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The faint creak of the door echoed in the isolated room, breaking the suffocating silence that had lingered for years. Alexander raised his weary eyes and met the gaze of his daughter standing at the threshold. Her expression was unreadable, a mixture of sorrow and bitterness swimming in her eyes.
Slowly, Ivy stepped into the room, her feet dragging slightly as though carrying the weight of years gone by. Her face was pale, her lips trembling, yet her eyes burned with questions long buried.
"Is there any-" Alexander began, but Ivy cut him off sharply.
"Why do you hate me so much... Dad?" Her voice cracked on the word Dad, as though it was foreign, painful to say. She locked eyes with him, demanding answers to the wounds that bled silently inside her.
Alexander's throat went dry. His lips parted, but no words came out. He stared at her, helpless, watching the storm behind her eyes. The seconds stretched endlessly before he finally muttered, "You should go and rest."
"No!" Ivy's voice trembled, but her resolve was ironclad. "I need answers, Dad!"
Alexander inhaled deeply, his heart pounding as he stared at her face - so hauntingly familiar. The same eyes, the same stubborn chin, the same fire. She was her mother's reflection. And that reflection stabbed him like a knife every time.
"Tell me!!! Dad!!! Tell me!!!" Ivy's voice shook the walls, the desperation in her tone making the air thick with sorrow. Alexander stood abruptly, his chair screeching against the cold floor.
"IVAN! IVAN!" Alexander's deep voice boomed as he called out, but Ivy stepped forward, unwavering.
"No! Not this time!" she snapped. "Today, it's you and me. No hiding behind Ivan. I should've said this years ago! Why did you hate me, Dad?! Why did you push me away?!" Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she blinked them back, her fists clenched tightly.
Alexander turned away, his shoulders heavy with unseen burdens. "I said leave, Ivy. Please," he whispered, his voice suddenly fragile, almost broken.
Ivy's voice cracked like thunder. "So now you can't even face your daughter?" A lone tear slipped down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away. Her breathing was uneven as the silence settled again.
Footsteps echoed softly behind them. Ivan stood at the door, leaning on the frame, his face etched with guilt. He knew this day would come someday.
"Dad!" Ivy pleaded, her voice raw as she grabbed Alexander's arm and forced him to face her. "LOOK AT ME! PLEASE!"
Alexander turned reluctantly, meeting his daughter's broken gaze. The walls he had built inside himself trembled.
"I lost my mother too, Dad! I lost her too!" Ivy sobbed, her voice quivering with the ache of all the years she bottled up her grief. "You weren't the only one who lost her! But you... you blamed me... like I killed her!" Her cries became louder as she clutched her chest, where the pain throbbed relentlessly.
