Chapter 10
Elise's heart tightened. She reached out and rested both hands gently on his arms. "What happened?"
Logan lowered his head. For several moments, he simply stared at the ground. When he finally spoke, his voice had become rough.
"I fought with Mom and Dad. They were talking about you again."
He looked away, jaw clenching so tightly she could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin.
"They kept saying you were never really part of the family. They said finding you had been a mistake. They said..." His voice caught briefly before he forced the words out. "...they wished they'd never allowed you into my life."
Elise felt her chest tighten.
A painful ache settled in her chest as she stared at Logan's face. His normally easygoing expression had disappeared completely, replaced by a frustration that looked far too heavy for someone his age.
"I told them to stop." A bitter laugh escaped him as he scrubbed both hands through his already messy hair, pacing a few restless steps before turning back to face her. "They just kept going." His jaw tightened. "So I lost my temper."
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, but the rigid set of his shoulders betrayed how angry he still was.
"I told them that if they couldn't respect my sister, then they didn't deserve to call themselves my parents."
Elise stiffened almost imperceptibly.
It wasn't because she was surprised.
Those words had followed her for as long as she could remember.
She had heard them so many times over the years that they no longer struck with the same devastating force they once had.
Time had dulled the pain, but it had never erased it.
It lingered beneath the surface, surfacing whenever someone repeated the same cruel reminder—that she had never been wanted.
She had spent countless nights wondering what she had done wrong, searching for an answer that never came. In the end, the only explanation her birth parents had ever offered was painfully simple.
They had wanted a son.
A son who would inherit the family name, build a career, earn money, and provide for them in their old age.
Not a daughter.
Not someone they considered nothing more than an expense they would eventually marry off to a man with no return on what they saw as their investment.
Even now, she couldn't understand how parents could look at their own child that way.
Taking a slow breath, she quietly forced the familiar ache back down before lifting her eyes to Logan.
The hurt she felt for herself disappeared almost instantly, replaced by concern as she looked him over from head to toe.
His clothes were slightly wrinkled, his hair more disheveled than usual, and the skin across his knuckles had turned faintly red.
Her gaze lingered there for a second before moving back to his face.
"They didn't hurt you, did they?" she asked, her voice calm but serious. "Tell me the truth."
Logan frowned, almost looking offended that she would even ask.
"No."
Her eyes remained on him, carefully studying every inch of him as though she didn't quite believe the answer.
"They didn't hit you?" she asked again, searching his face for even the smallest crack in his composure. "Or shove you? Did they threaten you? Say anything to you?"
"They didn't touch me."
The answer came immediately, but the muscle in his jaw tightened until it visibly flexed.
"They just kept talking about you."
He let out a sharp breath and raked a hand roughly through his hair before dropping it back to his side, his frustration impossible to hide.
"They wouldn't stop." His voice grew tighter with every word.
"Every time I defended you, they found something else to say.
They blamed you for everything. They kept telling me to cut you out of my life like you were some stranger.
" He shook his head in disbelief, letting out a bitter laugh that carried no humor whatsoever.
"I'm tired of listening to it, Elise. I'm sick of pretending it doesn't get to me. "
Only then did the tension slowly leave her shoulders.
A quiet sigh escaped before she could stop it, relief washing through her so suddenly that she almost felt guilty for it.
"I'm glad they didn't hurt you."
Logan stared at her, completely incredulous.
"That's all you got from what I just said?"
She met his gaze steadily.
"Yes."
"They've spent years saying those things about you."
"I know."
"They hate you."
"I know."
His frustration boiled over as he threw both hands into the air before letting them fall heavily against his sides.
"And after hearing all that, the only thing you're worried about is whether they hit me?"
Elise held his gaze for a long moment before answering quietly.
"As long as they didn't lay a hand on you, then nothing else matters."
The words slipped out before she could soften them.
She immediately looked away, adjusting the strap of her handbag on her shoulder as she took a small step back, instinctively putting a little distance between them.
"This isn't something we need to keep discussing," she said, her voice returning to its usual calmness. "You should go home."
