Caring for a Monster in Disguise

After a car accident leaves my girlfriend, Avery Moore, with brain damage and the mind of a young child, she becomes prone to violent outbursts and destructive behavior. My younger sister, Delilah Barnes, and I care for Avery around the clock. To pay for her treatment, Delilah drops out of school and works three jobs, exhausted to the point she can fall asleep standing up. One day, while trying to stop Avery from wandering into deep water, Delilah, who can't swim, accidentally falls into a fast-moving current. Avery, with her childlike mind, simply turns and walks away, never noticing Delilah being swallowed by the river. I believe it's nothing more than a tragic accident. Until the day of Delilah's funeral, I overhear Avery on the phone. "He passed the test. Even though he came with that burden of a sister, he's been genuinely devoted to me. Now that his sister is dead, he'll have no one else. For the rest of his life, he'll depend on me and devote himself wholeheartedly to being my husband." It turns out Avery has been faking her mental decline to test my love for her. At that moment, my heart shatters beneath her feet. Avery Moore, I've passed your test. But now, I don't want you anymore. Chapter 1 At my younger sister Delilah Barnes' funeral, I moved numbly as I placed a bouquet of carnations on her casket. When I stepped outside the funeral home for some fresh air, I overheard my girlfriend Avery Moore's voice. Gone was the childish, muddled speech she had used for the past two years. Her tone was calm and nonchalant. "Alright. I got it. Once I deal with the unpleasant business here, I'll come back to the office. Keep a close eye on the Southport project for me." Hearing that, every drop of blood in my body seemed to freeze. I didn't know what the person on the other end of the call said, but a faint, mocking smile tugged at Avery's lips as she lit a cigarette. "His family was dirt poor, and he came with a needy little sister. If I hadn't pretended to be mentally disabled to test him, I'd never have known how far he'd go for me. "Hmm… You're right, Jacob. That sister of his was annoying, always watching me like I was some kind of criminal. It's for the best that she's dead—one less burden. "Now, he's completely alone and has nobody left to rely on except me. He'll be loyal and easy to control… The position of son-in-law to the Moore family is easily his." My mind went blank. Bloody, tear-filled scenes from the past flashed before my eyes. Three years into our relationship, Avery had been involved in a serious car accident. When she woke up, her mind seemed to have regressed to that of a three-year-old. She became emotional and unpredictable. The Moore family had deemed her useless and cast her aside. I was the one who brought her home to the rundown apartment Delilah and I rented together. I tirelessly took care of her, sacrificing my sleep until my eyes were bloodshot. For two years, whenever something upset Avery, she smashed things or lashed out physically. The deep bite marks on my arm from one of her violent episodes were still visible. On rainy days, they ached. And Delilah, who had just been accepted into a top university, put her future on hold to help me shoulder the burden. She withdrew from school without hesitation and worked three jobs. Delilah had always been proud. Yet she endured rude customers while waiting tables. She spent long nights on factory assembly lines until her palms were covered in blisters. She did all that to afford Avery's expensive imported medications. One winter night, with temperatures in the negatives, Avery suddenly demanded candied walnuts from a shop on the east side. Delilah snatched the motorcycle keys from my hand and rushed out into the snowstorm. She crossed half the city and returned two hours later with candied walnuts, the skin on her hands and feet bleeding through her frostbite wounds. As I applied medicine to her wounds, I clenched my jaw to keep my emotions from pouring out. "Oli, it's okay. Avery is sick. We can't blame her." And then, there was what happened by the river just days ago. Without warning, Avery had sprinted toward the water, wanting to catch a fish. Delilah was terrified of water, and she couldn't swim. Yet, she still ran in without hesitation, desperate to keep Avery from getting hurt. Then, she slipped and disappeared into the deeper part of the river. By the time I arrived, the only thing floating on the river's surface was Delilah's jacket. The police later recovered security footage from a distance away. The images were blurry, but I could see Delilah struggling desperately to stay afloat after she fell into the water. Meanwhile, Avery stood on the riverbank and watched quietly for several seconds. Then, acting as if nothing had happened, she turned around and wandered off to the nearby field, chasing butterflies. I had believed that because of her mental disability, she simply didn't understand life and death anymore. Even in my grief, I couldn't bring myself to blame her. But it had all been a lie. Avery had deceived me. And because of that deception, Delilah had died for nothing. It felt as