My Fiancé Sold Me Out for His Niece and I Got Dragged Online

Silas seemed to snap out of a trance, pushing me away without hesitation as he rushed over to pick her up.

He didn’t even look back, his voice desperate:

"Sorry, Bella. The night Grace’s parents had their accident—it was the same kind of stormy night. I have to stay with her tonight!"

"Otherwise, she’ll be scared."

The last words were careful, as though he was holding something fragile in his hands. I had never seen such tenderness before—gentle like holding a delicate pearl.

Boom!

Another deafening thunderclap echoed through the night, sending a jolt of fear through my chest.

Tears finally began to fall in a steady stream, uncontrollable now.

I stared at Silas's retreating figure, murmuring softly to myself:

"But I’m scared of the thunder too. Don’t you remember?"

…

My mother passed away from illness when I was a child.

The night she died, it was another stormy night like this one.

That's why I’ve always been terrified of thunder.

Silas and I grew up together as childhood sweethearts; he knew how scared I was.

Countless times, I was woken from my sleep by the thunder, and Silas would show up beside me, braving the pouring rain.

He’d cover my ears tightly, mouthing the words to me:

"Don’t be afraid. I’m always here."

We’d known each other for ten years and had been in love for six.

I thought he would always treat me this way.

Until Grace showed up.

Grace was the daughter of Oscar Crowe’s close friend.

That night, Grace’s parents were arguing in the car on the highway.

The rain made the roads slippery, and after a deafening thunderclap, the car crashed into a truck.

Grace was the only one who survived.

The Dorne family’s relatives blamed Grace for the misfortune, so she was sent to live with her parents’ friends, the Crowe family.

And Silas became her "uncle," though there was no blood relation.

Perhaps it was because of how pitiful she was, Silas became incredibly protective of her.

To the point where I, his girlfriend, couldn’t help but feel jealous.

At first, he’d nervously explain to me.

But then, when I reminded him once again to respect the boundaries between an uncle and niece, Silas rarely lost his temper at me:

"Grace is a rose I’ve raised with my own hands. How could I ever let her be tainted?"

"You’re not Mr. Crowe. You have no right to tell me who I can care for. You better watch your boundaries."

"And not everyone is as twisted in their thinking as you are!"

Silas always spoke with such righteous conviction.

So I could only deceive myself, convincing myself to trust him.

Trust that he had a scale in his heart, able to distinguish between family and love.

But now, the man who had once promised to be by my side through every stormy night was in the room next door, holding Grace tightly in a way that went far beyond familial affection.

He was even willing to sacrifice everything I had to protect Grace’s reputation without a second thought.

Today, I finally understood just how much Grace meant to him.

That scale in his heart had long been tipped.