Chapter 8

Mother placed a few biscuits and a cup of tea in front of me, wearing a frown that accentuated the fine lines on her face. Beside her sat my stepfather, who also wore a similar expression, though he attempted to appear more relaxed than my mother ever did. 

The room filled with the scent of jasmine and honey, a welcome relief for my stomach after a long day at my lawyer’s office.

“I can’t believe you did it,” Mother finally spoke, her eyes solemn as they gazed upon me in disappointment, yet she didn’t look much older either from the new color of her hair. “News traveled fast about your decision to divorce Wilhelm, and I’m sure your father in heaven wouldn’t like it either. His efforts to get you married off to a capable man had all gone to waste.”

I arched an eyebrow as I took a sip from my cup. “When he’s clearly the one who placed our feet in a surmountable amount of debt? Yeah, sure.” 

“How can you speak that way to your deceased father!” Mother exclaimed, her face flushing with color. “And for your information, the Reinhardts are extremely upset about what you did. Wilhelm even called me several times to confirm your location and told me he couldn’t reach you, no matter how many times he called your phone.”

I snorted. “Did he now? I had my old phone thrown out of Emily’s window.” 

“That good for nothing—” she stopped herself and took a deep breath as she resigned on her seat. “Emily has no idea on the ways of marriage, daughter. You should’ve gone with me instead.” 

“What about the money they put on us?” My stepfather wasn’t able to control himself anymore. “Does it stop once the divorce gets finalized?”

“Beats me. I don’t have anything to do with him after this.” 

My mother placed her hand on top of mine. “Kathryn, you’re not thinking clearly. I understand you’re upset that he has another…person by his side,” she said in a gentle tone that didn’t stop me from frowning either way. “You have to make terms that men are really that way. It’s their instinct, you see.”

“To be unfaithful and abusive toward their spouses?” I spat. “Don’t make it sound as if it should be a normal occurrence in every family.” 

“No, no. Of course it isn’t,” Mother agreed. “You see, my point here is that there really is nothing that can’t be solved when you start talking about things that happened just between the two of you,” she smiled. “So, darling, go home and apologize for the trouble you did to him. I’m sure Wilhelm will understand.”  

“Gods, Carmen! Stop speaking to her like she’s your fucking baby. She doesn’t understand how much Wilhelm meant to us—” 

“Mean to your pockets,” I continued. “That’s all Wilhelm is to you! You just want his money, and we all know how that goes!”

Stepfather stood from his seat, his eyes blazing. “You nasty—” 

He gritted his teeth, then changed his mind about laying his hands on me and sat back down, crossing his arms over his chest. “I can’t believe I raised such an ungrateful daughter like you. You’re selfish, just like your brother who ran away because your mother didn’t give him the attention he wanted. Stupid brats, a lot of you!”

I stood up and glared right back at him, clutching the chain of my bag as I hurried toward the door. “If there’s someone selfish around here, it’s the two of you! You’ve never done anything but disregard our feelings, and here we are now,” I looked at my mother, her eyes wide with horror. 

“I’ve already repaid more than what I owe you. The effort to raise me, and all the money you spent to get me on Wilhelm's good side.”

“Kathryn, come back here!” Mother called, but I was already out the door. “You only need to apologize, daughter, please!”

I never thought that even my own parents wouldn’t be by my side, and this brought tears to my eyes. I crossed out of Mother’s backyard with a firm decision: I would use that two million dollars to get myself away from this country and raise my children alone.