though someone had ripped my heart out of my chest. The pain was so overwhelming that I could barely breathe. Chapter 2 The day after the funeral, the sky was oppressively gloomy. I went to the crematorium to collect Delilah's ashes, wrapping the urn carefully in the white shirt I had bought for her but never got the chance to see her wear. The moment I returned home and pushed the door open, I froze. The place had been completely transformed. All the cheap furniture Avery had ruined over the past two years was gone, replaced by a luxurious custom-made couch. Avery sat on the couch, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit, her hair immaculately done. Beside her sat Jacob Colton, her childhood friend. When she saw me carrying the urn, she stood and flashed a gentle yet condescending smile. "Oliver, you're back." She walked toward me, her tone casual, as though everything were perfectly fine. "Don't be surprised. I'm completely recovered now. Thank you for taking care of me all this time." Jacob snorted and looked me up and down, his gaze lingering on my pale, exhausted face. "Oliver, Avery put a lot of effort into planning this surprise for you. Now that she's recovered, she'll be taking over Moore Group. That means you're about to marry into one of the country's wealthiest families and live a life of luxury. Where's your smile?" I said nothing and simply walked past them toward the bedroom. "What's that?" Avery reached for my arm, but I stepped away coldly. Her eyes fell on the urn in my hands, and a trace of disgust flickered across her face. "So, are Delilah's funeral arrangements finished? Oliver, the dead can't come back. You need to move on. From now on, I'll take care of you for her sake too," she said. "Take care of me?" My voice was hoarse. "Yes." Avery tried to put an arm around my shoulder, but I stepped aside again. "I've already found a huge apartment downtown. We're moving tomorrow. I can't stand living in this dump for another second. Oh, all your sister's old stuff has been packed away. The movers will throw it out later. It'll be better for you not to see it," Avery said casually. I followed her gaze to where several black trash bags sat piled in a corner. Inside were Delilah's textbooks, the worn uniforms she had used for her jobs, and the ceramic pot she had bought from a flea market because Avery's herbal treatments supposedly needed to be prepared using it. To Avery, the belongings that represented Delilah's life were nothing more than garbage waiting to be thrown out. I glared at Avery, my voice trembling despite my efforts to control it. "Who gave you permission to touch Delilah's things?" Avery's smile stiffened before her brows furrowed tightly. "Oliver, what's wrong with you? I know you're grieving Delilah, but nobody wanted that accident to happen. I wasn't in my right mind then. Are you seriously trying to blame me for her death?" "Not in your right mind?" My face twisted into a crooked smile that looked worse than despair. "Are you sure about that, Avery?" Something flickered in her eyes, but it vanished almost instantly. "What are you talking about? The doctors said I recovered because a sudden shock restored my memories." "Oliver, don't be ridiculous." Jacob rolled his eyes impatiently. "Do you even realize who Avery is now? A broke, pathetic loser like you should be thanking your lucky stars that you get to be with her. What's with the attitude?" I ignored him completely. Holding the urn with one arm, I began untying the trash bags with the other. I was going to take Delilah's things with me. My indifference seemed to infuriate Avery. She strode over, grabbed my sleeve, and yelled, "Oliver Barnes! I said you're not taking this junk with you. You're going to be my husband. How is it supposed to look if you bring all these unlucky reminders into our new home?" Chapter 3 I slapped Avery's hand away, the force causing her to stumble back a step. The rage and grief I'd been suppressing for so long finally exploded. "Do you really think I care about that position, Avery?" I said through gritted teeth, glaring at her. Avery froze. She probably never expected the man who had always done everything she asked to look at her with such hatred. "Oliver Barnes, what the hell is wrong with you?" Her expression darkened completely. Ignoring her, I crouched down and continued sorting through Delilah's belongings. Suddenly, Jacob walked over and kicked one of the trash bags. A small wooden boat rolled out. It was the one Delilah had spent several sleepless nights carving by hand for Avery. Back when Avery was pretending to be mentally impaired, she had thrown a tantrum and tearfully insisted she wanted a big boat she could sail on the river. "Oops. My bad," Jacob said, feigning apologeticness. Then, his expensive leather shoe came down hard on the wooden boat. With a loud crack, the boat snapped cleanly in two. "It's just a pile of crap. If Avery wants you to throw them out, just throw them out. Stop acting nostalgic—" Before he could finish, I stood up. Grabbing him by the collar, I viciously punched his face. The impact echoed through the cramped apartment. "How dare you hit