There was something odd about her mother's statement. Moreau didn't think she had ever reflected anything to the woman, but the knowledge in Barbara's mind seemed to have gone beyond the point of simply taking the silent action of monitoring things.
"Since when and how did you know my account balance?" asked Moreau to make sure her mother was really going to post a confession. It didn't matter if Barbara ended up snickering before the woman got started. "Ever since you started being a rebel, and I hope you haven't forgotten that I'm still your mother." There was certainly no justification for the status between them. Moreau understood that her mother was trying to appear in control. She just didn't like her exaggerating things. Exaggerating things where Barbara barely had the right to simply take the long view. "I'm adult enough, Mom. All the money in the account is my money. You have contributed nothing and you have even violated my privacy." Still inDinner would not have been so awkward if the events of the previous afternoon had never happened. Moreau had just sat directly in front of Barbara who had said nothing, even though the woman knew they had resolved the conflict by hanging perhaps, but there was really nothing more to talk about. She didn't think owning expensive things was a mistake. Or perhaps Barbara was waiting for someone else. Moreau just realized Abihirt was nowhere to be seen. Normally, the man would have been at the dinner table earlier; keeping Barbara company. Strange. If she had to admit something; she was still interested in just taking a step back—about the man's pale face when he persuaded Barbara to leave her room. Perhaps the correlation between the two was quite plausible. Moreau silently exhaled air from her lips, a little accidentally noticing that Caroline had prepared a special dinner—a healthy meal for the man who was not present here. The woman hadn't even left yet. Had it not bee
There was not much to do after Barbara left home. It's worth pointing out that Moreau still took a disobedient course of action—deliberately deciding to watch until quite late with so little interest in climbing the steps, but she had to. She and her mother did not strike up much of a conversation after Barbara's last statement at the dinner table. Their complicated relationship could not be said to be entirely at fault, though it was. Moreau couldn't expect things to go well, while they knew Barbara always wanted what she thought was right—then never wanted to try to take the place of simply standing in someone's point of view; no matter if it was wrong or not. It would have been the worst decision if Moreau hadn't expressed all the disgust in her mind, because after all, they knew what finally made Barbara stop from wanting to see Abihirt's expensive watch in person. The man is sleeping .... There was something Moreau could not describe when thinking back
The corner of Moreau's lips twitched faintly. No idea why this felt like something that seemed to give her leverage. Barbara really knew how to charm Abihirt, while she had never given the slightest thought to simply seeking the man's attention. It felt unnecessary—perhaps, and a little inappropriate. "It's nice to be petted by your master, doesn't it?" Still lightly stroking Chicao's soft fur. Moreau tilted her face slightly as she thought about things. She wasn't talking about the touch of Abihirt's hand on the man's pet—just something that came closest—when they started to want each other; venting everything they held back, even if it was a big mistake; as Chicao suddenly twisted her body. Almost simply making a circular pattern, following the tail that was also wagging. However, Moreau never expected Abihirt's dog to run away immediately. "Wait, Chicao. Where are you going?" The prospect of where Chicao was headed was terrifying. Moreau didn't want them t
No idea what made such a distinction. She was sure there were many secrets inside Abihirt and wanted the man to let them out, but her stepfather chose not to try just once. Perhaps it wasn't as if Moreau knew that Abihirt was sick enough of Barbara's infidelity to decide to retaliate in a more devious way. Her position was on the line. Moreau understood how she had been used as an outlet. Just couldn't help herself when she started to like the man. Idiot. She smiled bitterly at the thought of buying foolishness. Abihirt would not try to fall for another, while only towards Barbara was the man so in love. It was, sort of, a thing; truly pathetic. Silently taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. Moreau tentatively extended a fingertip to simply brush across her stepfather's upper arm. Feeling every touch there, was probably what Barbara did most often anyway. There was still no specific reaction where the man's hand remained flexed in a position forming the angle
Moreau felt her entire pulse and heart forced to speed up. The loud voice in her chest was pounding. She gasped for a moment. Stunned. Almost too afraid at the thought of having just been caught doing something forbidden. Abihirt would probably be angry anyway, the man still seemed to be trying to understand the situation around him. Still learning things... where the inappropriate part was finding someone else here. Something like a new event. Moreau continued to watch every single thing Abihirt did. Staring nervously and swallowing quite hard; hoping not to hear a throaty sound like a big splutter. "What are you doing here, Moreau?" Abihirt's deep, raspy voice resembled a croak, as if the man had been completely immersed, so it took a while to recover a lost memoir. In fact, with the remnants of sleepiness still pervading, her stepfather would blink a few times, rubbing his rough face, then Moreau would find the man would not leave eye contact between them.
