44. A chance

BELLATRIX....

Thousands of negative possibilities started frightening me as I stood in line. Dad's stern, cold voice... a sudden summons; this did not make sense to me.

"Ma'am, is everything alright?" Mathew's sudden, concerned tone broke my thoughts, making me look up at him with slight dizziness. He frowned, perhaps because of my drained face. "Ma'am, do you want me to call sir?" he asked again.

"Huh? N-no! I..." I licked my dry lips before gazing at him again. "I-it was my father; he w-wanted to see me," I murmured. My voice was barely a whisper, but he caught it.

His brows furrowed deeply. "Do you want to visit him?" His question was the same thing that was roaming around in my head—Do I?

The truth was, I wanted to run far away from my family. The excitement and hopes I had before returning to my family five years ago had, over time, crushed me a billion times and left me traumatized. I frankly didn't want to see him or any of my family members, but still, there was a little