CHAPTER FIFTY NINE
Seeing her family, in her new room, made Alyssa’s heart skip so many beats. It also made her feel very awkward because she was in a very vulnerable state that she wouldn’t have wanted anyone to see.
She didn’t even know if she was happy or even sad to see them.
“Would you stand there, staring at us like we are ghosts, or you’d welcome us in?” Her stepmother said, interrupting her thoughts.
She opened the door very well for them to come in, and she went on to lock it after they entered.
“What…what are you doing here?” She stuttered, looking at all of them, from her stepmother, to her father, then to her step siblings. They all didn’t look like they were happy to see her, either. So, the feeling was mutual.
A minute later, nobody had answered her question. She looked at them again, thinking if she should ask them again.
“We are not here for you, if that’s what you want to know.” Her stepmother said, and her eyes fell a little. She knew that they weren’t there for her, but her stepmother saying it like that, just made the feeling worse.
“Why are you here, then?” Alyssa asked, and she looked at her father, expecting him to speak up.
Her father was about to speak, but he was stopped by her stepmother.
“We are here for Ella and Liam. You know they are together now, eh?” Her stepmother said, and she looked away from her. She did that because she knew that Alyssa knew the truth, and she didn’t want her to accept that.Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.
“No, you’re not, and they are not together!” Alyssa screamed at her stepmother, and the woman stretched her hand forward to stop her.
“Don’t shout at me, young lady! I’m not the cause of your misfortune.” Alyssa’s stepmother screamed back at her, and Alyssa backed away from her with tears gathering really fast in her eyes.
She averted her gaze from them and she looked down. The air around the room was suddenly seized and Alyssa was slowly losing her breath.
Alyssa placed her hand on her chest, so she would be able to balance her breathing and speak again.
Her stepmother looked at her father and she rolled her eyes at him because she felt like Alyssa was just pretending and trying to play the victim card.
“You lied! You’re lying.” Alyssa said, and she pointed her finger at her stepmother.
Without waiting for an answer, she continued speaking. “I know you’re here because the kingdom has been annexed. Isn’t that true?” She asked, and her step siblings left the room at the same time, leaving Alyssa with her dad and stepmother.
“Don’t point at your stepmother, Alyssa. Have some shame.” Her father said to her, and she gradually brought her finger down, not because she was told to, but because she realised that she was meant to speak to her father directly instead.
“So now, you’re here, running away from your problems, dad!” Alyssa said, and her father frowned at her.
Alyssa didn’t know what she was saying and why she was talking to her dad that way, but she was too hurt to even think properly.
“Running from our problems? We are not the cowards here, you are!” Her stepmother screamed at her and then, it was her turn to point fingers.
Alyssa was trying so hard to hold the tears, but it seemed like that wasn’t working because the tears were really threatening to stream down her face.
“I’m not a coward, I’m not a coward!” Alyssa started saying, while shaking her head, to her stepmother and father. It was more like she was saying it to herself, trying to convince herself that she wasn’t.
“You can see how pathetic she is? Talk to her.” Alyssa’s stepmother said and moved away from Alyssa. If she had stayed in front of her for a few more seconds, then she would have slapped her because Alyssa was really making her angry with her stupid attitude and naivety.
“Everything is happening because of you. We gave you just one mission to accomplish, but you ran away like a coward and left us to bear the consequences. You should better stop convincing yourself that you’re not a coward because you are. You’re a failure, too.” Alyssa’s father said, and Alyssa couldn’t just take it any longer.
She screamed at them to stop, and she backed away from them.
Her heart was hurting.
God, it really was.
The pain was too much for her to bear. It really was.
She ran to the window, and she opened it immediately because she was running crazy.
She was dying.
Her heart was dying.
Alyssa tightly closed her eyes and she allowed the tears to flow freely down her face. She could feel them dropping on her skin.
One after the other.
She just needed a minute to get herself, or an hour. She wasn’t sure.
Alyssa wanted to pray.
She really wanted to, but she couldn’t.
Her mouth couldn’t.
“You see what I’m saying, so dramatic.” Her stepmother said and pointed towards her. Her father agreed with her, and her heart clenched more.
Everyone was against her.
The world was against her.
She was against herself.
Alyssa opened her eyes again, and she tried wiping her tears before turning around to see the people who opened her fresh wounds again.
A few seconds later, she turned around to see her stepmother and father whispering to each other. They didn’t notice that she was watching them, and she wasn’t ready to inform them that she was.
That day was one of the worst days of her life, and she just knew that there were many to come. She wasn’t even trying to lay a curse on herself, that’s the natural thing that happens to her.
Sigh…
She should start thinking of how she was going to leave the room for them.
Likewise, she also wanted to leave the world for them, all of them, but it wasn’t time. Yet.
Alyssa wiped the last drops of tears on her face and she started walking towards the door. She walked past them and just when she thought they didn’t notice, her stepmother called her back.
“There you go. Running away from your problems.” Her father said, using her exact words against her.
She instantly looked down and when she wasn’t saying anything, her stepmother started comparing her to Ella, saying that Ella was better than she in every way.
The father agreed, saying that she couldn’t save her family, and they really expected her to carry out a mission without failing.
“Just stop. Please. Please.” Alyssa said, while looking down. Her voice was barely a whisper. She was tired of speaking, tired of always defending herself, trying to convince people that she just wanted to live. Live!
“You’re a-” Her stepmother started saying, but she was interrupted by Liam’s presence.
“If you complete that sentence, you wouldn’t love what would happen…to you.” Liam threatened, and Alyssa looked up to see Liam standing by her side, looking like her hero.
Maybe he really is her hero.
Maybe.