Now Moreau was seized by the same tension as earlier. Her eyes moved restlessly, hardly knowing that she had a purpose here. Things were not in good order, though that was why they still needed a reason. "Chicao made me chase her all the way to my mother's room. That's all." Yes, that was it. She did not feel obliged to explain things to her stepfather. "It's not because you secretly did something to me?" Woefully, Moreau could not think straight. In the end she knew Abihirt would not hide the man's knowledge long term. There were no answers. None could be found. Moreau swallowed harshly again. Suddenly her tongue was very groggy. Afraid that Abihirt would ask her something that was still relevant. "Why aren't you sleeping?" Fortunately, no. This time Moreau was a bit adept at controlling something inside her that was so gray. "I was just watching. Wanted to go to my room, but Chicao wandered off with a bell around her neck," and replied almost
Now Moreau's attention quickly fell on the surface of the soft mattress, where some sinister image of her mother and stepfather's romance continued here like something painfully incarnate. She never wanted to be caught between potentially painful things. Six months had not yet been completed, but Moreau was already overwhelmed—not by how Abihirt would be rough in bed; but rather... she felt; sort of bound by the urge not to share the man with anyone—not even her mother, though Barbara was the most entitled. This was very wrong. Moreau recognized that. Just couldn't control the forbidden ego when the survival instinct had taken over. She was afraid this would end up worse. More painful; like having to plunge into more violent feelings—then, there was no way out. "Are you going to stay there until sunrise or until your mother comes home?" Abihirt's deep, raspy voice almost sounded like something urgent—demanding Moreau to be dragged to the surface, so she had
There was something odd about Moreau struggling to interpret Abihirt's statement. She didn't want to go too far, let alone take over Barbara's bed for a night. Such an unethical part. However, her mind still didn't want to. "Probably best not to." Still with the same residual need. Moreau could feel how parched her throat was, but she didn't need a splash of water just to make things feel better. There was nothing to soothe, even as Abihirt's fingertips had—slowly—lifted Moreau's face up, while the man's fingers also tentatively brushed across the surface of parted lips. "It's getting late, Abi. Aren't you tired—" Moreau's voice was held at the tip of her throat. Not because she was forced to close her mouth. However, Abihirt's idiosyncratic approach was completely indecipherable when the man dropped a light kiss on the lips, then lifted her body just like the act of moving a large doll—not heavy, but had to be quite careful when crashing on the bed. I
Moreau let her hand soak in the water, letting the touch there, on Abihirt's arm like leaving a trace of mutual need. "Your mother will not be home today." Then a whisper from that deep, hoarse voice added something Moreau had hardly ever thought about. Reflexively... she parted her lips and asked, "Why?" "Your mother asked permission to take a vacation." Okay. She might have forgotten that; about Barbara's statement the other day during their dinner together. But that didn't mean this was part of their freedom, did it? Moreau still wanted to keep the boundaries or actually she was still waiting for when the irritation in her mind would disappear. "But I still want to go home," she said finally. Let Abihirt relent. The man should always give in, though Moreau unexpectedly felt her stepfather's embrace loosen. Only briefly, which made the new touch feel more intimate as she was lifted high and invited to sit by the lake. Perhaps Abihirt
"Thank you." There shouldn't have been anything else. The only thing Moreau wanted to do was put the necklace back on. She would be self-sufficient for times like this. Ironically, there was no time to read the slightest warning when Abihirt unexpectedly pulled her into the lake. "Abi—my phone!" Moreau shouted instinctively. She was now flooded quite high up. Almost her entire body was completely wet. And the very first thing she did was to grab the handheld cell phone that was clearly tucked into the back pocket of her pant. At least it was still on, but it was quite doubtful that it would last after almost the entire compound was submerged in water. She gave Abihirt a sharp look. Didn't know whether to feel grateful when still holding the necklace in hand so tightly. Probably, she would have gone straight to the edge just to make sure if her cell phone was okay or not. Moreau lifted the flat object high into the air. The lake shore felt shallow enough tha
"You have to be careful." Don't know why, but that's what Moreau said. She looked longingly at Abihirt's face. The first brief reaction was a faint nod. There was nothing else to do when she only needed to observe her stepfather's body was out of sight. Abihirt dived. Moreau did not expect that she would be waiting for quite some time. That was surprising. There was no clue about her stepfather from the start. Abihirt's method was definitely not like Froy's who often popped into the air, though this made Moreau feel very scared as she further examined the calm surface after a few puddle runs. Abihirt was completely unpredictable about appearing, and then... at times she would daydream—the sound of splashing water immediately drawing her attention closer. Moreau straightened her shoulders. Unfortunately, she would not immediately find Abihirt turning his head towards her. The man presumably just wanted to scoop up some oxygen and dive back into the water.
