Villa Nettiea

Chapter 7

Thara's POV:

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I was also surprised by my actions. I quickly turned around after kissing Narrine on the forehead. From the side mirror, I saw how he blushed and remained in his place, touching his forehead where I kissed him. My heart was beating fast. In the few months that I had always been with Narrine, I couldn't deny that I was developing feelings. But I kept it to myself, aside from it not being possible. I didn't want him to be involved in my family's mess.

As I entered the house, I immediately put on a poker face. My expression was emotionless, and I acted like I had no voice. "You're already here. Come on, join us for dinner. We've been waiting for you." My stepmom said.

"Aren't you ashamed in front of your mom? What are you doing there? Don't you have any respect?" My useless father said. "You never change, and you're worthless. I don't know why your mother even gave birth to you." My ears were ringing, but I didn't say anything.

"I'm still full." I quickly went up to my room. I've never felt any love from my father. If I didn't know the truth, I'd think I was just adopted. I quickly went to the bathroom and took a shower. The heavy feeling from what happened earlier somewhat disappeared. I was drying my hair when there was a soft knock. I quickly stood up and turned the doorknob. There was my stepmom.

"Hi," she greeted awkwardly.

"Hmmmm."

"Are you going to bed?" She asked again.

"If you hadn't knocked." I said emotionlessly.

"I wanted to apologize for what happened earlier. And I will always do this and won't get tired..."

"Nothing will change no matter how many times you do that. You can never replace mom. No matter what you do, you're still the mistress of my father. Or let's say, the sperm donor."

"I know. And I'll regret that for the rest of my life. I understand your anger, towards me, towards your dad, and towards Thomas. And before. I also promised Mae that I'll take care of you as much as I can. Whether this happened or not. Because she was once my friend."

"Don't keep mentioning my mom's name!" I angrily said. "Because if she really was your friend, you wouldn't betray her. Or stab her in the back." She just smiled. But I saw the tears in her eyes. She nodded.

"I know you know about what happened before," then she looked directly at me. I stopped. "I'm not your enemy here, Thara. I'm  not your ally either. We're both victims here. Victims of the same person's grudge. And if you ask, why I'm still staying here. It's for my mission. My mission to achieve justice. Not for me. For Mae. For your mom. So if I were you, I'd start moving. Time is running out."

"W-what do you m-mean.... I don't understand." I asked in confusion.

"Take care of your loved one. Take care of Nattarine's child. Take care of..."

"Lezlie!!" We immediately turned around when we heard dad's shout. Lezlie quickly wiped her tears and looked at me.

"Take care of her. Don't neglect her. While she doesn't know yet that Nattarine's child is alive..."

"Lezlie!!"

"But...."

"Shhhhhh..... Let's talk about this later. Your Dad might see us. We're both in trouble. Come on, go to sleep. We'll talk about this another day."

"But....."

"Listen to me. Remember everything I told you." And she quickly ran away from me.

I quickly entered my room and locked it. I sat down on the bed and thought about everything she said. Who is Nattarine's child? Do I know them?