What Separates Me and You



Sierra's eyes widened as she whipped her head in the other direction to avoid eye contact with Josephine. "Why are you here?"

Meanwhile, Josephine approached to sit in front of Sierra's bed. She fixated on the burn mark on the back of the latter's neck. "I happened to pass by, so I came to look.

Sierra stiffened and couldn't care less about how her facial features had hideously twisted. Her eyes snapped at Josephine as she asked, "You can speak now?"

"Yeah."

Sierra gripped her blanket tight, which caused her knuckles to crack slightly. She couldn't believe Josephine's beauty and speech had returned, yet she had fallen into a wretched state. She no longer gave off the air of superiority she used to have toward Josephine.

"Have you come to mock me and show off while you're at it?"

Josephine shook her head. "What is there to show off? I don't think you're anything to laugh at either. You're just pitiful."

It offended Sierra so much that she scoffed. "Pitiful? Why would I need your pity? Who do you think you are? If we're talking about being pitiful, doesn't it apply more to you than me?

"Remember how you used to be an obedient dog to Lewis? How much better can you be compared to my current state?"

Josephine didn't get angry and merely held Sierra's gaze. At that moment, Sierra resembled a frazzled, annoyed cat with a poofy tail and its claws extended.

A sigh left Josephine's lips while she answered, "Indeed, so we're not all that different. You don't need to be this worked up either."

Sierra glowered at the former. Her chest rose and fell, but she gradually reeled in her hostility under Josephine's calm gaze. "Why have you come here?"

"I already told you that I happened to pass by. I didn't know where else to go in the middle of the night. Your door happened to be open, so I came in. You don't need to be so hostile."

Sierra had a dubious frown as she looked at Josephine. She refused to believe the latter was genuinely passing by. Instead, she preferred to think Josephine had intentionally come to mock her.

Still, Josephine continued to speak. "Remember when we first met, and you helped scare away that guy who bullied me? At the time, I thought you were the kindest person. I wanted to be your friend."

Sierra froze in disbelief that Josephine had remembered something from that long ago. Even so, she scoffed. "What's the use in discussing that?" "Isn't the reason obvious? Did you ever see me as a friend, Sierra?"

"No! I only got close to you because of Lewis!" Sierra snarled. At that point, her lips curled into a deep sneer. "I bet you don't even know I was the one who got those boys to mess with you."

It was Josephine's turn to freeze in shock. She fixated on Sierra's face and suddenly felt like the latter's disfigured and burned appearance accurately reflected Sierra's true nature. With a bitter and sarcastic laugh, Josephine said, "I see."

"Duh. What else did you think happened? Why would anyone want to befriend a mute like you? You don't even know about the hell I put my brain through to learn your stupid sign language!"

Sierra continued to hurl insults at Josephine as she wanted to see the latter sad or upset—anything. She hoped that would make her feel less bitter about her situation.

She continued, "Do you know why Lewis dated me? Remember when he got into that car accident, and you asked me to help? When he awoke while I carried him halfway out of the mountains, he asked me who I was.

"I told him that I found him and brought him out alone. Later on, I visited him every day when he got hospitalized. He eventually said he'd repay my kindness after he got discharged. At the time, he said I could ask him for any favor. Can you guess what I requested?"

Josephine pursed her lips. There was no need to guess when she noticed Sierra's smug grin. "You asked to be his girlfriend."

"Yes. To my surprise, Lewis agreed." Sierra's attention shifted toward a corner of the room as if reminiscing about a time when she and Lewis dated.

"He was the perfect boyfriend. I thought Lewis only did it to repay me. I didn't think he'd look after me so well in the following days. He was there for me whenever I needed him and would think of many ways to satisfy my wants."

Toward the end of that sentence, her smile faded. Deep down, she knew Lewis was the perfect boyfriend, but his one flaw was that he didn't love her. As for Josephine, she finally learned why the two had randomly gotten together. It also allowed her to understand that Sierra had stolen the few years of happiness that should've belonged to her.

When Lewis was hospitalized, Nancy blamed Josephine for it, locked her in a room, and refused to let her see Lewis.

She suffered endless punishments from Nancy and Daphne for an entire month. On top of that, she blamed herself because Lewis had only raced because of her.

Since she believed everything was her fault, she tolerated it when Nancy made her kneel and starved her while Daphne insulted her. Every day, she prayed for Lewis to recover and hoped to see him return.

Yet, when he did, she saw him and Sierra holding hands like a loving couple.

Lewis had even openly announced Sierra was his girlfriend. He didn't bother with introductions since Josephine and Sierra already knew each other. That was the first time she felt heartbreak after many years of living with the Alvarez family. Despite the torture she had gone through, it was nothing compared to that moment of pain. It felt like her world had crumbled in that instant. She had lost all hope and could only focus on Sierra's smiling face.

Josephine always assumed Lewis was doing it to spite her for not visiting him at the hospital. She even worked hard to regain his favor, yet she never again saw his smile. That was the start of his distancing from her.

Sierra's smirk deepened when she saw Josephine's pale countenance. "Are you upset? These seven years should have belonged to you. You guys would have been happily in love, yet you suffered a miserable life.

"Are you angry? Bitter? Do you hate that you suffered such injustice? Well, there's no use being upset now. No one can change the past." Josephine suppressed any emotions she felt and smiled. "I'm not upset. Instead, I should thank you."

Sierra's smile stiffened as she frowned at the former. "What did you say?"noveldrama

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to decisively take the step I'm currently taking."

That response made Sierra's eyes widen. Her scalded features distorted even more as she shrilled, "Have you lost your mind? Or are you deliberately saying that?"

A sigh left Josephine's lips. "I mean it."

She and Lewis had undeniable bad blood and would never be happy with each other, no matter how much they tried. That was a gap they would never bridge.

At least, the past seven years of pain had changed Josephine for the better. She had become more decisive and knew what she wanted, so it wasn't an entire loss.

Josephine wondered if Lewis understood that. After all, he couldn't cross the gap fate had placed between them, nor could she. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been hot and cold by keeping his distance yet simultaneously protecting her.

Sierra dubiously stared at Josephine. It was hard to believe the latter could remain this calm.

Josephine stood, then shot a deep stare at Sierra. "Thank you for telling me all of this. Now that I know the truth, I don't owe you anything more."

While Sierra was still in a daze, Josephine uttered her first counter-attack of the night. "You took something that didn't belong to you, so you deserve to end up like this. You're unworthy of any pity."

Sierra glared daggers at the former and couldn't believe the meek Josephine she had always known would say such words. Alas, Josephine exited the room when she snapped out of her daze.

Sierra threw the glass of water on her bedside table at the door while screaming at the top of her lungs. "Don't you dare leave, Josephine!"