CH 6: Something Happened to Anya

Lizzy’s POV

I had to think and answer their questions quickly or else they would come back to bombard me with the same questions or add new ones.

“J-Jason, this is my daughter. You can go now. It’s late and I need to accompany my daughter to bed. Please,” I replied to Jason. His eyes looked at Anya intently. After hearing my answer, his face looked dissatisfied. Without another word, he left. However, before getting into the car, he looked at us with a look that I couldn’t interpret.

Sorry, Jason. I didn’t know how to tell you the truth about Anya because I wasn’t sure if you would accept Anya well after hearing the truth about her, and I was afraid something bad would happen to Anya if your family knew about her. I guess we’re just not meant to be together.

“Lizzy, who is he? And where is Aaron?” Mia asked for the second time.

“I’ll tell you later. Let’s go inside,” I invited Mia.

After putting Anya to bed, Mia and I sat in the dining room. Her face looked upset and her gaze seemed to probe my mind.

“Drink the tea and start explaining to me everything that happened,” she pleaded as she sipped her tea.

I took a sip of the tea and put the glass back on the table.

“That man is Jason Oswald. He is Anya’s biological father. We met by accident at the hotel Aaron booked by Everbury Beach.”

“You went to the beach? It’s quite a distance from here to the beach. Why would you go to the beach at night?” Mia asked.

“Mia. Aaron isn’t the nice guy we thought he was. He took me to the beach and booked a hotel room to have sex with me without asking my opinion and forced me to have sex with him, even though I begged him. He showed his genuine characters, and it made me scared. I still remember the frightening look in his eyes clearly. H-he’s just,” I replied and clear liquid poured out of my eyes without me being able to stop it.

Mia came over and hugged me. While stroking my back, she said, “Sorry to hear about that. If you can’t tell me any more, then you don’t have to. I understand.”

“It’s okay, I’m fine. Finally, with a lot of struggles, I could escape from him, and by chance, I met Leo, Jason’s assistant. And that’s when Jason and I met for the first time in six years. He asked me to talk, but I didn’t know how to tell him about Anya. His family didn’t want Anya. And I wasn’t sure if Jason wanted her either. So, I just kept quiet. He also asked me why I left six years ago, but I explained nothing to him. He can ask his mom for an explanation. It’s just that at first, he thought I was working as a prostitute, keeping a foreign man’s company. His words made me sad.” I burst into tears again. Mia hugged me tighter, and I cried hard in her arms.

“Cry if it can ease the burden on your heart. I’m sorry about Aaron because I was the first one to ask you to date him. He has lied to us. About Jason, you’ll never know what he thinks about Anya if you don’t tell him. Anya deserves to know about her father, and vice versa. Besides, she needs a father figure. If he loves you, he will do anything to bring you both close to him, even though things might not be as easy as we think because we and he are on different levels. Be strong and calm yourself,” Mia whispered.

I sob in her arms. Sadness, longing, and love mixed.

“But why won’t my tears stop?”

Mia exhaled a long breath, then replied, “You can cry as long as you want as long as you have to move on and make wise decisions. And one more thing, keep your voice down because Anya just fell asleep. She can’t sleep because you’re not beside her. Think about Anya and put your ego aside as parents.”

Mia was right. Anya was not wrong, and she deserved to know about her father and feel happy for having a complete family like her friends. But Jason’s status made things complicated. Besides, I wasn’t sure about Jason’s feelings for me six years ago, so it made me afraid to admit Anya’s existence to him. However, everything revealed itself despite my attempts to cover up. Maybe it was time Anya knew about her father.

After a while of crying in Mia’s arms, I felt calm. I wiped the tears from my eyes and drained the rest of the tea from the glass.

“Are you feeling better?” Mia asked as she stroked my head. Mia’s warmth and gentleness could always make me feel peaceful and safe. Hence, I thought of her as a mother and not an aunt.

I nodded twice.

“Then, go to sleep. Keep Anya company. Yesterday morning she didn’t want to go to school, there seemed to be something at her school. Try to find out from her teacher,” Mia said.

“Okay. Thank you, Mia. Good night.” I got up from the chair and kissed Mia on the cheek before going inside.

“Night and love you,” she replied.

“Love you too.”

The next morning, Anya was acting up again. Just like Mia had said last night. She didn’t want to go to school and just lay on the bed.

“Anya, let’s take a shower and get ready to go to school. I promise I will take you to the playground later in the afternoon after work,” I said, kissing her several times on the cheek.

“I don’t want to. I want to be at home with Mia,” she replied with a cute expression.

“Is there something in class? Will you tell me?”

She turned around and looked at me for a long time. Then she got up and took me to the bathroom. I felt relieved, like I was thinking too much.

But apparently, all that relief was temporary and everything she said that morning shocked me to death.

“Anya, you haven’t answered my question. Is there something in class that makes you lazy to go to school?” I asked for the second time while lathering her body.

She nodded. My God. Why did she keep quiet all this time and keep everything to herself? She inherited my character.

“There are four of my classmates who always insult me and say that I’m an illegitimate child and have no father. They are evil,” she replied as she sobbed.

I immediately hugged her tiny body. “You’re not an illegitimate child. Tell them that your father is in a city far from here, so he’s not always home. Hopefully, that answer will make them stop bothering you.”

Her round eyes lit up like sparkling diamonds. Her tiny red lips painted a beautiful smile. “Really?”

“Yes. It’s true.”

“So, when will I get to meet him? I’ve never even heard his voice,” she asked.

“As soon as possible. So, if they throw another bad word, answer like I taught you earlier, and report to your teacher, OK?”

“Ok, mommy,” he replied.

Her beautiful smile is the best gift for me every morning. I was hoping my answer could help her be more confident and brave, and I wished I could protect her all the time.

Hang in there, my little angel.