Chapter 1: Meeting Stella Renouf

"Do you think my father will like this?" Stella asked Flora after they made a bouquet that they would give to their father. "Of course, you put in a lot of effort while making that!" Flora assured her, and Stella smiled at her friend. "I hope so!" Stella said and looked at the bouquet that she was holding.

They decided to go home, and Stella was humming while walking towards their house. "You look so happy today, huh?" Daisha told her as soon as she entered their home. "I will bring this bouquet to Dad. Where is he?" Stella asked her sister but Daisha didn't know where their father went.

"Maybe he was just walking outside or patrolling with the guards." Daisha answered, and Stella decided to wait for him in the living room. "Do you want to eat now?" Daisha asked her, and Stella shook her head. 

"I'm not hungry! You can eat first!" Stella answered and she was happily looking at the flowers. It was almost midnight when Daisha went out of her room, she saw Stella in the living room and still waiting for their father. "You should sleep, Stella! He will come back tomorrow!" Daisha told her and patted her back.

"What if he didn't come home? All of these will die!" Stella said, and Daisha smiled at her, "You can make a new one, right?" Her sister asked her, and Stella glared at her. "Yeah, I can!" Stella answered but it was a waste of her effort if their father will not show up tonight.

Stella decided to sleep, and Daisha accompanied her to her room. "Good night!" Daisha told her and kissed her head, "Thank you!" Stella answered and smiled at her sister.

Stella was just seven years old when chaos killed her mother. She was still young to witness how cruel they did to her mother. Every night she would try to sleep, a picture of her Mom begging for help would visit her and until now, it was hunting her. 

She was eighteen and until now she was still crying whenever she would think about her Mother, "I'm sorry for not helping you, Mom!" Stella whispered and wiped the tears from her face. She didn't realise that she fell asleep while thinking about her.

It was already noon when she woke up. She immediately stood up from her bed and went to the living room. Her bouquet wasn't there anymore so she looked for her father. "Where is he?" Stella asked her sister as soon as Daisha showed up from outside. "Oh! He is in the garage." Daisha answered, and Stella immediately went to the garage. She looked at her father and that's when she saw the bouquet she made inside the trash can.

"You didn't like it?" Stella asked her father, and Remus stopped what he was doing. "What are you talking about?" Remus asked her, and Stella pointed out the bouquet inside the trash can. "I thought it was trash so I put it in its right place." Remus answered, and Stella held her tears. "Oh! Is that so?" Stella asked, and her father just looked at her.

"Don't cry! Don't ever show me your freaking tears. I'm tired of it!" Remus stopped her from crying, and Stella ran inside their house. Daisha heard everything that their father said to Stella, she followed her to her room and knocked on the door.

"Leave me alone!" Stella yelled, and Daisha stopped knocking. "I'm just here if you want someone to talk to." Daisha told her but she didn't get any answer from her sister. Stella didn't eat for dinner and she just stayed inside her room.

"Hey! If you don't want to eat, at least do the dishes!" Her father yelled from outside her room. She covered her face with her pillow. The night came, and they were already sleeping when Stella went out of her room. She was tiptoeing in the living room until she got outside their house.

"Where do you think you are going?" Stella stopped walking when she heard her father's voice behind her. She turned around, and her father was looking at her intensely. "To get some fresh air!" She answered and tried to walk again, but her father grabbed her arms.

"I didn't know where you get that kind of manner and it is pissing me off." Remus said and he pulled his daughter inside their house. "You will not leave until you apologise for what you did!" He added and he pushed Stella on the couch.

Daisha immediately went to the living room after she heard her father's scream. She went to Stella so she could help her to stand up but Stella pushed her away. "Don't touch me!" Stella told her and she ran towards her room.

"Don't try to console her!" Remus said to Daisha, but she didn't want to do it. She thought that Stella needed someone who could listen to her rants.

The next day came, and Stella went out of her room when she found out that her father was gone. Daisha was waiting for her in the living room. "Stop talking back when he was mad!" Daisha told her sister while she was treating the wound that Stella got when their father pushed her. "Even if I don't talk back, he will still get mad at me." Stella answered and took a sip of the coffee that her sister made for her.

"You should eat now, you didn't eat last night!" Daisha scolded her sister, and Stella just smiled at her. "I'm just wondering why our father didn't like me." Stella said and finished drinking her coffee. "Don't think like that, Stella!" Daisha told her but Stella just smirked at her.

"You can't stop me from thinking that way." Stella told her, and Daisha shook her head in disbelief. "Fine, go to the kitchen now!" Daisha told her and patted her back.

She watched Stella walking, and she smiled while thinking about their mother. "She's grown up now, Mom!" Daisha whispered while looking at Stella.