POV: Victoria
“You slapped me?
Why would you hit me like that, have you gone crazy?” Claire yelled angrily, her palm holding her cheek as she glared at Mom.
“One more rude word from you and you will find out what I’m capable of, you stupid child. To think that you chose a ruthless thug over your family and you said mean things about me to your sister, making her question her paternity. This is all your fault, you ruined our family, you ruined our beautiful family!” Mom screamed at her, looking even more angry than we were a few minutes ago.
She is holding her phone like a gun and she is pointing it at her, making her move backwards in fear. I saw her face from the corner where I was hiding, and I could swear that she thought she was actually holding a gun, and she would have accidentally or even knowingly shot her. She is not the mom I know, she looks like a monster.
I stayed in the shadows and watched as she paced the room in anger and frustration, forcing Claire to sit in a corner and watch her pace the room. I would have remained in the corner to see what she would say or do next, but she wasn’t having a heated argument with Claire anymore. She seemed to be thinking of what to do next, so I decided to face my fears and show my face.
“Who are you, why are you bent on ruining our lives, what did we ever do to you?” I asked her, making my presence known to her. She didn’t see me coming, she was pacing the room as I approached them. It was my voice that made her turn towards me, and when Claire looked my way, she felt so relieved to see me.
“V… V… Victoria!
You are here!
I… I… I was just…”
“Who are you?” I asked her, stopping her from telling me more lies.
“I’m your mother, I love and care about you two. I nurtured you all these years, you are my girls, mine!” she let out fiercely, her eyes glaring at me.
“Stop it, Mom!
Tell her the truth already. You are not our…”
“Shut up!
You stupid child!” Mom yelled at Claire, slapping her across the face again.
“I asked you to stay back and be quiet, didn’t I?” she asked her, pointing her phone to her again.
“Stop it, Mom!
Stop it already!
I was with Miguel this morning and he told me everything. You are not my mother, we are not even remotely close. I’ve been standing there for a few minutes and I heard everything you said to Claire about her background and how you got her because I needed a sister. How do you don’t, Mom, how did we end up here?” I asked her sadly, my eyes filling up with tears again.
“You were with Miguel all morning?!
How dare you, Victoria, how dare you?
I warned you not to see him again, I told you he would destroy our family, why did you defy me, why did you do it?” she yelled at me furiously, ignoring everything else that I just told her and focusing all her attention on the one thing that has been bothering her all these years. It’s annoying to see that she is not even ready to admit that she has hurt and destroyed our lives, she is not even showing remorse for her actions.
“Stop it, Mom! Stop it already!” my voice trembled with a mix of anger and heartbreak.
“Yes, I was with Miguel this morning, and he told me everything. You are not my mother; you are not even remotely close to being my mother or Claire’s mother.” I told her angrily. My heart raced as I recalled Miguel’s warning before I left his house. The truth about my kidnapping echoed in her mind, reminding me that I needed to be very careful around her.
“How did we end up here, Mom?” I asked again, my voice breaking. She stepped forward, her tone shifting from anger to desperation.
“We ended up here because your boyfriend brought us here!” she responded in a sarcastic tone, her eyes glaring at me.
“Don’t play word games with me, Mom!
You know exactly what I mean, how did you find us, were we adopted from a hospital or an orphanage?
We need to know now because I want to get to the root of this matter, I want to know how I was taken from my real family, who would have done something so evil to me?
Why was I taken away from my family, Mom!
Answer me!” I told her furiously, yelling at her.
“You don’t understand! I did this for you!
For both of you!
They don’t deserve you, I gave up everything to keep you safe!
You are my daughters, mine, I would do anything to keep you safe, I would do anything to protect you because I love you so much.” She responded sadly, showing a tinge of emotion for the first time since I got here.
“Safe?” I scoffed, disbelief evident in my face.
“You kept us in a cage!
You lied to us and you kept us away from our family. What kind of a person are you, why didn’t you take us back!” I yelled in her face.
“Because I am your mother!
I couldn’t give you back because you are my daughters and they were going to take you away from me. They were going to take you away, I had no choice, I had to protect my daughters!” she shouted, her eyes wild.
“I am your mother! I sacrificed my happiness for you!”
“Sacrificed?
You mean stole us away from our real family!
Why!
Why would you ever want to adopt kids that you have no idea how they got to the orphanage or hospital. Did you ever ask about our real families, did you try to find our real families?” I screamed, my voice rising, filled with the weight of years lost.
“Why are you still calling her mom, why are you letting her get into your head again, Victoria?
Can’t you see that she has nothing to say to defend herself?
I don’t think there is a hospital or orphanage involved, Victoria. I think she hired some thugs to get us from the hospital because she wanted so badly to have kids. She is sick, Victoria, she even lied about her illness just to keep our background a secret. Ask her why she lied about her illness, why was she paying the doctors to lie to us about her illness?” Claire yelled, her glare fixed on Mom.
“You lied to me about your illness too?
How can you be so evil hearted and mean?
I worked so hard to make sure you are doing okay, I worked my ass off to keep you alive and take care of you. Why would you put me through so much trouble, why did you choose to ruin my life and my happiness?” I asked with tears in my eyes.
“I love you Victoria, I care about you so much. You are the first child to call me mommy, you are so special to me, my love.” She lets out sadly.
“You think this is love? This is madness!” I screamed in her face.