Emmerson hesitated, his words faltering.“What?” I demanded. “What did you find, Emerson?”“I misspoke,” he said quickly, shaking his head. “I’m just tired.”“No,” I argued. “Finish what you were going to say. After you found him doing what?”He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. “After I found him kissing you.”“You mean when you found us kissing?” I gasped my voice filled with sarcasm.“I misspoke,” he said again, his words coming out in a rush. “I’m sorry. I’m just so damn tired, Mina. But after seeing you holding hands with him, you can’t fault me for wondering what’s going on.”I stared at him. The exhaustion on his face, the frustration in his voice—it all felt too much.“You don’t trust me,” I said quietly, more to myself than to him.“That’s not true,” Emerson said, his voice softening. “I trust you, Mina. But right now, I need to understand. I need to know what’s really happening here.”I didn't say anything. So, he continued."What's going on? Mina, talk to me.
I had to think quickly, "Because when I got there, the nurses told me that I couldn't leave him alone," I said, exhaling deeply. "He had a concussion. He's not supposed to fall asleep. So I was just there giving him company, and I must have lost track of time. And as you can see, I'm very tired, so I must have dozed off." "And holding hands?" Emerson shot back, "Okay, I cannot take responsibility for that," I replied, holding up my hands defensively. "I was not holding his hand. Maybe I fell asleep before him, and he took my hand, but I was in no way holding his hand. Okay, Emerson? I really need you to trust me right now." His expression softened slightly. "All right, Mina, I trust you. But still—what are you saying? You're saying that this is all over, and you’ve forgiven him? Is that what you're telling me?" I hesitated, knowing how this was going to sound. "I don’t know. But since we’re going to be working together, I don’t think it’s very good for us to have hatred towar
I sighed,"Honestly, I want to go to bed, okay? You're not an angel. You have gotten on my nerves a lot tonight. I have been mad at you a lot tonight. All I want is some space and sleep," I said, my voice sharp and filled with exhaustion.Then I pulled my hand away from him and started heading into the house.It was really late—so late that I wasn’t expecting anyone to be awake. I opened the door, stepping into the quiet house. Thomas, of course, would already be asleep at this hour. I didn’t bother turning on the lights. My only focus was on making it to bed, without further interruptions.But then, suddenly, the lights flicked on, and Madeline appeared right in front of me."Mina! What's going on? Why are you back so late? What happened? Is everything okay? Is Emerson okay? Where is he? Where's Emerson?" she asked frantically, her eyes darting around and looking behind me as though she expected him to walk through the door any second.Her questions came in rapidly, each one louder t
I knocked on the door a second time. I was expecting my mother to answer the door, her stern expression greeting me, perhaps with a disapproving comment about why I was here so early on her doorstep. But no one came.Maybe she wasn’t home. Maybe this was a mistake altogether. I shouldn’t have come here. The thought suddenly appeared in my head as doubt crept in. I didn’t even know why I was here in the first place. If she did answer, how would I react? Would I stammer? Would she shout? God, I wasn’t in the mood for a shouting match, not today.I sighed and turned around, deciding it was best to leave before I regretted knocking at all. But as my foot hit the first step down, the door creaked open behind me.I froze and turned back. But instead of my mother, I was greeted by a man—a shirtless man.He was young, not quite my age but not far from it, probably a bit older. He stood in the doorway, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. His hair was tousled, the kind of messy that suggeste
She motioned for me to follow her. “We’re still in the process, of course. We’re not done yet. As you can see, we haven’t touched upstairs yet. We’ve started downstairs. The workers are working on the kitchen right now.”She gestured toward the dining area as she spoke. “But it’s a great thing. Look at this,” she said, walking toward the dining room. “We’re done with this area, the seating room, and the tea room. Everything is coming together so nicely. Do you like the dining room? Do you like the setup? I chose it myself.”Her excitement felt oddly misplaced, and her next words made me blink.“Maybe it’s not too late for me to become a decorator of houses, you know, a home makeover guru or something,” she said, half-laughing.“It’s nice,” I said cautiously. “But why? Why change this house? It’s so unrecognizable.”She didn’t respond immediately, so I pressed further. “By the time you’re done with this, I don’t think I’ll even recognize my home. All the memories we had here, as a fam
I blinked at her, stunned by her words. “Get rid of him?” I repeated, my voice filled with disbelief. “What do you mean? Like, kill him? Like in the mafia? You think this is a movie?”I forced a laugh,“Call off the engagement,” she said, her voice Brooking no argument. “Call off the wedding. I want you to break up with him, Nina. End it. Now.”Her words landed like a slap across my face. I stared at her, trying to process the sheer absurdity of what she was saying.Then I thought about how she had begun this order,“Mom,” I said slowly filled with both anger and disbelief, “are you threatening me?”She met my gaze without flinching. “I don’t know how you want to take it,” she replied, her tone icy. “I’m not threatening you. I’m just telling you the truth. Nina, the life you’re building with Emerson is an embarrassment. It’s a disgrace to your father’s memory. He was Emerson’s friend, for God’s sake. They were the same age. He is older than me. Me!”She wasn’t done.“And let’s not eve
