Too Late, Hayes — The Torn Painting

For ten years, I secretly loved my guardian, Hugo Hicks, in that suffocating London manor. He was my entire world. On my 18th birthday, I don't want to call you my courage to confess my love to him. But he didn't even give me a proper rejection.

He just mercilessly tore the painting my confession to shreds in front of me. Hugo, I don't want to call you my guardian anymore. I love you. I love you very much. Eloy Miller, are you insane? I am your guardian. But we're not related by blood. You said you would wait for me to grow up. You said I was your brightest star.

Can't you tell the difference between familial affection and love? What a waste of all those That painting took me a whole year to finish. I named it Secret. My secret was nothing but a shameful mistake in his That night, he tore my painting to shreds, and with it, my last reason to stay at Hayes Manor. Dad, I've decided. I want to come be with you in New York.

After that night, I decided to give up on Hugo and go study in New York. 15 days left until I leave London. In the photo, he was looking at the camera, smiling at me. For that smile, I secretly kept this photo for three years. For the past 10 years, my every joy and sorrow revolved around this man. Deleting a

photo takes only a second, but erasing someone who's lived in your heart for 10 years, that's not easy. Yet after that day, no matter how much it hurt, I love him anymore. That's when I realized giving up wasn't about the pain