While my parents, on that stormy night, strained to see through the relentless rain and called out his name, Serena was guiding him through her luxurious collection of toy rooms.
Young Cyrus, captivated by these novelties, momentarily forgot his worries. By the time he realized it, it was too late.
My parents had already succumbed to the icy river waters.
I was supposed to fade into the background of Cyrus's life after that incident, leaving him to grapple with his unresolved guilt.
Ideally, he would have gradually stepped out of his shadows with the support of the female lead.
However, I awoke and found myself once again in their world.
At that time, aiming to get closer to Darius, I strive to get admitted to his high school and met Cyrus unexpectedly.
He was in that school too.
Years had passed, yet he still referred to himself as my brother.
His lingering sense of guilt to me made him favor me so much that he never hid his care for me.
The usually reserved Cyrus wanted to keep me close as a form of reparation.
However, he overlooked one crucial fact: we were not blood-related. His boundary-crossing intimacy, meant as compensation, was misinterpreted by others.
It was this intimacy that caused Serena to hate me.
It should be a time for the male and female leads to confess their love after their long aquaintance now.
But my presence drove a wedge between them. Cyrus's undue attention towards me branded me, in Serena's eyes, as the third wheel.
Even my attempts of explaining to her that I don't love Cyrus and maintaining distance from Cyrus could't dispelled her doubt.
When Serena discovered my affection for Darius, it seemed she began to compete with me for Darius's favor even if she dont love him.
The more Cyrus's gaze strayed to me, the more she sought to reclaim it from Darius.
Darius was fond of Serena, Serena yearned for Cyrus, Cyrus pursued me for redemption, and I aimed to save Darius.
We were entangled in a peculiar impasse.
Serena was determined to break this stalemate.
She began to weave intricate schemes, determined to isolate, marginalize, and eventually banish me from their circle by any means necessary.
She leveraged the full support of the Azure family to her advantage.
In contrast, I stood alone with a system that could merely lament, "What has the female lead become?"
Ultimately, I was branded with notoriety.
