told by Paul
*
My name is Paul, and I did something I’ll regret for the rest of my life. I betrayed my own brother, Ernest, and I paid the price for it.
Ernest and I grew up together. We weren’t just brothers—we were best friends. He was strong and reliable, always made people feel safe and understood. And as much as I loved him, I had a strong feeling of disappointment to be in his shadow. No matter what I did, I was never seen the way he was.
Then, one day, he introduced Julia to the family.
She was like the Pole Star to me with her brilliant personality. From the moment she and Ernest got together, I felt something changed in me -I fell in love with her too. It started with just a little jealousy. But the more I saw them together, the more it burned. „Why does he get everything?” – I kept asking myself. At that time, I let those thoughts grow and started to act on them.
I didn’t do anything obvious. I didn’t come right out and try to take her from him. I started planting seeds of doubt, telling Julia things that made her question Ernest, using moments of tension between them to create distance. I told myself I was protecting her, but in reality, I was just trying to break them apart.
And it worked. They started fighting more. And I was there to comfort her, to offer the kind of support I knew she needed. I played the role of the good guy. Eventually, she spent a night with me and things fell apart between her and Ernest.
But to my surprise, I didn’t feel like I had won anything.
When the truth came out—and it always does—everything collapsed. Ernest didn’t scream at me. He didn’t hit me. He just looked at me like he didn’t know who I was anymore.
That was the moment I realized I hadn’t just betrayed him—I had destroyed the one relationship in my life that had ever truly mattered. I may have ten new girlfriends but for sure I won’t have another brother.
After that, everything piled up. Our family cut me off. My father told me I wasn’t welcome in the house anymore. I’m forcing myself to keep the relationship with Julia going. But she is no longer the pole star to me.
I tried to start over, but people didn’t want to work with me. Maybe there is something about me, maybe words get around. Nobody trusts a man who betrayed his own brother. One by one, opportunities slipped away. The business failed.
Eventually, I was forced to take a job as a night guard at the harbor. No one there knew me.
Sometimes I think back to when we were kids. Ernest and I used to dream about our futures. We’d talk about building something together—running the family business, standing side by side. We were supposed to be a team.
I saw him again recently. He came to the harbor with a new girlfriend. They were just walking and watching the seagulls and looked genuinely happy. He saw me and just nodded once, politely, with hesitation. I wanted to approach him, but he quickly turned around and I understood my mistake won’t get the second chance. Some betrayals cost you everything.
*
written by Dephne Hanim