me?" Jacob crashed onto the couch, clutching his face and staring at me in disbelief. Seeing this, Avery finally lost her temper. She quickly pulled Jacob behind her and pointed furiously at me. "Oliver, you've gone too far! Jacob was just kindly reminding you. What gives you the right to hit him?" "Kind?" My eyes burned red, and my voice was so low it sounded foreign even to me. "Avery, do you remember who Delilah died trying to save? For a brief moment, guilt flickered across her face. But then she quickly forced herself to stand firm. "I already told you, it was an accident! At the time, I wasn't mentally well. What was I supposed to do?" "You weren't mentally well, huh?" I laughed bitterly. My eyes stung as I fought to keep myself from completely falling apart. "Avery, you're a great actress. You pretended to be mentally disabled to test me. You watched me destroy my own life for you. You watched Delilah work herself to the bone just to afford your medication. You watched her fall into that river and struggle for breath. "What were you thinking while you stood there? Were you relieved because that annoying burden was finally gone?" The color drained from Avery's face. She staggered back as though she'd seen a ghost. "You… What did you hear?" "I heard you on the phone outside the funeral home," I said coldly. "Avery Moore, I've passed your test. But you're the one who's out." I bent down and picked up the broken wooden boat. Then I gathered it with Delilah's urn and held both tightly to my chest. "From this day forward, you're dead to me. I will never forgive you." Chapter 4 After leaving the apartment, I checked into a cheap motel. For three days, I stayed locked inside the room with Delilah's ashes, never once stepping outside. During those three days, Avery practically blew up my phone. At first, her calls were filled with arrogance and certainty. Then, they became angry and frustrated. By the end, they sounded close to pleading. I didn't answer any of her calls. In the end, I removed the SIM card from my phone and flushed it down the toilet. On the fourth day, I found myself staring at the giant LED screen in the city center. A news announcement played on repeat—Moore Group would soon be hosting a grand gala to celebrate the recovery and return of the Moore family's heiress. The report also hinted that, during the event, Avery would propose to the mysterious boyfriend who had stood by her through her darkest years. I knew that it was the "gift" Avery had prepared for me. She probably believed that as long as she dangled the title of "the Moore family's son-in-law" in front of me—if she offered enough wealth, power, and prestige—I would obediently return to her side as before and pretend none of the pain had ever happened. … On the night of the gala, the entire city was watching. The ballroom of Grandview Hotel was filled with business moguls, socialites, and celebrities. Dressed in a custom white evening gown, Avery stood beneath the spotlight like a queen waiting for her subjects to kneel before her. She was waiting for me, the "lucky man who had passed her test of devotion", to step forward and accept the honor she was bestowing. As time ticked by, the excitement in the ballroom faded, and the atmosphere grew awkward. People started whispering. But I never appeared. The composure on Avery's face gradually crumbled, replaced by undeniable anxiety and panic. She frantically ordered her assistant to contact me. She sent people to the apartment to search for me. She even used her connections to track my whereabouts. But all her effort was in vain. Just as the gala was about to become a public joke, the massive screen in the ballroom suddenly flickered. The romantic slideshow prepared for the evening vanished, replaced by security footage from the riverbank. The footage showed Delilah reaching out to stop Avery from walking into the deep water, then how Delilah had slipped into the strong current. She fought desperately to stay afloat, reaching for Avery and begging for help. And Avery, the woman who had pretended to have the mind of a child, no longer showed any trace of confusion. For an entire minute, she simply stood there coldly as she watched Delilah drown. Then, she calmly turned away and walked over to the nearby field. The ballroom fell silent. Every guest stared at the screen in shock, witnessing the "accident". Avery's face turned deathly pale. She screamed for someone to turn off the video. But what she didn't know was that the footage wasn't only playing in the ballroom. At that exact same moment, I had sent copies of it to every major media outlet in the city. I didn't want her money. I wanted her reputation destroyed. I wanted the world to see what kind of monster hid beneath the image of the loving, devoted heiress of the Moore family. That night, Avery ignored everything else and fled the ballroom. She searched the entire city like a mad person, looking for me. But she couldn't find me. Because by then, I was already aboard a bus heading south, with Delilah's ashes held tightly in my arms. I was leaving behind the city that had buried both my youth and the only family I had ever loved.