After dinner with Rose and your sister the following week, they didn't mention you talking to Aaron once, much to your relief. You don't know why they suddenly stopped after nagging you for so long, but you're happy for whatever reason they did.

Usually, those two are like a dog with a bone, never letting anything go till they get what they want. Maybe it was just because they were so wrapped up in each other, busy planning a trip together, that they didn't have time to worry you over Aaron. At least, that is what you hope.

You help Max and Gigi's husband, Andrew, hold a birthday party for his daughter, your godchild, Sarah. Through Max, Aaron's closest friends and business associates have become close friends with Andrew and his young daughter. They thought holding the birthday party at Falcon's mansion would be great since he had a massive game room. Sarah loved it, and they let her invite a few of her friends as well.

Later that day, she ran up to you and Max and thanked you, saying, "I'm having so much fun. It's the best birthday ever! Thank you."

You smile and hug her, saying, "Welcome to being a teenager. Happy thirteenth birthday, Sarah."

Max pouts and says, "Hey, don't hog her all to yourself. I want a hug, too."

You and Sarah laugh, and she happily steps into his outstretched arms. He hugs her tightly, and she playfully whines, "Ugh, I can't breathe. Let go." He hugs her even tighter before letting her go, causing her to giggle.

Andrew takes his daughter's hand and then says to Max, "Thank you, Max," he includes you, "Thank you, Lanne. I don't know what I would have done without you helping me raise her."

You tell him, "She is just starting her teenage years, so if she is anything like her mother, there is still a lot more raising to do." You look at Sarah with love in your eyes. She is so much like Gigi that sometimes it hurts.

Max and Andrew fondly laugh; they know the fun antics you and Gigi used to get up to as besties. Sarah blushes, as she knows some of the stories, too.

Andrew pulls his daughter close and kisses the top of her head.

She pushes away, rolling her eyes. "Awe, Dad, stop embarrassing me." He lets her go, and she runs back over to her cluster of friends.

You, Max, and Andrew are standing there watching them and discussing how much she has grown. They hear a round of laughter and giggles as she comes hurrying over. She is all smiles and excitement.

She looks at her dad and asks, "Dad, can I have an empty soda bottle?"

Confused, he asks, "Why?"

In the exuberance of a teenager, she gleefully tells her dad, "They want to play Spin the Bottle."

You suddenly snap, "No!" startling her.

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I didn't mean to startle you." You apologize to her, feeling bad you snapped at her. You didn't mean to. It's just a game of Spin the Bottle. When you were thirteen, it practically destroyed your life; you would never want the same for her.

Her dad places a hand on her shoulder. He playfully chides her, drawing her attention away from the look on both of your faces.

"Honey, there are so many fun things to do here. It's like going to an arcade, and they want to play that ancient game?"

He looks at her, suggesting that playing Spin the Bottle is a very old game. "No one plays that anymore, not since I was a kid." He laughs, glancing at you apologetically.

Sarah huffs a little sigh. "It's an old game like you used to play?"

He laughs and says, "Yeah, it's that old." He does a soft eyeroll.

You and Max look at each other. He reaches for your hand and gently squeezes it. He whispers, "Are you okay?"

You whisper to him, "I feel positively ancient now." Trying to distract him from how you feel. He was always so in tune with you.

"You don't look a day over sixteen, Lanne," he says teasingly. This comment causes you to blush and turn your attention back to Sarah and her dad.

You watch her as she considers what her dad said about the game being old and then says, "Ew! I don't want to play an old-person game." She runs back over to her friends, and they go to play in the VR room.

"I'm sorry, Lanne, I didn't know she --"

You interrupt him, "It's ok. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some fresh air."

He and Max watch as you go to the terrace. Max starts to follow, and Andrew asks, "Will she be okay?"

He answers, "One day," and turns to follow you to the terrace. You had left the door partially open as memories surrounded you. He closes the sliding glass door behind him.

He is concerned about you. He remembers Gi telling him that what happened followed you to university. One of the boys who assaulted you in the restroom had moved as well, and one day, you entered your second-period class and saw him sitting there, grinning at you. It didn't take long before your university days became like your school days. Gi told him it gave you even more reason to hate men like Aaron.

You are leaning on the terrace railing, lost in memories.

When you think back, everything bad that happened to you leads back to a game of Spin the Bottle, Aaron, five minutes in heaven, and then a lifetime of hell. You have dated, but you never let it reach the intimate stage.

You are lost in memories, recalling all the times you tried to have a relationship, and when it would begin to turn intimate, it always failed. Whenever your breasts were touched, you suddenly became overwhelmed with nausea, and the first time trying to be intimate with a boyfriend who you thought loved you, you threw up. He became angry with you and stormed out. You never heard from him again.

You sigh, and Max places a hand over yours on the railing. You slightly jump, startled because you hadn't heard him come out.

"You okay?" he tenderly asks.

"Yeah, you just startled me, is all."

"No, I mean before that."

Damn, I can't hide anything from him. You sigh and bare your heart to him, and with a patient ear, he listens.

When you finish, he says, "La, sit." He rarely, if ever, calls you La. He leads you to one of the terrace chairs and sits beside you. "I think I should tell you what I know about the day I found you in the boys' restroom."

He sees you start to get up and holds out his hand, "Please listen to what I have to say. I didn't at first want to be the one to tell you. I was hoping Falcon would talk to you himself."

I never gave him the chance. You sit back down and wait for him to speak. What he tells you explains why you saw Aaron run to the restroom in tears, and you didn't just imagine it. You now know why he suddenly disappeared from the lunch room later that day, too.

Max sees your eyes start to well up with tears. "Falcon, in his naïve innocence, thought his best friend Kraven could help him understand the feelings rushing through his body, so he told him what happened in the closet. But he never told anyone else."

"It was Kraven who made my life a living hell?" you ask in disbelief.

You suddenly get a flashback of Aaron's face as you left Kraven's birthday party that night.

Max nodded, saying, "Yes, it was Kraven. He was so jealous of Falcon. Your name was the only one in that cup."

You shake your head. You find it hard to believe, and then a memory resurfaces. Kraven always drew from the cup, but the one time you recall Aaron reaching for the cup, you saw the glare he got from Kraven.

Max continues, "Kraven wanted to be the one to spend time alone with you, so he put your name in the cup and told everyone that since it was his birthday, he would be the only one to pull from the cup. No one knew that all those slips of paper just had your name on them."

You sit there blankly, staring.

He touches your hand, drawing you back. "Falcon never told anyone else. It was Kraven spreading those rumors about you."

Incredulously, you look him in the eyes, asking, "How do you know it was Kraven?"

Max flexes his hands and cracks his knuckles. "Let's just say he and I had a nice long talk."

With tears in your eyes, you glance down at your hands in your lap, thinking.

So, all these years, it's never been his fault that my life became a living hell. I painted him like the villain he never was.

https://youtu.be/tAcKfnf0zv4