Chapter 4The Stepbrother's Sin
About 967 characters (~188 words) — this is Chapter 4, the last of the 4 free chapters on EditWrx Reads.
The day I got my first period, I curled up in bed in pain.
Stepmother ignored me.
But he touched my head in panic: "Lily, where does it hurt?"
I whispered my stomach hurt, blood stained my pants.
His ears turned red as he went to the bathroom and washed that small underwear clean.
After that, he bought books on female physiology.
Studied them seriously at night.
The next day, he clumsily but seriously told me: what menstruation is, how to care for it, how to relieve pain.
He made me ginger tea and hot compresses when I was in pain.
Those years, we weren't rich.
But I never felt lonely.
He was the only one who patted my head and remembered what I liked to eat.
He filled all the missing family love.
Taught me dependence.
Taught me trust.
With his thin body, he lifted me from the abyss.
Made me feel I wasn't redundant.
Not a burden.
I knew from then on, as long as I followed him, I wouldn't suffer, wouldn't be left behind.
Ethan was the only person in the world who loved me.