Selfish?

The Grant mansion still wore its mourning clothes with black ribbons on the gates.

It had only been a week since Xander’s burial, but the storm that brewed inside the family’s heart was fiercer than the one at his funeral.

Mr. and Mrs. Grant had reached their limit.

“You have lingered long enough,” Mrs. Grant said to Claire coldly, as she glared at her with disgust.

She added with bloodshot eyes, “Take your daughter and leave. From the very beginning, you married Xander for money, so now that he’s gone, you don’t belong in this house anymore.”

Claire paled instantly, she clutched her five years old daughter's hand tightly.

Tears filled her eyes as she stammered, “Mum, please this is my home. Where else can I go?”

“Your home?” Mrs Grant’s voice trembled with fury as she wondered if she had heard correctly, or if she had hallucinated. “This is not your home. This was Xander’s home, but now he is gone. Do you think your pitiful tears will change what I see? You are a burden, Claire, and I don’t want to waste my time on you. So leave, before I lose my temper.”

Alexa secretly gave her mother a thumbs up as she stared at Claire in disgust.

“Out, now”. Mr Grant added firmly. “We have lost our son and we won’t tolerate the woman who only ever clung to him for wealth.”

Claire sank to her knees, sobbing, her shoulders shaking. “Please don’t do this to me, I have no one else and no place to go”. She pleaded with her eyes already red and tears threatening to come out of them.

Seeing that her teary eyes had no effect on them, she held her daughter's hand and said with a desperate voice, “What about Bella, she’s your granddaughter's dad”.

Giving her a mocking look, Mr Grant chuckled and asked with a meaningful look, “Are you sure about that?

She immediately went pale, so she stared at Nathan and called out softly, “Nathan”.

And at that moment, Nathan stood up from the couch , his jaw tight, his eyes sharp as he moved to Claire’s side.

He stood beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Mother, Father, that's enough. Claire is family, so she stays.” He said,

“She is not family!” Mrs Grant snapped at him with her voice cutting like glass. “Her place was with Xander, not you. Do you dare bring her under your wife’s roof?”

“Yes mum. Since she is not wanted here, I will take her. She’s coming with me”. He clenched his fist and said without any hint of shame.

Though his words caused the atmosphere to become tense.

Viola, who was sitting with Alexa, felt her breath seize. Her face drained of color and became pale she stared at her husband, with a look of pure disbelief .

She did not want to say anything, but this was too much.

“You want to bring her into our home? Nathan, are you even hearing yourself?” She asked him.

Upon listening to his wife’s words, his eyes softened for like a second before they changed to be cold and his voice harsh, “She has nowhere else”.

Viola scoffed as she continued to stare at him. She was finally losing it, after years of enduring his nonchalant attitude. “Why must it be our house? You could rent an apartment for her, but our own house? Are you sure you really know what you are saying?”.

“Don’t be selfish Viola”. He said to her with a frown on his face, but his words hit her like a thunderclap.

Viola’s lips parted and murmured “Selfish?”

“Nathan, I have been patient for years. I have stood by you, endured your distant attitude towards me, but now, you ask me to share my home with her? And you dare call me selfish?”

Nathan’s eyes darkened and he could feel the vein in his neck popping out, but before he could respond, Claire let out a shaky breath. She wiped her tears and forced a soft smile on her face.

“I don’t want to cause trouble,” she said softly, as though she was suffering. “I will stay at a hotel until I can find my own place. Bella and I will manage somehow. I don’t want to be a burden like mum said”.

Her words sounded genuine, but secretly, she pinched her daughter’s hand and as if she understood the meaning, Bella let out a loud cry.

“Daddy! Daddy!” Bella cried, clinging to Claire’s dress before turning to Nathan, with her eyes soaked with tears.

She yelled out, “I miss my daddy! I don’t want to go to a hotel. I want to stay here! I want Uncle Nathan! Please!”

Saying this, she hugged her mother tightly as her cries echoed through the living room, but despite her cries which sounded like knives stabbing into hearts, only Nathan felt for her, because everyone was not quite convinced with her little acting skills.

Claire looked helpless when she saw her daughter in this state, so she stroked Bella’s hair as though she couldn’t bear her daughter’s pain.

Upon seeing this, Nathan felt pity towards Bella, so ignoring his parents’ sharp and silent glare, he bent down, and scooped Bella into his arms.

He held her close and said with a firm voice, “Enough, Bella will not cry like this again. From today, Claire and Bella will stay with me and that is final.”

And then, as though to seal it, he reached down and clasped Claire’s hand, as a way to support her.

Viola’s world crumbled when she heard his words.

She stared at their clasped hands and clenched both her fists tightly.

And with trembling lips, she stared at the man she had called her husband.

The fact that he hadn’t even looked at her when he made his declaration was heart wrenching.

Seeing Viola’s state, Alexa who sat beside her, held her hand as she tried to support her while staring at the trio with disgust.

But Viola, who refused to be seen in this state, stood up from the couch, and without saying anything, she walked out of the mansion amidst the calls from Alexa and her parents- in- law who wore a look of concern.

She didn't mean to be disrespectful when she left the living room without saying anything, but she knew she couldn’t say anything because he had spoken and his choice was not hers.

So she left and returned to Nathan’s house, in order to calm herself down. Two hours later, the quiet house became noisy when they arrived.

She wondered what Nathan was doing with the mother and daughter all this time, but when she saw the amount of boxes beside them, she gave herself a mocking laugh.

Viola stood up from the couch, her eyes following Nathan as he carried Claire’s bags inside and set them down as though everything was normal.

Claire stared at Viola with a smug look as she walked around, she then went close to Nathan and brushed her arm against him, “Thank you, Nathan, you have done too much for us already.” She said with a soft voice.

“You are family,” Nathan said with a smile, then he added. “This is your home now.”

Viola felt like throwing up when she saw this, especially the smirk that was playing on Claire’s lips as if she had won a lottery.

Feeling happy, he held Claire’s hand and started showing her around as he ignored Viola like she didn’t exit.

Meanwhile, Bella, who was also left behind, sees the opportunity and starts wandering around the living room, looking for what to touch. Her eyes shone brightly when she saw a porcelain vase on a shelf.

Unaware that it was Viola’s most cherished piece, Bella smirked and glanced around, then deliberately pushed the vase with her small hands making it shattered into countless pieces as it scattered across the marble floor.

The crash was so loud that it made Viola freeze.