𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙧. 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙝𝙞𝙙

13. Pandora's Box

I couldn't shake off what Stella had said at the supermarket earlier. My mind kept wandering back to my relationship with Bella. I struggled to recall if there had ever been a moment when Bella showed she liked me.

Or was I just blind to it back then?

Bella was the joy of our family. Her bubbly personality could make my dad laugh like no one else, and my mom treated her like her own daughter. I had always viewed Bella as my little sister.

When Hailey came into our lives, my attention shifted entirely to her. Whenever Bella and Hailey were together, I found myself looking at Hailey as a woman, while Bella only seemed like a sister to me.

But after Bella didn’t return from the US, I started to long for her presence. I began to miss her—both as a sister and a friend. Somewhere deep inside, I felt a loss I couldn't quite explain. It was like a part of my life had vanished when Bella left.

For the past ten years, I had followed her news from abroad, and it only frustrated me more that she never reached out to me. Whenever I asked Aunt Valerie about her, I was told that Bella didn’t want to talk to me. She wouldn’t even mention my name.

Could this be the reason?

Was it Hailey and I who drove her away?

If she really liked me back then, was I the reason she distanced herself?

"Are you drunk, Zayne?"

I was jolted from my thoughts by Aunt Valerie’s sudden question.

"Just a little, Tita," I lied.

I was more tipsy with my thoughts about Bella than from any alcohol.

"Do you want to rest upstairs for a bit?"

Maybe I needed some solitude.

"Can I, Tita?"

"Of course. You can rest in Belle’s room. But it might be a little messy; I’ve been sorting through some of her old things."

"Okay," I replied.

I stood up, my mind fixated on the boxes.

Could her diary be in there?

My feet moved almost of their own accord, carrying me swiftly to Bella's room.

I locked the door after I switched on the light.

It had been years since I had last entered this space—back in our first year of college.

Nothing seemed to have changed, except for the boxes on the floor and the ones atop the bed.

I wasted no time and opened one of the boxes.

It felt like a Pandora’s box as a pink diary with Bella's initials immediately caught my eye.

My heart raced.

Is this the diary Stella mentioned?

I placed the box down, holding the diary tightly. I sat on the bed, took a deep breath, and opened the first page of the diary.

What secrets lay within? What feelings had Bella poured into her words? My hands trembled slightly as I turned the pages, anxious yet excited to uncover what she had kept hidden all these years.