TURN OF FATE, cl16

33.

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
MONACO.

"Can I ask you something?" Dariyah asked after finishing her pizza.

"Anything, ma chèrie." Dariyah had to take a moment to recollect herself from that nickname.

"Do you know everything about my family as well?" Dariyah played with her necklace, nervous.

"No." Dariyah sighed in relief. "But I do know it's bad." Dariyah looked up at him, finding him already looking at her. "I did wanted to look into your family but I couldn't since it would be actual stalking but I did notice the change of father figure. I found out your mother got remarried but from what I noticed, I'm sensing that he isn't a good person as well?" Charles watched Dariyah as she avoided looking into his eyes and continued fiddling with her necklace.

"What do you mean by as well?" Dariyah rested her legs on his lap, him massaging it unconsciously.

"Don't you remember? You said your parents were always fighting, said it'd get really violent sometimes that day to me and Papa." Dariyah sighed, realising her mistake.

"To be honest, it was my dad's idea to keep an eye on you." Charles looked away, smiling slightly. "He was worried about you. He cared a lot about you even though you guys met just once."

"What can I say? I'm too loveable." Dariyah sarcastically said. "That you are." Charles admired her side profile.

"Hush, you." Dariyah hid her face in her hands in embarrassment. Charles chuckled at her reaction

"I loved Uncle Hervè as well you know." Dariyah revealed after a moment of silence. "To be honest he was the best uncle I've ever had even if we had met only once. There wasn't a lot of male figures in my life who treated me right, y'know?" Charles just listened as she kept going, not wanting to intervene.

"I wasn't welcomed into the family when I was born." Dariyah paused, thinking twice before opening up a little bit of her past to him. "My whole family was expecting a baby boy. There were some superstition signs they believed as well which indicated that it was going to be a boy." Dariyah sadly smiled, thinking of her past.

"But then I came out. Everyone were disappointed and there was a huge fight as well among my family." Charles eyes lit up in fury for the hate being inflicted on Dariyah just for being born. "A part of my family stopped talking to us believing that I was some kind of bad luck? Some shaman told them I was bound to bring unhappiness..." Dariyah took a minute to recollect herself, Charles brought her close to him. She was lying on his chest while he run his hands through her hair. "You don't have to say if you don't want to."

"But I do." Dariyah smiled, raising her head to meet his eyes. "My mom was a bit disappointed as well but she told me that the moment I was in her arms it all faded away. My maternal grandmother never really give a damn about me because I was a disappointment for being born, but the irony is that she loves my older sister. I never knew the answer to that. I was hated for being a girl and she was loved for being a girl. It just doesn't make sense."

"But my mother made sure to never make me feel that way. She showered me with so much love that my family hated me for being a mumma's girl." Charles placed a tender kiss on her head when a tear from her eye fell onto his hand.

"But the family from my dad's side neither hated nor loved me. I'm sure my paternal grandmother did love me but she passed away before I could speak. She's the one who named me as well. I felt like I never fit in with my dad's side, because all of my cousins were really old. I was 5 and some of them were already in their 20s or in their late teens."