Moreau's body suddenly stiffened at the sight of the water splashing, while Abihirt had gotten closer to Froy. The man offered help to his nephew and there was some relief that they were slowly swimming to the shore. She and Gabriel instinctively ran to the lip of the lake. It wasn't Froy Moreau was thinking about. Only her stepfather. Let Gabriel take the remaining action by welcoming the man—who seemed to be panting—to be laid down on the grass with a groan. The cramping was painful. The feeling could be imagined so clearly in her mind. Moreau winced, but also looked over to find that Abihirt had climbed to the ground. Now the man towered over her soaking wet. Staring at his nephew half annoyed, though saying nothing but letting Froy calm down a bit more. Slowly... at least it had subsided. There was still no conversation. However, Gabriel again offered to help when Froy tried to get up from his seat and looked up hesitantly. "I can't find the necklace."
Moreau continued to watch her stepfather. The unpredictable handsome man was now at least trying not to be incensed at any form of resistance from Froy. "You know that throwing something small into the lake will make it difficult for you to find, so why do you keep doing it? You keep throwing Moreau's necklace for no reason." Abihirt's question was simple enough, but it more than made Froy almost faint. The man's eyes moved restlessly. It took a few moments of pause to actually find an answer. "I was out of line, Uncle. I was angry at the attitude you gave Lewi and the way you gave the necklace to Moreau instead!" That was like a huge protest. Froy's voice boomed loudly. The man was lucky, because it seemed like Abihirt had paid with money to make people leave the park, which Moreau only realized when she looked around. Not a surprise. She should be used to it. "What's wrong with that? Didn't I replace Lewi's necklace with a new one?" Abihirt's statement this time made Fro
Moreau thought that Gabriel's involvement in the trip to Sierre De Guadarrama National Park was something that made it an unfair prospect. However, it turned out that she was wrong to include such a notion, as Abihirt's wishes were more understandable when asking her to move to Gabriel's car, while the man walked into the building—quite a flashy place there. Moreau had been to this place before; it was where Froy got married and she ended up asking for permission to leave early. It was a little odd to think that Abihirt had actually come to the man's nephew for some sort of accountability. Now she found her stepfather forcing Froy to walk. Although it seemed forced, Froy would have no choice. The man's body had disappeared in the car. Only a tendrils of shadow remained, then she also had to watch Abihirt's body get into the driver's seat. The car engine started and that's when Gabriel understood to bring them up behind. "Abi wants to ask his nephew to dive
Moreau shook her head for a while. In the end, she decided to lift her face. She was almost surprised—of course, because this was not what she wanted to find; the smallest hint of disappointment on her stepfather's handsome face, no matter how much Abihirt tried to keep every detail of the reaction between them brief. The necklace left to her was indeed a lasting memory and Moreau was sure it was very-very precious. "I apologize." She still could not take it for granted that Abihirt did not want to prosecute anything at the moment. There was an impact where her heart felt like it was being crushed. Staring at the man made her eyes sting and heat up. To the time that kept crawling forward... would soon be accompanied by seepage of water and Moreau would not be able to hold back. Perhaps Abihirt understood how worry controlled the fear in her mind, so the man hugged instead of saying angry. Hugging after letting her tremble as if this was an unexpected outburst of trouble. "N
There was only one step left, so Moreau should have been able to finish this sooner. She swallowed harshly. A moment of staring at the doorknob with great fear before finally being overwhelmed by the determined action of pressing and pushing inside. Perhaps she did so in such a hurry, that the sound that broke the surface immediately attracted someone there. Who would have thought that Abihirt would be towering in front of the translucent glass, while the man's gray eyes were assaulted by the view from outside. There was something Moreau couldn't quite put her finger on. She felt—then—Abihirt was daydreaming, because after all... detecting the man's response; little could be expressed in the odd way that Abihirt acted oddly upon realizing her presence. There were no words. No sentence was even close to being uttered. Silence. And yet, in those moments of near—closeness, Moreau felt how her heart rumbled loudly. Like it didn't want to stop. It was still hammering and sh
"Why don't you come with me, Juan? I'm afraid to go in alone." Everything was supposed to be fine—no; actually—a little fine, until Juan's shocking confession almost made the whole stability of Moreau's mind and how she had desperately fought for, now suddenly fall apart. Juan's decision seemed so absolute, though Moreau still hoped the man would suddenly change his mind and then they could settle this whole matter quickly. Unfortunately, the faint shaking response was something so real. It had such an impact that Moreau almost forgot how to breathe properly. She turned her face out the window, glancing around the place. Not ready to go down yet. Almost desperate at the thought of being so close to Abihirt. What was the man currently doing in there? Busy with some important business? "Just accompany me for a moment." Once again Moreau tried to persuade. This time really craving how Juan would agree. She looked up at the man, but was always met with the