Logan looked at her as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Are you even listening to yourself?" He gave a short, disbelieving laugh and took a step after her when she tried to end the conversation. "After everything I just told you, you're still telling me to stay away from you?"
"Logan..."
"No."
He shook his head firmly, refusing to let her brush the conversation aside.
"I'm done pretending this is normal."
"It is."
"It isn't."
"It has been for years."
His brows knitted together.
"How can you say that?"
"Because it's true." She forced herself to keep her expression composed even as her fingers tightened around the leather strap of her handbag. "You're their son," she said quietly. "I'm not. They love you. Whatever they think about me doesn't change the fact that you're their family."
Her voice remained steady, though she couldn't bring herself to look at him anymore.
"If they want you to stay away from me..." She paused, swallowing the tightness in her throat before forcing herself to finish. "...then maybe you should."
For a second, Logan simply stared at her.
Then he let out a frustrated breath and turned away, dragging both hands through his hair before spinning back to face her again.
"Do you hear yourself?" he demanded, his voice rising despite his efforts to stay calm. "They hate you, Elise. I don't understand it. I don't understand how anyone could hate you this much."
He looked at her helplessly, searching for an explanation she couldn't give him.
"Please." His voice softened. “Let me move in with you."
Elise closed her eyes for the briefest moment.
"No." She opened her eyes again and finally looked at him. "I live with my boyfriend now."
Logan blinked.
For a moment, he simply stood there, trying to process what she'd said. Then his expression darkened.
"What boyfriend? The one you've never introduced me to?" His brows pulled together. "Xavier Chen."
He said the name with obvious skepticism before shaking his head.
"I don't think he's a good man."
A tired sigh escaped her.
"You've never met him."
"Exactly."
He spread his hands in frustration.
"Don't you think that's strange?" His eyes locked onto hers. "You're living with him. You're talking about marrying him. Yet your own brother has never met him."
His voice lowered, becoming more earnest than angry.
"If he really cared about you, wouldn't he want to know the people who matter to you? Wouldn't you have introduced us by now?"
"You're overthinking."
"I'm not."
"You are."
She cut him off before he could argue again, her tone leaving little room for discussion.
"I'll introduce the two of you when the time is right. Until then, stop imagining problems that don't exist."
He looked unconvinced.
She didn't give him the chance to object.
"And right now, you need to go home."
"But—"
"No."
The single word stopped him.
"You haven't graduated yet," she continued, her voice practical, almost detached. "You don't have a stable job, you don't have enough savings to support yourself, and you don't have a place of your own. Running away isn't going to solve anything."
She finally looked him in the eye again.
"If you don't want to live with them anymore, then finish college first. Find a job. Save your money. Build a life you can stand on by yourself."
She paused just long enough for the words to settle.
"I can't do that for you, Logan."
The younger man stared at her in silence, disappointment written plainly across his face.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
The sounds of traffic drifted past them, the evening breeze stirring the loose strands of Elise's hair as she stood her ground, refusing to let the ache in her chest show on her face.
No matter how much it hurt, pushing him away was still the only way she knew how to protect him.
Logan's shoulders slumped almost imperceptibly, the disappointment on his face impossible to hide. For a long moment, he simply stood there, staring at Elise as though hoping she would change her mind if he waited long enough.
She almost did.
Almost.
Instead, she quietly closed the small distance between them. Her hand lifted on instinct, resting lightly against his forearm before she realized what she was doing. She hesitated for the briefest second but didn't pull away this time.
"Just finish college first," she said softly, her voice gentler than it had been throughout their entire conversation. "Graduate, find your footing, and when you're ready to move out..." A faint smile tugged at her lips despite herself. "...I promise I'll help you."
Logan searched her face, looking for any sign that she was only trying to pacify him. Whatever he found seemed to ease some of the resistance in his expression.
"...Alright."
The word came reluctantly.
"I'll leave... for now."
A small nod escaped Elise.
"Good."
She withdrew her hand and took a step back, once again putting the familiar distance between them.