The first betrayal is always invisible.
Rayen didn't know it yet, but the world had already chosen to betray him.
He was eight years old, small for his age, with wide eyes that still believed in kindness. His father returned home from the factory, shoulders slumped, eyes hollow. His mother tried to smile, but the tension in the air was suffocating.
"Your father… they fired him," she said quietly, clutching his hand.
Rayen looked up. "Why?"
She shook her head. "No reason… just… because they could."