Biosystem Awakening: From Bastard To Badass

Chapter 3

Tristian felt too many emotions all at once and for a moment, it felt like he was drowning, like he couldn’t breathe anymore. His chest tightened painfully as the last thing Lyra said echoed again and again in his head.

“What… what do you mean you’re with Damon now?” he asked, his voice shaking, his words coming out slow and broken. His mind refused to process it and It felt impossible to believe what he had just heard.

Lyra was with Damon, out of all the boys she could be with, she chose Damon?

Damon was one of the richest boys in their class and in the entire school. Everyone knew that he came from a wealthy background, the kind that made him walk around like he owned the world. He had cars, connections, money and everything else a wealthy person could have and for the longest time, Tristian had known Damon had always wanted Lyra. It was never a secret. Damon would flirt with her in class, always finding one reason or another to talk to her or touch her hair, even when he knew she was already in a relationship.

Lyra used to tell Tristian about it, laughing it off like it meant nothing. She would hold his hands, smile softly, and reassure him.

“You don’t have to worry, Tristian. I’ll never end up with him. He’s not my type.”

And now, here she was, standing right in front of him, saying she was with that same Damon.

His stomach twisted violently, and his vision blurred for a second. It felt like the ground beneath him was no longer normal.

“Oh,” Lyra suddenly said, glancing to the side with a small smirk, “Talk of the devil, my boyfriend is already here.”

Tristian’s head turned almost automatically, and what he saw next made his heart stop.

Damon walked toward them with confidence, a wide smirk on his face. He didn’t even spare Tristian a glance at first. Instead, he went straight to Lyra, wrapping a hand around her waist and pulling her close before kissing her softly on the lips and that alone made Tristian freeze.

But when that soft kiss turned into a full make-out session right in front of him, he was heartbroken.

It felt like someone had reached into his chest and started squeezing his heart with their bare hands. The pain was sharp, deep, and unbearable. He wanted to turn around and leave, to escape, but his legs refused to move. He couldn’t look away. It was as if he had lost control over his own body.

Damon finally pulled back, then turned to look at him with a smug expression, like he was proud of what he had just done.

“Oh, so sorry,” Damon said sarcastically, pretending to sound innocent. “I didn’t know you were here.” Then he let out a short laugh and added, “Oh wait, maybe I did know.”

“I don’t think I need to tell you,” Damon continued, his tone mocking, “that Lyra and I are now together. You should forget about her, because she’s mine now.”

He leaned toward Lyra again, pressing another quick kiss to her lips, while she simply chuckled, her eyes drifting back to Tristian without even a trace of guilt.

“She finally realized she needed a real man,” Damon said proudly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Someone who can actually take care of her and someone who can show her love through actions, not just empty words.”

He turned his attention fully to Tristian, a cocky grin spreading across his face.

“And I was right there waiting. You see, Tristian, I knew from the start she wouldn’t end up with you. I knew it. That’s why I was patient because, like they say, the patient dog eats the fattest bone.”

He smirked, pulling Lyra even closer. “And now, look at me… with my fat bone.”

The laughter around them grew louder, harsher, cutting deeper into Tristian’s already broken state. He stood there, completely numb, his chest tightening with humiliation and pain.

“Do you even know how many things I’ve gotten her in just a few weeks?” Damon continued, his voice filled with pride. “She couldn’t even boast of getting half of that when she was with you. I’m about to change her life for the better while all you ever did was make it miserable.”

Then Damon’s expression shifted slightly, something darker entering his tone. “Also… how would you expect her to be with you, an illegitimate child, huh?”

Tristian’s eyes widened instantly. His entire body froze, like ice had been poured over him.

For a few seconds, he couldn’t hear anything clearly anymore. His ears rang loudly, drowning out the laughter and whispers around him. He couldn’t move or speak. He just stood there, staring at Damon in complete shock.

He never expected Damon to know because that was something he had never told anyone, not even his close friends.  The only person he had ever told was Lyra.

And the only reason he told her was because he trusted her completely. He had seen her as more than just his girlfriend. She was his safe place. The one person he believed would never hurt him.

He remembered that night clearly, the way she held his hand, the way she looked into his eyes and the way she promised, softly and sincerely, that she would never tell anyone.

And now, here he was, standing in front of everyone, hearing that same secret being thrown at him.

His throat went dry and his eyes burned as tears threatened to fall, but he forced them back. His heart pounded painfully against his chest, each beat heavier than the last.

How did Damon know? 

Tristian turned to look at Lyra immediately, his expression filled with confusion, disbelief, and pain but Lyra didn’t react or even look guilty.

Instead, she simply looked away like he didn’t matter and that hurt more than anything Damon had said.

Tristian’s chest felt unbearably heavy and memories he had kept hidden away flooded his mind all at once, he growing up without a father, always being the quiet one, always avoiding questions about his family, his mother had raised him alone, struggling every single day, and how there was never a father figure in his life.

As a child, he used to believe his father was just away, maybe working somewhere far but as he grew older, he realized the truth was far more painful and before finishing high school, he had finally gathered the courage to ask his mother the question that had haunted him for years.

Who was his father?

He remembered that day clearly, the silence that followed after he asked the question, the hesitation and also the way she struggled before finally telling him the truth.

She had once worked for his father and at the time, she didn’t know he was married. He treated her kindly, and slowly, they became involved with each other. She believed he was single, just like her but when she got pregnant and told him, everything changed and he denied it, got angry and fired her.

She tried to reach him again later, hoping he would take responsibility, but when she finally found his house, she was met with a reality she never expected.

He was married with a family. His wife’s guards threw her out, insulted her, treated her like she was nothing.

After that, she had nowhere to go. There was no money, support and no job. She had to move to a small, struggling town, and if not for the kindness of a few strangers, both she and Tristian would have died from hunger.

That was his story and he had a reason why he never talked about it. Being an illegitimate child had made him feel small and unwanted his entire life. And now, that one secret he had protected more than anything had been exposed in front of everyone and there was nothing he could do about it.