"I’m not saying that, but I did not dictate how she grieved her father. I did not want to be in that commercial!" I clenched my fists, trying to keep my calm. "You’re always acting so high and mighty. You know how much money I spent on your kids? on your education, and then, even after you were all done, you got married to an important man, a rich man, and you still did not want to take care of me. You left me and Your sister to fend for ourselves, after all I did for you…"Her words hit me like a slap. I had already been through this, hearing the same complaints again and again. "I asked you to just give me a month's allowance to help me out in the house, and you send me what? A thousand dollars? What am I supposed to do with it?""Mom," I said, forcing the words out through my frustration. "The money I had...““You had already gotten a good job, you were married to Eric. He moved you into a big house in a good neighbourhood. He even promoted you at work and you were working all th
My mother didn’t back down. "I kind of thought you were marrying him for the money too, but even after you married him, there was no money there to see, and I don’t think there was ever any love between you two. Did you really ever love him?"I was fighting to hold myself together, what the hell was she even saying? "I loved him, Mom, okay?" I snapped back. "I loved him. I loved Eric. He was my whole world. I was working hard for him in everything. I worked hard at home. I worked hard at work. I did his work for him. I worked hard to get pregnant, and I never was….. I…..““ And that was such a blessing." My mother interrupted with a smile.I paused, my throat tightening. "It was such a blessing because when your sister started seeing him, she was happy. Eric was happy. They got pregnant even without trying so hard, the way you were doing with injections and all those tests and the therapies. They just got pregnant naturally, when they weren’t even looking to have a baby. They were
I saw the flicker of shock cross my mother's face, the way her lips parted slightly like she was about to say something. But I didn’t give her the chance."I’m done," I told her. "I will never look for you. I will never call you. You’ve never done the same, so I expect nothing from you."I took a step back, looking at the house around me one last time."Do whatever you want. Redecorate, tear it down, erase every trace of me and my father—whatever makes you feel better. You can take this house, take your life, take Rita and everything else. But you can’t take my happiness."I let out a breath, "Guess what? I am happy. And I’m going to stay happy. I don’t need your negativity in my life anymore."I turned toward the door, my hands curling into fists."Goodbye, Mother."I glanced at her one last time."You’re dead to me."And with that, I walked away.She didn’t move.She didn’t say a word.She just stood there, frozen, watching me as I opened the door—And walked out.The moment I step
I walked up the stairs slowly, and deliberately, giving her time to catch up to me. And she did. Fast. I guess she still got it.Just as my foot hovered over the third step, her hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me back.I spun to face her, glaring at her."What?" I snapped."Do not go up those stairs." Her voice was low, "Get out of my house."I scoffed. "This is my home."Her lips curled. "Well, I just denounced you as my daughter a few minutes ago. Or did you forget?"I felt something in me crack, but I didn’t let her see it."So, since you have chosen everything over your family," she continued, "I am denouncing you as my daughter. From now on, you no longer have a mother. So get the hell out of my house."I crossed my arms. "I’m going into my old room. There are things I left that I want to take with me.""Since you left? When was the last time you were even in this house?" she demanded. "Ever since you got married to Eric, you never came here.""Of course, I did," I argued. "I ca
I looked at my mother, and then I found myself looking at her again. The way she was acting towards me—it wasn’t the way a mother should have acted, especially during a heart-to-heart talk like this. She was telling me hard things to digest, things that cut deep, things that felt too raw to be spoken aloud. And yet, she was speaking them without hesitation, without care.I expected something different. Maybe I was asking for too much from my family, but I couldn’t help it. The words left my mouth before I could stop them."Why haven’t you ever loved me?"She froze. Her lips parted slightly, her body stiffening. She stuttered, unprepared for the question. I had caught her off guard again tonight. She hadn’t been expecting it.Neither had I.I had thought about it before—late at night, in quiet moments when I was alone with my thoughts. Mostly as a kid growing up. But I had never said it out loud. Not to her. Not even to myself. But now, standing here, with all the painful truths she h
