the gang, and he foolishly stayed because of his thirst to bring justice to the world — just like some vigilante. But now — now he just wanted to leave all of that behind. Ethan was aware that leaving wasn't possible, but he also knew that staying was no option either. They had helped him when he needed it — more than once — but now they were more of heavy baggage that clung to him like wet fabric, leaving him uncomfortable and anxious.