The Keys to freedom

Secrets kept

The room fell silent. Oz's heart raced in her chest. Both of them stood there equally shocked by the woman standing before them—their mother, the person they thought they'd never see again, and for the better.

Tessas eyes softened as she took a step forward, a strange mix of sadness and coldness in her eyes. "My babies," she said, her voice unsteady but full of that haunting familiarity. "I've missed you."

James' face twisted in disbelief. "Missed us? After two years? You just disappear, and now this?" his teeth clenched together. "How could you do this?"

"It wasn't personal jimmy," She smiled faintly, an almost bitter expression. "Who do you think stole the key from your father in the first place?" she asked, her tone almost playful. "I waited years, and years, for that no-good slacker to solve that first clue. It's why I married him, it's why I kept his kids. But of course, the second I decide to leave, he finally solves it."

Oz felt her stomach churn. The betrayal stung like a sharp needle in her chest. "You put us in danger. You stole from us. All of this, just for some damn treasure hunt?"

Her mother's gaze remained cool and calculating, as she shrugged nonchalantly, as if the question was irrelevant. "I said it wasn't personal,"

"Oh right, I feel much better then," James said throwing his hands up in disbelief.

Oz's quickly turned to Pyke, the betrayal that hurt the worst. "You've known this whole time?" she demanded, her voice barely cracking. "You knew and you said nothing? All this time... you've been working with her, against me. "I told you about my mother that's how we..." her voice caught in her throat as she tried yo hold the emotions back. "Was treasure that important to you?"

She looked at him with familiar emotions he has seen on her before, Disgust. Resentment. Hate, but he had never seen them directed at him. And it shattered something inside him.

"I wanted to tell you everything," he started, desperation creeping into his voice. "I did. I just—"

She lifted a hand, silencing him mid-sentence. "Stop." Her voice was quieter now, but just as firm. She couldn't bear another word.

His shoulders slumped, and his eyes dropped to the ground with shame.

She quickly turned from him, wishing she could permanently erase him from her mind.

"How could you do this to your own kids? What kind of monster endangers their own children?" James said turning the attention back to Tessa.

Her gaze was cold, almost detached. "I admit, I haven't been the best mother," she said with a shrug, as though it didn't matter. "I guess I hated your father so much, it made me feel nothing but resentment for his children."

"Your children," Oz corrected sharply.

She frowned, turning to face her. "What?"

"We were your children too," she said.

She let out a cold laugh. "You may have come from me, but you were never mine. You were always his."

Oz scoffed but said nothing in return.

"Where is he? Our dad, what did you do to him?" James said with a clenched jaw.

She met his glare with an even gaze. "I didn't do anything to him."

"Liar," he spat. "He would've come back to us by now."

She raised a brow, "Would he?"

"You expect me to believe he just disappeared? That he left us?"