Chapter 50

NADIA'S POV

“Just drive,” I snapped at the old man, telling him to mind his business as I was in my car and not his. One of my other hands clenched into fists on my lap. My throat burned from holding back tears.

By the time we pulled up to my house, my fury hadn’t subsided. If anything, it had gotten worse. I threw a couple of bills at the driver without waiting for my change and stormed up the porch steps.

As I shoved the door open, I felt a sudden chill. The living room was eerily quiet, and my mother, Mrs. Morales, was seated stiffly on the couch. Her hands were folded, her phone resting on the table, but the tension in the room was unmistakable.

Before I could open my mouth to complain about my ruined night, her hand came out of nowhere. It was a SLAP! Wait a minutes, she just slapped me.

“MOM! What the hell was that for?!” I yelled, holding my burning cheek.

Her face was flushed with anger, and her hands trembled, not from regret, but from the fury she was struggling to contain. It was as if she’d been waiting for this exact moment to unleash her rage.

I staggered back, clutching my stinging cheek. “Mom!” I gasped. My voice cracked, more from the shock than the pain.

“Don’t you dare call me that right now,” she snapped, her voice like ice. “Do you even know what you’ve done?”

“What are you talking about?” I stammered, trying to regain my composure. My cheek was still burning, and my mind raced to figure out what had set her off.

She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she grabbed her phone and held it up to my face. The screen showed a paused video, but even before she hit play, I felt my stomach drop.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?!” she barked, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone. “Explain THIS, Nadia!”

“No…” I whispered.

Mrs. Morales hit play, and there it was…my worst nightmare. A video of Richard, unconscious on a couch, with me leaning over him. I didn’t need to hear the audio to know what it looked like.

“You sedated him?” she hissed, her eyes narrowed into slits.

“I…”

“Don’t!” she barked, cutting me off. “Don’t even try to lie, Nadia! This video is everywhere! Do you know how humiliating this is for our family?”

I stood frozen, unable to speak. My mind was blank, and for once, I couldn’t come up with a single excuse. She was right. There was no talking my way out of this one.

Mrs. Morales glared at me, her face red with fury. “Haven’t I warned you? Haven’t I told you a million times to stay away from trouble? But no, you don’t listen! You never listen!”

“I…”

“Save it!” she snapped. “You’ve gone too far this time, Nadia. Too far! What were you even thinking? Do you have any idea what kind of damage this could do? To him? To you? To this family?”

Her words hit me like a sledgehammer. She wasn’t wrong. I had crossed the line, and I knew it. I could feel the walls closing in on me, the weight of my actions suffocating me.

But I wouldn't agree that I'm at fault, I blame it on Max.

“I didn’t think…”

“No, you didn’t,” she interrupted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “And now you’re going to face the consequences. Since you clearly don’t want to be useful to yourself here, I’ve made a decision.”

I blinked, my heart sinking further. “What decision?”

“You’re leaving,” she said, crossing her arms. “You’re going to the United States to stay with your Aunt Kira.”

“What?!” I yelled, taking a step back. “You can’t do that!”

“Oh, I can,” she said firmly. “And I will. This is the last straw, Nadia. The last straw.”

“I don’t want to go!” I protested. “You can’t just send me away like that!”

Her gaze hardened. “Watch me,” she said, her voice cold and final.

I opened my mouth to argue, but the look in her eyes stopped me. She was serious. Dead serious. I could see the disappointment and anger swirling in her expression, and it cut me to the core.

“You’ve left me no choice,” she said, turning on her heel. “Maybe some time away from here will knock some sense into you.”

She didn’t wait for a response. She marched out of the living room, heading towards her bedroom. The sound of her door slamming echoed through the house, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I stood there, still holding my cheek where she had slapped me, my mind racing. I felt a mix of anger, shame, and panic. My mother’s words replayed in my head like a broken record.

“She’s really going to send me away,” I muttered to myself, sinking onto the couch. “What am I going to do?”

I didn’t want to go to Aunt Kira’s. I didn’t want to leave my life behind, even if it was a mess. But what choice did I have? My mother had made up her mind, and there was no changing it.

My heart raced as I thought about the video. How had it even gone viral? Who had posted it? And why had I been so stupid?

I buried my face in my hands, groaning in frustration. “I’m such an idiot,” I muttered.

The sting of my mother’s slap still lingered, but it was nothing compared to the ache in my chest. I had messed up. Big time. And now, I was paying the price.

But as I sat there, a new thought crept into my mind. I couldn’t go to Aunt Kira’s. I wouldn’t. There had to be a way to fix this, to get out of this mess.

I just didn’t know how yet.

For now, all I could do was sit and wait, the weight of my actions hanging over me like a storm cloud. My mother’s anger was like a fire, and I knew it wasn’t going to burn out anytime soon.