My mother didn’t back down. "I kind of thought you were marrying him for the money too, but even after you married him, there was no money there to see, and I don’t think there was ever any love between you two. Did you really ever love him?"I was fighting to hold myself together, what the hell was she even saying? "I loved him, Mom, okay?" I snapped back. "I loved him. I loved Eric. He was my whole world. I was working hard for him in everything. I worked hard at home. I worked hard at work. I did his work for him. I worked hard to get pregnant, and I never was….. I…..““ And that was such a blessing." My mother interrupted with a smile.I paused, my throat tightening. "It was such a blessing because when your sister started seeing him, she was happy. Eric was happy. They got pregnant even without trying so hard, the way you were doing with injections and all those tests and the therapies. They just got pregnant naturally, when they weren’t even looking to have a baby. They were
"I’m not saying that, but I did not dictate how she grieved her father. I did not want to be in that commercial!" I clenched my fists, trying to keep my calm. "You’re always acting so high and mighty. You know how much money I spent on your kids? on your education, and then, even after you were all done, you got married to an important man, a rich man, and you still did not want to take care of me. You left me and Your sister to fend for ourselves, after all I did for you…"Her words hit me like a slap. I had already been through this, hearing the same complaints again and again. "I asked you to just give me a month's allowance to help me out in the house, and you send me what? A thousand dollars? What am I supposed to do with it?""Mom," I said, forcing the words out through my frustration. "The money I had...““You had already gotten a good job, you were married to Eric. He moved you into a big house in a good neighbourhood. He even promoted you at work and you were working all th
I blinked at her, stunned by her words. “Get rid of him?” I repeated, my voice filled with disbelief. “What do you mean? Like, kill him? Like in the mafia? You think this is a movie?”I forced a laugh,“Call off the engagement,” she said, her voice Brooking no argument. “Call off the wedding. I want you to break up with him, Nina. End it. Now.”Her words landed like a slap across my face. I stared at her, trying to process the sheer absurdity of what she was saying.Then I thought about how she had begun this order,“Mom,” I said slowly filled with both anger and disbelief, “are you threatening me?”She met my gaze without flinching. “I don’t know how you want to take it,” she replied, her tone icy. “I’m not threatening you. I’m just telling you the truth. Nina, the life you’re building with Emerson is an embarrassment. It’s a disgrace to your father’s memory. He was Emerson’s friend, for God’s sake. They were the same age. He is older than me. Me!”She wasn’t done.“And let’s not eve
She motioned for me to follow her. “We’re still in the process, of course. We’re not done yet. As you can see, we haven’t touched upstairs yet. We’ve started downstairs. The workers are working on the kitchen right now.”She gestured toward the dining area as she spoke. “But it’s a great thing. Look at this,” she said, walking toward the dining room. “We’re done with this area, the seating room, and the tea room. Everything is coming together so nicely. Do you like the dining room? Do you like the setup? I chose it myself.”Her excitement felt oddly misplaced, and her next words made me blink.“Maybe it’s not too late for me to become a decorator of houses, you know, a home makeover guru or something,” she said, half-laughing.“It’s nice,” I said cautiously. “But why? Why change this house? It’s so unrecognizable.”She didn’t respond immediately, so I pressed further. “By the time you’re done with this, I don’t think I’ll even recognize my home. All the memories we had here, as a fam
I knocked on the door a second time. I was expecting my mother to answer the door, her stern expression greeting me, perhaps with a disapproving comment about why I was here so early on her doorstep. But no one came.Maybe she wasn’t home. Maybe this was a mistake altogether. I shouldn’t have come here. The thought suddenly appeared in my head as doubt crept in. I didn’t even know why I was here in the first place. If she did answer, how would I react? Would I stammer? Would she shout? God, I wasn’t in the mood for a shouting match, not today.I sighed and turned around, deciding it was best to leave before I regretted knocking at all. But as my foot hit the first step down, the door creaked open behind me.I froze and turned back. But instead of my mother, I was greeted by a man—a shirtless man.He was young, not quite my age but not far from it, probably a bit older. He stood in the doorway, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. His hair was tousled, the kind of messy that suggeste
I sighed,"Honestly, I want to go to bed, okay? You're not an angel. You have gotten on my nerves a lot tonight. I have been mad at you a lot tonight. All I want is some space and sleep," I said, my voice sharp and filled with exhaustion.Then I pulled my hand away from him and started heading into the house.It was really late—so late that I wasn’t expecting anyone to be awake. I opened the door, stepping into the quiet house. Thomas, of course, would already be asleep at this hour. I didn’t bother turning on the lights. My only focus was on making it to bed, without further interruptions.But then, suddenly, the lights flicked on, and Madeline appeared right in front of me."Mina! What's going on? Why are you back so late? What happened? Is everything okay? Is Emerson okay? Where is he? Where's Emerson?" she asked frantically, her eyes darting around and looking behind me as though she expected him to walk through the door any second.Her questions came in rapidly, each one louder t