Rejecting Dawn, Refusing to Conform

The opening ceremony of the World Racing Championship.
The cameras swept across the track, lingering on a couple lost in a world of their own, locked in a passionate kiss. The crowd erupted in a roar of cheers and whistles.
I paused, instinctively pulling the brim of my cap lower.
After five years of cutting ties with everyone from my past, I never expected to reunite with them like this.
And Jett was the same as hed always been. Reckless. Unrestrained.
When he loved someone, he loved without reservation, eager to declare his devotion to the world, even at an event of this magnitude.
And when he hated someone, he hated without mercy.
He would seize any opportunity to grind them into the dirt, making sure they could never get back up.
Unfortunately for me, I was the one he hated.
The camera operator knew their angles. On the massive screen, the kiss was fiery, electric. Anyone watching would assume they were a couple deeply in love.
The woman in Jetts arms, Vivienne, was a vision in a stunning red dress, her gaze confident, almost defiant, as it swept over the crowd. She was a world away from the timid, shrinking girl I remembered from five years ago, the one who couldn't even meet my eyes.
Time is a strange and powerful thing. In just a few short years, it had reshaped everything.
I lowered my gaze, about to turn and leave, when the mans lazy voice echoed from the speakers, filling the entire stadium.
"That's right. This is my wife."
"I brought her here because I wanted her to share this honor with me."
"Why else?" Jetts laugh was wild and free. "Because she's worth it, of course."
My body went rigid.
His cruel, sharp words from the past echoed in my ears again, and the old scars, long since healed, began to ache with a faint, phantom pain.
I touched the jagged, terrifying marks on my wrist, and my mind drifted back to a summer day, ten years ago.
That was the day I first met Jett.
A fifteen-year-old boy, curled up in a corner by the dumpsters like an abandoned stray cat. A long, gaping wound on his wrist was bleeding profusely, staining the pavement crimson.
I took him home.
Back then, Jett was plagued by a profound world-weariness, tormented by depression and bipolar disorder until he was a ghost of a person. His father was in prison for gambling, his mother had run off with another man, and his relatives passed him around like an unwanted burden.
His life had started to wither before it had even begun.
Perhaps it was because we were kindred spirits, broken in similar ways.
Even when he cursed me with venomous words for meddling.
Even when, in a fit of madness, he bit clean through the palm of my hand, I never once thought of giving up on him.
I spent five years pulling that sullen, self-destructive boy back into the world of the living.
Jett told me I was his sun.
He knelt before me, placing a simple silver band on my fingera ring hed earned by hauling a hundred bags of cement at a construction site.
Rhea, hed promised, his voice thick with emotion, Ill never try to die again. From now on, every single day, Ill live for you.
In my innocence, I believed we would be happy forever.
Until the year we graduated from college, when a distant cousin of mine, a daughter from a remote branch of the family, found her way to us.
The girl wore ill-fitting rags, and the skin visible beneath them was a tapestry of purple and blue bruises. She looked up at me timidly and asked if she could stay for a little while.
My heart went out to her.
My cousins daughter, Daisy, grew up in a cramped, oppressive mountain village. Her mother died young, and her father was a violent alcoholic. Just after her sixteenth birthday, hed eagerly sold her to the village chiefs idiot son for a couple of grand.
She had fought her way here to escape that hell. I couldnt possibly send her back.
So, I took her in.
Just like I had taken in Jett.
But this time, my kindness was not rewarded.
It became the single biggest regret of my life.
We hear today is also your wedding anniversary. Are you planning to give your wife the champions trophy as a gift, Mr. Jett? a gossip reporter asked, thrusting a microphone towards Jetts lips, his eyes gleaming with the hunger for a viral headline.
The explosive question silenced the entire stadium.
Jetts smile was nonchalant.
Why else would I bring her here? he retorted. Shes the treasure I hold in the palm of my hand. I couldnt let her come all this way for nothing.
The mans arrogant confidence sent another wave of cheers through the crowd. The reporter, knowing he had his story, was trembling with excitement.
Wow! Jett, the devoted husband, lives up to his reputation! To have such an exceptional man dote on you for five straight years do you have any secrets to share? The reporter turned the microphone. Would you care to answer, Ms. Vivienne Chen?
Vivienne Chen?
I froze for a second. It took me a moment to realize who they were talking about.
The person I knew was named Daisy Chen.
When she first told me her name, she trembled with shame, her small frame shaking. My heart ached for her.
So when her family came looking for her, I didn't hesitate to stand in front of her.
Her drunken father stabbed me three times.
