Chapter 57 - Holodexxx update

The news that Derek had stolen my idea was a blow I could never have anticipated. It hit me harder than anything I’d ever faced, and yet, I couldn’t even let myself grieve it properly at the time. Instead, I buried the pain as deep as I could, hiding behind the walls I’d built around myself. I tried to push it away, convince myself that it was just another setback in a life full of them. But deep down, the wound festered.
What made it even worse was that I couldn’t stop looking. Every year, I found myself checking on Derek's project, seeing how it was progressing, how they were building something that felt eerily similar to my own vision. It felt like they were rubbing my face in the reality that they had taken what was mine. And no matter how hard I tried to push it aside, every update, every new milestone they achieved only reminded me of how badly I had been wronged.
Every December, like clockwork, I’d check the site again. Each time I saw another successful move, another milestone passed, it felt like another nail in my coffin. They were making it happen, while I was stuck in a seemingly endless loop of frustration and failure. My dreams, my vision, were slipping further away with every accomplishment they posted. And no matter how much I tried to ignore it, it was always there, lurking in the back of my mind.
The worst part was that I couldn’t even talk about it. No one would understand why it hurt so much, why it felt like something had been taken from me in the most personal way possible. It was more than just business—it was my life's work, my identity wrapped up in that idea. And now, I had to watch someone else build on it while I felt powerless to do anything about it.
So, I did what I always did. I buried it. I buried the anger, the sadness, and the betrayal. I turned inward, away from everyone and everything, retreating into a shell of my own making. The weight of it all was heavy, but I carried it silently, thinking I could handle it on my own.
But in truth, I was drowning.
In time, that silence became the foundation of my depression. It wasn’t just the theft that hurt me, but the years of watching from the sidelines as my idea blossomed under someone else's name. It chipped away at me, day by day. I had no control over the situation, no way to reclaim what was mine. And so, I let the darkness grow around me, until it became a familiar presence, one I couldn't escape.
It became a second skin—tight, invisible, and impossible to shed.