Chapter 59: Food For ThoughtsLUMINAThe hot water rolled down my body from my hair as I stood in our master bathroom shower, finally allowing myself to have a moment to decompress from everything from what had to be one of the most stressful evenings of my life. I shook my head in resignation as I still remembered Sophia scent that had clogged my nose and Silvia scatting remarks.I was also surprised a little by Xenois behavior throughout this evening. He seemed to be the only person on my side. How ironic and here I was expecting it to be only Samuel and his support would be polite Indifference as usual.The steam rose around feeling like a protective barrier, and for the first time in hours, I could breathe without feeling like someone was watching every move that I did, waiting for me to make a mistake before insulting me. I leaned against the tile wall, letting the water wash away the tension that had been building in my muscles since the moment Sophia and Riley had walked throu
Chapter 58: Family MomentRILEY "We'll see about that," Mr. Xenois chuckled, shaking his head like he was exasperated with Ollie but his voice was warm and happy. It was nothing like the way Mom's voice sounded when she was pretending to be happy.As we drove through the street, heading towards their home, I pressed my face to the window and watched the houses get bigger and prettier as well as my eyes were wide open with awe, as I kept looking even as we passed it by. When we finally turned into the driveway of Ollie's house, I felt my breath catch in my throat.I'd been here before, just a few days ago when Mom had arranged that playdate thT she made me wear the glove to use and shake Ollie's hand.Before in the daytime with all the lights off, it seemed nice but normal like every house was.Now it looked like something from a fairy tale, like a castle where good people lived happily all the time and bad things couldn't happen here."Wow," I breathed, not meaning to say it out lou
Chapter 57: Safe HavenRILEYI was so happy when Ollie came up with the brilliant suggestion for a sleepover despite the fact that we hadn't talked about anything like it happening and I tried not to let the relief show on my face when Mom finally agreed to let me stay for the night. It seemed that she was backed into a corner especially with Silvia insisting that it was good she had a restful night without me around but I was grateful because I knew that I wasn't going to be the person she was going to take her anger out on.Inside, my stomach was doing flip-flops, but it wasn't the bad kind like when Mom got angry with me. These were the good kind, like when you find out you don't have to do something scary after all.From where I stood behind Ollie. I could tell that Mom was mad about whatever happened on the balcony with Mr. Xenois. She has put on that fake tight smile she wore when she was trying not to yell at me to stop being a brat in front of other people. Usually when she
Chapter 56: The Unexpected SleepOverXENOISSomething flashed across Sophia's face.It was a mixture of different feelings —surprise, anger, and something else that looked almost like panic. For just a moment, I saw the real Sophia before she donned on her mask once more."You're making a mistake," she said, her voice losing her seductive quality as her voice got more urgent as she said."She'll never be enough for you. Deep down, you and I know that. We have history together. We were in a relationship and we were happy before you found her. She'll never understand what you need the way I do.""This conversation is over." I said shaking my head as I started to move past her, back toward the sliding door, but she grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks."Xenois, please—""Let go of me." I said trying to pull my hand free from her. I didn't like what she was insinuating one bit and maybe I was the one at fault by giving her a lot of leeway so she assumed a lot of things.Instead of rel
Chapter 55: The Unravelling XENOISThe tension at dinner has been too much and it felt suffocating even to me.There were forced smiles and polite exchanges that were being exchanged through the dinner and it kept piling on a shaky foundation.When we were finally done with dessert, I knew I couldn't let this petty charade continue any longer without addressing what was happening here."Sophia," I said, standing from my chair slowly keeping calm as I looked at her, "could I speak with you privately for a moment?"Her eyes brightened up with that looked dangerously like hope as she beamed happily nodding her head. "Of course.""Perfect!" Mother spoke up before I could say anything else to her as she took lead once more and said. "You two go have your chat. Lumina, dear, why don't you help me with the dishes? We can have some girl talk while they handle their business."The way she said "girl talk" made my skin crawl, especially when I saw the look of pain that crossed Lumina's face.
Chapter 54: Perfect Similarities "How wonderful!" Silvia clapped her hands beaming at her words as she nodded her head approvingly.Hell Sophia could vomit and Silvia would call it an achievement in her eyes. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as Silvia added."That's such a coincidence – that's where Ollie goes to school.""Is it really?" Sophia spoke as she seemed genuinely surprised by it but I knew better than to be taken by her false acting. "Well, that is lucky in my situation . He won't be alone in his new school. I was hoping Riley would be able to make friends quickly, and it sounds like he already has one.""Actually," Sophia continued, as she glanced at the two boys who were still engaged in their own private conversation, "the principal mentioned to me that there might be space in Ollie's specific class. Apparently, they're the same age and at the same grade. It would be wonderful if they could be in the same classroom – Riley would feel so much more comfortable having