I was rushed to the ICU and fought for my life for three days and three nights. The wound on my stomach required more than twenty stitches. I spent nearly ten days hovering on the edge of death, but I put that monster behind bars.
I knew Daisy was timid, traumatized by years of abuse that left her with severe PTSD. So when I lay in a pool of my own blood, struggling to call Jett, and she just hid in the bedroom, shivering, I didn't blame her.
Jett, however, was furious.
While I was in the hospital, he threw all her belongings out and even slapped her. They had a terrible fight.
He sat by my hospital bed, his eyes red-rimmed and filled with rage.
Shes a curse, he seethed. It wasnt enough that she got her own mother killed, now shes trying to kill you!
Rhea, lets just kick her out, please? Were not her parents. Why should we be responsible for her life?
During that time, even with me acting as a buffer, the tension between them was suffocating. No matter how carefully Daisy tiptoed around him, Jett never had a kind word for her. Even when she placed a plate of breakfast in front of him, he would just shove it to the floor.
What is this disgusting crap? You think this is worthy of being in front of me?
Id shoot Jett a warning glare, and though hed look resentful, he wouldnt torment her further. Hed just pull a beautiful diamond bracelet from his pocket and fasten it carefully onto my wrist.
The latest from Cartier, hed say. Thats my entire prize money from the last race, right there.
Daisys mouth would fall open. That little chain is worth hundreds of thousands?
Jett would roll his eyes. What does a country bumpkin like you know about diamonds or brands? One tiny diamond on this thing is worth more than your life.
Jett loved racing. It was more than a passion; it was his life's work. In those difficult early years, he competed in countless underground races, day and night, just to give me a better life. The latest designer clothes, rare jewels from auctions, cutting-edge cosmeticsif other girls had it, I never went without.
But those races were dangerous. Jett came home covered in injuries every other week. I hated seeing him hurt himself for me.
He would just cup my face in his hands and kiss my eyelids gently.
But I cant bear to see my favorite girl suffer, hed whisper. My baby deserves to wear the most beautiful clothes, the most brilliant gems. She deserves to be spoiled like a princess.
To put my mind at ease, Jett formed a reluctant truce with Daisy, the person he despised most. Every time he came home injured, he would go to her room first to get cleaned up before seeing me. They even started conspiring together to hide it from me. Whenever I fell for their act, they would share a secret, knowing smile.
Perhaps it was this shared secret that eased the tension between them.
As her final exams approached, Daisy was buried in schoolwork. On a good day, Jett would even help her with a problem or two. But he still seemed to find her intensely annoying.
That pest is not only ugly, shes stupid too, hed complain on our dates. Ive explained the same problem a dozen times, and she still doesnt get it. And when I yell at her, she just stares at me with those big, red eyes. Does she think Ill go soft on her? Ugh, its so disgusting it makes me want to puke.
During that time, I truly saw Daisy as my own sister. After she graduated, I worked tirelessly to plan her future, staying up until the early hours of the morning researching colleges and majors for her. I even planned to take her to the police station to legally change her name. I prepared thoughtful graduation gifts and surprises for her.
Daisy was full of gratitude. She told me she would repay my kindness for the rest of her life, that she would never forget what I had done for her.
Sister, shed said, her eyes red, when I start earning money, Ill buy you clothes and jewelry. Ill take care of you.
Jett had scoffed. Youre just a little kid. Youll be lucky if you can take care of yourself. Take care of Rhea? In your dreams!
Daisy had feigned annoyance and pretended to hit him. Jett laughed and dodged, teasing her for being short and slow.
At the time, I didn't see anything wrong. I was just relieved that their relationship had finally improved, that I no longer had to be the constant mediator between them.
After graduation, Daisy was still young and withdrawn, like a turtle in its shell. Jett started taking her out to see the world.
I cant stand her, hed grumble, but shes the sister youve taken in. I cant have her getting bullied when she goes off to college!
He took her to his races, to parties in his social circle, introducing her to his friends.
I thought it was an extension of his love for me. That he was treating Daisy like a sister.
I forgot that between a man and a woman with no blood relation, the word that often gets added is not sister, but lover.
It was the day of one of Jetts major races. I had prepared a feast to celebrate with him.
But I waited late into the night, and neither of them came back.
I took a taxi to the racetrack.
And I found them, their clothes in disarray.
The girl was straddling the mans lap, her slender body rising and falling with his movements, soft, cloying moans escaping her lips.
And the race carthe one Jett cherished like his own life, the one that was supposed to bring him glorywas covered in sordid stains.
