Painting Paper Hearts | ✔

Chapter 22- Retracing the Past

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This pattern seemed to happen to me lately. When good things happen and I feel heightened by it, bad things happen.

The sight was not pretty. Mom was pushing away an unfamiliar man like a plague while Nana held her daughter-in-law to calm down. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on but there was something about the way the man looked down at my mom.

A face full of regrets, pity, and he looked hurt.

Who is he?

"It seems I will never be welcome here, but please Carol, think about what I told you," he said to Mom as he approached the door slowly. "Good day."

He bid his farewell to us and mom finally calmed down. The man paid me a final glance and I caught him smile at me then exited the room. What was his business with my mother? He appeared to be a business man as I saw him wearing a tailored suit, the same getup Marcus wore during his office hours. His aura screamed somebody important, too, considering that he had a limousine parked outside our house.

"Mom, what was that about? Who's he?" I asked her but she did not heed my question. Instead she collected herself and walked past me.

I clenched my fist. Here we go again. I already had enough of her ignoring my question. What was she hiding from me?

I sucked in a sharp breath then turned my heel to follow Mom.

"Why do you keep ignoring me? Are you still mad about the house? That I came here? That I did not call you while I was here?" my voice raised an octave even if I didn't intend to but my pent up frustrations were resurfacing.

"You do not understand anything, Emerald. It's best that you will not ask anything about it," Mom retired to the master's bedroom in an attempt to stop me there.

But my head already had too much unanswered questions to fit another one mystery.

"How am I supposed to understand something if I don't know anything, Mom?"

For once, my mother looked at me in the eye. Orbs that were as blue as the sky yet they hid so many secrets that I didn't even who they were anymore.

She pursed her lips and trembled. "Dear, this is not something that you need to understand, okay?"

I bit back my tongue and pressed my lips before my mouth could sprout a word my mother wouldn't be proud of hearing from me. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked away.

She sighed loudly. "Look, dear. It doesn't matter anymore. We will leave tomorrow. We'll leave behind this house and all the unpleasant things that happened, okay?"

No. No. No. No.

This can't be happening! Leave? I don't want that!

I looked at her with my mouth open and quickly shut them when I collected myself internally. My head screamed only one word.

Defiance.

"I'm not going anywhere," I breathed out in a whisper. Mom looked at me in horror.

"What did you just say?" her eyes flashed, fury apparent in her eyes but I did not back down.

"I'm staying,"

Mom glared at me, dumbfounded by my decision. I mentally readied myself for another slap in the face but that did not happen.