“Mom, Dad, you always said Emmett was a good boy, the only one in the Davidson family who would protect me,” she murmured, her voice cracking. “But why… why was it him who hurt me the most?”
“He said he loved me more than anyone else. Then why did he betray me?”
“Mom, Dad, I have nothing left now.”
The floodgates of her sorrow opened, and Athena broke down, her sobs echoing in the stillness of the cemetery.
Her mind drifted to the days after her parents' death, a time when despair had consumed her. Night after night, she had cried herself to sleep, her small body ravaged by relentless fevers that no one could ease.
Emmett, torn by guilt and anguish, stayed by Athena’s bedside every night, his words heavy with remorse.
“I’m sorry, Athena… It’s all my fault,” he whispered, his voice thick with sorrow.
“Athena, please get better. You’re all the family they left behind.”
“I’ll protect you from now on, okay? You’re my family now.”
“My life belongs to you.”
From that moment, Emmett took on the role of her protector, her older brother, and she let herself believe him.
Then, in the warmth of early summer after graduation, he held her hand, making a promise to give her a beautiful future.