In that moment, I lost all composure. I flew at them like a madwoman, hitting and scratching. Jett didn't move, letting me vent my fury.
Until I slapped Daisy across the face.
Only then did he seem to snap out of his stupor. He shoved me to the ground, his eyes blazing red.
Im the one who wronged you! Why are you hitting her?! he roared. Rhea, if you have a problem, take it out on me! Leave her alone!
I was stunned. Jett could be rough, fierce, even cruel to outsiders. But he had never shown me that side of himself. This was the first time.
Tears streamed down my face. But the man who used to panic at the mere sight of my frown was now only concerned with the red mark on Daisys cheek.
The scene was humiliating. I made sure everyone there knew what they had done. I filmed it and uploaded it to the internet. I only wanted to hurt them as much as they had hurt me, completely oblivious to the coldness hardening in Jetts eyes.
A story of a man caught cheating with the other woman by his partner is always guaranteed to go viral. The video shot to the top of the trending charts. The comments were a flood of curses against the cheating scumbags. Someone even doxxed Daisy, finding her school and demanding her expulsion.
But the story quickly took a sharp turn.
Jett posted a photo of his and Daisys marriage certificate online.
We are married. Unrelated parties, please stay out of it.
With that one sentence, he nailed me to a pillar of shame.
The online mob, feeling duped, turned on me with a vengeance.
Are you serious, lady? Theyre a sweet couple, and you just had to stick your nose in it. What, were you just using us as your personal army?
This woman is just jealous. Shed even lie like this to steal a man. So pathetic and evil!
And this bitch works for a Fortune 500 company? Hell no, Im filing a complaint right now!
My social media was flooded with vicious curses. My doorstep was piled with garbage. The words DIE, BITCH were scrawled on my wall in what looked like chicken blood.
Jett sent me a text.
He said if I apologized to Daisy, he would help clear things up online.
Rhea, dont be stubborn. When you do something wrong, you should apologize. Its the best solution for all of us.
I huddled in my rented room, my hair a mess, looking like a ghost.
Youre the ones who did something wrong! Why should I apologize?! I typed back, my fingers trembling. Jett, people who betray love deserve to be punished. You and Daisy are both going to hell!
He never replied.
I devised countless plans for revenge. But over the years, Jett had built a network of power and influence I couldn't possibly imagine.
My evidence was easily suppressed. My story was dismissed as the ravings of a lunatic. My pain became fuel for their love story.
While I was at my lowest, Jett took Daisy to chase the Northern Lights in Finland, to ski in the Alps, to hang a jade charm on a cherry blossom tree at the foot of Mount Fuji, promising to love her for eternity.
Those were the dreams I had cherished since I was a child. I had even planned the entire itinerary myself. As the person who knew me best, Jett always knew exactly how to twist the knife.
I hid in my corner like a rat in the shadows, scrolling through photos of their happiness, my heart churning with a toxic brew of venom and envy.
Daisy knocked on my door one day.
She came with a three-month pregnancy test report.
She clung to my legs, crying and begging me to let them be.
Rhea, sister, Im so sorry, but Jett and I are truly in love! she sobbed. Youre the most important person to both of us. Without your blessing, we can never be truly happy together.
I was so disgusted I could barely breathe. I just wanted to shove her away.
But somehow, she fell to the ground.
A pool of blood spreading beneath her seared my eyes.
And then, everything went white.
A sharp slap sent me sprawling to the floor. It was Jett.
Rhea! Didnt I tell you to take it out on me?! he screamed, his voice raw with fury. Are you that vicious? Do you have to target a poor, orphaned girl?!
My head was ringing. The only thing I could hear was Jetts hate-filled warning.
If anything happens to her or the baby, I will never forgive you.
Daisy was young and frail. She lost the baby.
And Jett blamed it all on me.
Suddenly, a wave of my former classmates, roommates, and relatives began slandering me online. The company fired me for damaging its image. Wreaths were sent to my doorstep. My balcony window was shattered. Even when I went to take out the trash, people would point and whisper, calling me a venomous monster who had killed someones child.
Jett had severe psychological issues in the past. He knew exactly how to push a person to the brink.
I was afraid to look at my phone, afraid to leave my apartment. The slightest noise made me tremble. I started taking handfuls of sleeping pills. One cut on my wrist was followed by another, and then another.
At my most desperate, I lay in the bathtub and watched as the warm water turned crimson.
That was the closest I ever came to death.
A cool autumn breeze pulled me back from the memories.
I tightened my scarf, my first instinct to flee.
But just then, a roving camera suddenly swept over my section of the stands.
My pale, drawn face flashed across the Jumbotron.

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