The Blind Deception

UnderHisSpell

The next few days flew by, and Aemilia hadn't seen Lorenzo since their conversation about the competition, which was pretty typical at this point.

Now, with only three days left, his words echoed in her mind, eating at her. Although she was very gullible, she told herself to choose to believe him, but she really couldn't trust anybody else, and he made that very clear. It felt like everyone around her had been choosing to betray her left and right.

Word was definitely not bond.

What if it was all empty promises? In the end, there would be no gain or loss if he backed out, but she couldn't quite push the doubt out of her head.

Slowly, she got out of bed, glancing at the clock. Too early for school, but she knew she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. With a sigh, she flopped back into bed and turned on the TV, heading to Hulu and searching for Criminal Minds.

When Dr. Reid's face popped up on the screen, she felt a wave of comfort wash over her. But as she tried to lose herself in the show, her mind kept drifting to Rere.

"Rere, I'm scared," I dragged out my words, hoping she would catch the hint and abandon the crazy plan she had come up with to find out who my dad was sneaking around with.

After Rere left that one evening, I had told her how I'd gone looking for her and heard moaning coming from Dad's study and we both knew Mom wasn't home.

"There's nothing to be scared of, Momo," she whispered, her eyes gleaming. "You should be excited. I know how you sit up all night watching Criminal Minds when you can't sleep, think of it as that."

We both broke into a fit of giggles at the thought, but my nerves still ate me up.

When I heard footsteps approaching, I quickly hushed her, peering out from the cabinet we were hiding in, tucked inside Dad's study.

We watched as Dad glanced around, suspicious, before picking up his phone. His face twisted into a scowl when it went to voicemail.

"That slut must be with that lowly dau—"

Before he could finish, Rere coughed, quickly clapping her hand over her mouth. His head snapped toward the file cabinet where we were hiding in. My breath hitched and I tried my best to stay still.

"OUT. NOW." His voice boomed through the room.

We scrambled out of the cramped space, my pulse racing as I shot an angry look at Rere before turning back to Dad.

"Dad, it wasn't—"

"LEAVE. RIGHT NOW. YOUR FRIEND WILL STAY HERE, AND I WILL CALL SOMEONE TO COME GET HER."

His voice shook my whole body, sending shivers down my spine. I gave Rere a quick glance, filled with guilt and anger, before I rushed out of the room.

Sweat clung to Aemilia's forehead as a memory forced its way into her mind, uninvited. It brought with it an unwelcome headache, sharp and persistent, like an echo of something she desperately wanted to forget. She rubbed at her temples, muttering a single word under her breath.

"Fuck."

The memory lingered like a shadow, and as it resurfaced, Aemilia realized how oblivious she'd been to so much happening around her. The more she dwelled on it, the more tangled it became.

Dad and Aloere... what was really going on there? Aloere had always been the obnoxious family friend who dragged Aemilia into trouble. It didn't make sense, but then again, nothing in her life seemed to lately.