Yearning For Familial Love

Chapter One: How It All Begain

[Leo]

Chapter One: How It All Began

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    My day began with my father breaking the news to me. He had to make another business trip. In recent years, it has been far from unusual. I can not say I was not expecting it. As an only child with a mother who practically lives in the hospital where she works, I yearned for the attention I was denied. Growing up, I would purposefully get into trouble or get hurt to gain even the smallest amount of attention.

    It was not long before they began to avoid even small, simple interactions. Nowadays, if my school called about my behavior, they would have to leave a voicemail, which would most likely be deleted without being heard or given a second thought.

    As the high-income "spoiled" child, the other students at school have always wanted money from me or started fights. It is not my fault that my parents have money and nice things. The clothes, gadgets, and even the car were the most affordable options they could have given me. Without becoming the subject of gossip in their social circles.

    Obtaining anything that was not required for maintaining appearances was impossible. Don't believe me? Growing up in this house, I experienced what it was like to be hungry. Not because we were living paycheck to paycheck. No, it was simply because neither of them wanted to spend enough time at home to go grocery shopping.

    Nobody in this world has ever shown me even a hint of sympathy. My pleadings for assistance went unheard as if I were a spoiled child telling lies for attention. So when I met Sasha online, she at least pretended to care about me. I quickly found myself stealing from my parents to provide her with whatever she desired. 

    As our friendship progressed, I discovered Sasha had a large and extremely close family. I had even recently taken a road trip to spend time with them at a large barbecue they hosted. Where I learned that she was about to return to her parent's home country and marry someone she had never met before. 

    In the weeks that followed, I discovered it was a monetary issue. In my desperation, I started stealing more and devised a strategy to keep my only friend. However, as I reflect on this period in my life, I have realized that this was not the grand gesture I had intended.

    Especially since our relationship was nothing more than friends who only met in person once. This mistake was most likely the reason she began to withdraw. I did not realize what I was doing was wrong at the time. I was only concerned with the legality. On how to protect her. I had to first resolve her citizenship issue. Marrying her was the quickest and most certain solution. 

    It just so happened that their visas expired a few weeks after my 18th birthday. So the plan was to marry her, then hide her until they left, and then help her start her own life. I had assumed we would get divorced after three years. I never considered the fear and uncertainty she must have felt back then. But the first half of my payment to her family had been made, and the wedding was scheduled. 

    Meanwhile, life seemed to be going on as usual. I had just completed another day of school and logged onto my computer. Sasha logged on shortly after. We were collecting resources for an upcoming event. I had been enjoying our small talk. With the strange little jokes, we were cracking with a random group of noobs. We collaborated with them to be eligible for the event.

    Everything was going well before Sasha sighed and excused herself while muting her microphone. It wasn't a big issue, but I was always bothered by how frequent and common these unexpected breaks had become. When she unmuted, she picked up right where we left off. Her voice trailed off in the middle of a sentence before she excused herself and went AFK again.

    It is not uncommon for her to take a 20-minute break around this time. Once or twice. However, things have changed recently. She left without returning. After about an hour and a half, I concluded that she had forgotten me. And most likely, she fell asleep or went out to eat with her large, amazing family.  

    I was always envious of her when she would leave to spend time with her family. I do not blame her, but the loneliness has become increasingly overwhelming today. Her lifeless character stood abandoned in the corner. When the server finally kicked her, something inside of me broke. 

    I began punching my monitor. I just could not help myself. In my fit of rage, I destroyed my computer. I decided to throw the destroyed computer out the window of my third-floor window. As I did so, I lost my footing and fell headfirst with it.

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[End of Chapter]