Secrets of the Crimson Ashes

I got married.

"That's the strangest thing I've heard all my dreary year. Good joke, Mom."

"I... I'm not joking, Lila."

Maria nervously raised her right hand. Lila lifted her head from her computer screen, looked at her mother's hand for a moment, then gasped in shock and stood up abruptly, sending the chair rolling back violently.

"What?! What are you saying, Mom? Have you lost your mind? Marriage? To whom? And when did this happen? When did you start dating someone? When were you meeting him?"

Lila's chest rose and fell in anger. "And you're telling me now? Seriously?"

Maria covered her hand with the other, flustered. "It's... Chris Myers."

"What?! Your late best friend's husband?! Have you gone mad, Mom? What about Dad? Have you truly forgotten him?" Lila asked her quietly, stunned.

"It's only been three years since he died, and you're already moving on to another man? And to Chris Myers, of all people! What's wrong with you, woman?" Lila screamed, slamming her palms on the desk, her hands trembling with suppressed rage.

"Watch your mouth, Lila, I am your mother," Maria shouted, standing up to defend herself with anxious eyes.

"Yes, he's my favorite friend's husband, but she died seventeen years ago. My love for your father wasn't weak, but I need a man by my side, someone to rely on, to turn to if something bad happens to me."

"You're busy all the time. You didn't even notice my absence. And one day, you'll get married. What will I do alone? I don't want to die lonely." Maria sobbed with tears, covered her face with her hands, and whispered, "I haven't done anything wrong."

Her mother's words fell on her head like a thunderbolt. Her mother was right about everything. She had been busy with herself, trying to forget her father's departure, but she had forgotten her mother... When had she become so selfish!

She lifted her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose to contain her resentment. "Do what you want, Mom."

She said simply and went up to her room. As soon as she was alone, her tears fell. She pressed her hands over her mouth to muffle the sound of her sobs, slid down the door until she sat on the floor, and hugged her knees tightly to her chest. What Lila hated most was to be weak... and alone.

After nearly an hour, Maria gathered her courage, suppressed her anger, and went up to Lila's room. She knocked quietly, then slowly opened the door. Lila was sitting on her bed, her tears forcefully and artificially erased.

"Lila, can I talk to you?" Maria initiated quietly, almost pleading.

"Yes, Mom, go ahead."

Maria entered and sat next to her child, took her hand, and rubbed it gently. "You know I love you, and I loved your father with all my heart. I don't blame you, Lila, but I don't want to be unfair to myself either."

Maria stroked Lila's head tenderly. "I need to feel loved, my daughter. I need someone to grow old beside me, someone to lean on, and for me to lean on. Maybe you won't understand me now, but I don't want to take a step that might make you angry or sad..."

Lila stifled a sob and buried her face in her mother's shoulder, inhaling her affection. "Do what makes you happy, Mom. What makes you happy will make me happy too. I'm sorry for what I said downstairs. I love you."

"I love you too, my precious girl."

Maria whispered, and Lila shook her head in surrender. She had made her decision; even if what was happening now was what she hated most, she would accept it for her mother's happiness.

After two days of packing and rearranging her life, Lila was saying goodbye to everything she had known to move to her new world.

Her close friends, Adam and Sarah, were there to bid her farewell with tears and hugs that lasted for long minutes before she got into the Myers family car heading towards the mansion in Asheville.

Gloomy hours passed for Lila as she bid farewell to the features of New York, where she had spent twenty-two years, and the scenery changed before her to a different place—its terrain, climate, air. She was like a fish that had left its waters but had to learn to live in its new tank for her mother's sake.

Finally, as the sun set, Lila and her mother arrived in front of the Myers family mansion. A breathtaking place like a king's palace, a gold gate, and a vast expanse of flowers and tall trees surrounding the inner side of the estate wall.

Her feet moved with awe and fear, her steps slowing as she approached the mansion's main door as if it were a monster that would swallow her.

She entered the mansion with her mother—a vast, frightening space and opulence that took one's breath away. A middle-aged man with neatly combed black hair interspersed with a few gray strands stood there. It was Chris Myers, the richest man in America. He buttoned his suit jacket and extended his hand to Lila with a friendly smile.

"Lila, it's been a long time since we met. I'm glad you accepted our marriage, my daughter."

Lila shook his hand quickly and whispered awkwardly, "Thank you, Mr. Myers."

Chris looked at her with pity and exclaimed enthusiastically, "Well, Ryan, aren't you going to meet your sister?"

Chris turned to his son, Ryan. Ryan stood up with a sigh of annoyance and extended his hand to shake Lila's. "Hey."

He said briefly. Lila placed her hand in his and felt a shiver run down her spine, so she quickly withdrew her hand without responding, while his honey-brown eyes didn't lift from her sky-blue ones, as if smelling the fear emanating from her.

Ryan gritted his teeth to suppress his growl. He felt his senses slipping out of control and his desire to bite her rising inside him. He left them quickly and went up to his room without another word.