Writer’s POV
Sitting with the family at the dining and eating with them later seems to be the best moment of Ariel’s life, but knowing her mom is missing here, she feels a bit sad. She is still finding it difficult to fit in, especially at the thought of the woman not liking her.
“Why didn’t you come with your husband?” Joann, the eldest of the two kids suddenly asks out of the blue moon as she glances at Ariel.
“I heard he is really cute. Why didn’t you bring him with you?” The second one, Ella asks as she pouts her lips, and Ariel smiles at them, as she glances at her dad, but he turns his gaze away, and she already knows the possible reason. Maybe he already knows that she married Alicia’s ex-husband.
“What is going on here?” Alicia’s voice suddenly disrupts the cool atmosphere as she walks into the dining room, but she stops abruptly on her track and pulls a surprised look when she spots Ariel sitting with her family.
“What is happening here, Dad, Mom?” She asks, trying to comprehend what is going on, but nothing seems to be coming through.
“Come sit with us and eat, Alicia. We will talk about it after we have…”
“Oh, stop it, Dad! We are not going to talk about anything later, ok? What the hell is this good-for-nothing shameless bitch doing here?” Alicia yells at the top of her voice, and Ariel sighs briefly. Well, she was expecting this from the moment she found out Alicia has something to do with this family, so it wasn’t really something to be worked up about.
“Come on, Alicia. Stop talking to her like that,” Joan chips in, rolling her eyes. Although she was born and brought up to believe that Alicia was her sister, but the two kids never really liked her for no reason, and she? Not that she ever gives a damn about them too, anyway.
“Just shut your mouth, little girl. I wasn’t talking to you!” She snaps at Joan, and Mr. Daniel slams her hands on the table this time as she springs up to her feet.
“What the hell is the meaning of this shit, Alicia? You saw that we have a guest here, can you stop with that silly attitude and behave yourself?” Mrs. Daniel snaps at her, and she scoffs.
“Do you know who this bitch is? Do you know who the fuck she is and you are telling me to behave? She is…”
“Yes, the wife to your ex-husband, and so freaking what?” Mrs. Daniel yells at the top of her voice as she glares hard at her. She has been trying to tolerate this silly attitude of hers from the onset, and she just had it up to her neck that she can’t take this shit anymore. She was aware of all the happenings from the onset. She was aware of the game she has been playing, she was aware of the fact that she was pulling a stunt with Dante’s family. Yes, she knew everything from the onset, because she was watching every step she took, but it was just not yet time to expose this bitch standing in front of her.
“Huh?” Joan and Ella exclaim at the same time.
“The two of you, to your room. I will call you when we are done with this mess,” Mrs. Daniel says to the kids, and they leave the dining room for their room immediately.
“So, you knew about it, Mom? You knew she was married to…”
“Yes, I am aware of everything, Alicia. I have been trying to take this shit from you, but I can’t take it anymore… And Ariel here is the biological daughter of Daniel, born by his first love… Do you have a problem with that?” Mrs. Daniel yells for the second time, and Ariel just stares at her in shock. She wasn’t expecting the woman to stand up and fight for her and seeing her doing this now makes her heart flutter, and leaves her wondering why she’s doing this.
“What!” Alicia’s mouth drops open in shock and her eyes slowly widen as she glances from her silent dad to Ariel who is just sitting there, and back to Mrs. Daniel.
“Mom… You… you…” Alicia opens her mouth to talk, but her lips tremble and end up dropping open with no words coming out of them. Tears brim in her eyes, and they finally find their way down her cheeks. Everything seems like a nightmare to her, and she can’t help the emptiness she feels within herself as she stares at them in shock.
“Tell me it’s not true, Dad… Tell me it’s not true, please,” She turns her gaze to look at her dad, but he only sighs.
“Dad, this can’t happen, ok? This young lady here stole my husband from me… She stole everything from me…”
“What if you were in her shoes, Alicia? I warned you about it when I found out what you did… You brought an innocent girl into your home to work as your husband’s surrogate baby mama… What the hell were you thinking? How unfair and inhuman you can be?” Mr. Daniel finally speaks up for the second time as he springs up to his feet.
“Dad…”
“That was not how I brought you up, and you knew it. I didn’t bring you up to hurt other people… Do you know what she must’ve been through because of you? Do you know the emotional pain you must’ve caused her?” The man yells for the second time, feeling enraged.
“This is unfair, Dad…”
“Her life has been unfair, Alicia… She has lived all her life in pain, life has been unfair to her, and you have been unfair to her. She is my daughter, and you have to accept it,” He tries to be calm with her, so he won’t hurt her emotions. She may be his adopted child, but he cherishes her so much like his own daughter. He still kept her around him and treated her like his daughter even after he had his kids. That is how much he cared so much about her.
“Fine… Fine… I will leave… I will go,” Alicia wipes her tears from her eyes, but more keeps falling down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry this happened because of me, Alicia…” Ariel finally speaks up for the second time as waves of guilt washed through her. To her, Alicia never deserves everything she is going through. Although she has hurt her in the past, she still can’t help it. The guilt rushes through her blood as she beholds the pain in Alicia’s eyes. They are tearing her apart, and it’s not something she can even deny.
“I will just leave. You should sort it out with her,” She utters before she picks up her handbag and strides out of the house, ignoring her dad who keeps calling after her.
She hops inside the car as soon as she arrives at the parking lot, and Henry swings into action immediately, driving them out of the compound afterward.
She feels her heart tearing apart as the thought of what happened back there haunts her. She can’t help but feel like the bad person here. It hurts to know that she caused someone else pain. Even though she was just an adopted child, she still didn’t deserve to be treated like that.
“Argh!” She suddenly screams at the top of her voice, and Henry is forced to pull over at the side of the road.
“What is wrong, ma’am? Are you ok? What happened?” Henry shrieks as he turns in the seat to find her grimacing in pain.
“My waist! Ahhhh!” She screams for the second time as she holds on to the seat tightly like she’s going to rip it off, and at this point, the realization dawns on Henry that her water just broke. She’s in labor!