Chapter 52
Ariel
The flight back to Chicago was rather shorter than I expected. My heart thumped fast against my chest with anxiety rising within me slowly.
I hadn’t seen my parents since I left with Dmitri to Texas and then to Seattle. My mom and I texted each other once in a while but it wasn’t so with my dad, and my heart sank each time she told me that he never asked after me.
Today, I’d be seeing his face again and I wasn’t sure I was ready to ask him why he treated me like an outcast all these time.
Liora stirred on my thighs and continued sleeping, snoring lightly. Fortunately, she understood my explanation about her dad and right now, she looked so peaceful that I didn’t want her to wake up.
Having nothing else to do, I glanced at my side and my gaze landed on Guilia who smiled tiredly.
“We’ll be home soon,” She noted rather absentmindedly.
I nodded and inhaled deeply. “But why doesn’t it feel like home?”
She huffed her shoulders and folded her arms, her attention trained on the road. “I guess it’s because things aren’t as they used to be. We grew up here with so much dreams and expectations, but our parents squashed it before our very eyes for their selfish reasons.” She stared at me. “Your case is a bit bearable though, at least you succeeded in absconding before they found you,”
A chuckle erupted within me and I had to cover my mouth to ensure that my giggles wouldn’t wake Liora up.
“Yet they caught me even though I was so close…” I trailed off.
In the midst of the gross sadness, we were making humor out of our pain. I was nursing the agony that stemmed from my abandonment while Guilia was trying to find her footing after the loss of her lover and Vladimir’s rude intrusion into her life.
“You did your best,” She sighed.
My thoughts were conflicted and I wasn’t sure I should tell her about Vladimir, but she’d be mad at me if I kept it from her.
“There’s something you have to know,” I mellowed.
“What is it?” She took her gaze away from the window and pinned it on me.
“Vladimir will be getting married in two years. So I heard,” I announced.
Her face turned pale instantly and then she scoffed, trying to mask her feelings, but the despair in her eyes couldn’t be hidden. “Married? And he didn’t have the decency to tell me when we met last night?”
My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. “You both met again?” I asked in exasperation.
She bowed her head in shame, unable to meet my eyes. “I know it was stupid of me, but he convinced me that everything was alright and I foolishly went to him because I couldn’t get a grip on my stupid feelings,”
My tongue itched to scold her but seeing how dejected she felt, I swallowed my words. I wished that this announcement would be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back for her.
“It’s okay, Guilia. You’re in Chicago and you can forget about him now. I’ve told you times and again that he doesn’t deserve you,” I rubbed her back tenderly while she sobbed.
“I wish I can have partial amnesia so that I can forget all about him. Is it possible?” She sniffed.
“Except you’re readu for me to hit your head hard with a stick, I guess it is,” I tried to lighten the situation.
She lifted her face, her eyes red and swollen. I quickly produced a handkerchief from my bag and gave it to her. “My mom won’t be happy to see my face like this,”
I glanced around and sighed. “Well, you have to be quick about it because we’re home already,”
The car rolled into the parking lot after the security guard had opened the main gate for us. And then the maids rushed out of the house to help us with our luggage.
Mama stood by the front door, her arms folded with her eyes blaring with anticipation. I held Liora’s hands firmly as if looking for support and deep down, I wished that my dad would be standing beside her.
I walked slowly, wishing that I could go back in time just to avoid being here, but of what use was running away from my challenges? It wasn’t like they’d hit me or something.
“Who is she?” Liora questioned, disrupting my thoughts.
“Oh, that’s my mom,” I answered.
She tugged my arm and peered up at me. “Then let’s go and meet her. See,” She pointed at my mom. “She’s waiting for us,”
Before I could reply, she’d slipped away from my hold and dashed to my mom who scooped her into her arms immediately. They hugged so passionately that no one would know that it was their first time meeting.
I dragged my feet like a snail toward them until I was standing right in front of her. “Good evening, mama,”
She dropped Liora and fixed me a puzzled stare. “She’s adorable,”
“Sure. She is my daughter,”
There was no need to go into the details because I already knew that she understood what I couldn’t explain.
“Let’s go in then,” She urged.
“Wait,” I inclined my head, my pulse racing. “Is dad home?”
Her expression turned somber and that was all the answer I needed.
“He had something urgent to attend but he’ll join us for dinner. What about your husband? The both of you were supposed to come together. Did something happen?”
I shook my head, feeling more dispirited than I already was. “He also had something important to take care of,”
I wanted to tell her that I was almost murdered yesterday but I doubted there was any need for that.
“Okay then. Let’s go in,”
Reluctantly, I obeyed and went in with them and nostalgia hit me strongly like a wave in the ocean. My life since I was a child till I was forced to get married flashed before my eyes and I regretted not suggesting that we stayed in a hotel.
Right now, I didn’t want to be here.