Chapter 139

Stella

My fingers curl around my mother's arm. I draw her closer to me, scanning the immediate environment that surrounds us.

Just up ahead, dawned in golden and white clothes, walks my old foster mother and sister, Clara. They were sadistic smiles on their faces, the fake, and plastic kind that one would see on killer, robots, or demons, pretending to be somebody they are not. The image of them sense chills down my spine, a tsunami of dread crashing over my body, making me feel ice cold as they slowly approach us.

They waves their arms in the air, bags colliding with one another. I turned to look up at my mother, a silent plea for her help in my time of need. She gives me a subtle nod and turns her attention back to the woman who enter our close vicinity.

“What do you want?” my mother's voice is stern, unwavering. She crosses her arms over her chest, our hands still connected, keeping me rooted in reality. “Do I need to call security again to handle you? Are you going to cause another scene?”

“Really?” my foster mother rolls her eyes, scoffing loud enough for those around us to listen in on. “That it was so long ago, you need to stop holding onto the past and move on. Trust me, I have.”

My eyes meet Clara. She stares back at me, her blue eyes as big and bold they were before. Forever, demanding, forever, demeaning, forever focused on what she can extort out of life instead of truly living in it.

“We are actually here to find outfits for my daughter's engagement,” Clara’s mother speaks, smugness, and a twisted sense of benevolent wrapped in her voice.

I can't help but tense up, looking away at the vinyl flooring as my mother looks down at me. I simply do not wish to live in this moment, wanting to desperately disappear into the racks of clothing, hoping that it would swallow me whole, keeping me away from the cruel world.

That is simply a fantasy, though. I need to live life and learn from it, just as my mother said. This just happens to be one of those moments.

“Her engagement?” my mother asks, looking back at the mother daughter duo. She turns to look at my old foster sister and gives her a decisive nod, one movement of her head. “congratulations. I am sure he is very lucky to have secured you.”

“I know,” Clara flips her golden blonde hair over her shoulder, smiling with pride, “It is about damn time, honestly. He wasted so much time on somebody who does not love him back.”

It is like the knife has been pushed further into my heart. My agony and depression on full display for those to see, for those to gawk at from afar. I second of breath, trying to keep my composure, not wanting to give in to Clara's obvious schemes.

“Congratulations, Clara,” I speak in a quiet voice, wanting to leave this place as fast as possible.

“Thank you,” her voice greats on my nerves, forcing me to swallow the bitter taste of disappointment.

I watch a relishes in her victory. Clara has finally won against me. She has everything she could've ever wanted in life: the man, I used to call my husband, a wallet with no limit, and a life that she thinks she deserves.

What a joke.

“Thank you,” she sneeze at me, scrunching her face up as a way to mock me, to mock the sadness that I am feeling in this moment, concealing it with her pose and happiness. She looks down at me through her eyelashes, a condescending looks flashing, cross her face. “I hope you can understand why I cannot extend an invite to you for the wedding.”

Her words are like a slap across the face. All I can do is sit there and take it, allowing myself to be abused by the girl that has tormented me for the entirety of my life. Period to let her get in one last hit before we officially part ways, never to see each other again.

“I understand,” I nod, keeping my words to myself.

“Thank you again for ditching Adrian,” she lets out a cackle, tossing her hair over her shoulder again. “You made the right choice. This is how things should have been from the beginning.”

I fake smile, putting in as much of my energy into it as possible. I know that she knows that my smile is fake, but I simply do not care. I turned away and look up at my mother, giving her hand to one less squeeze, desperately needing to get out of this situation as fast as humanly possible.

I stand from the bench and help my mother collect our bags onto my arms. Just as we are about to step away, Clara stops me from walking. She pushes me back and stares me down, and expected look on her face.

“Do you have anything else to say to me?” she asks with a smug smile.

“Yeah,” I nod, looking at her in the eyes, “you’re lucky. You don’t deserve a life with the love that he’ll give you. You deserve to be alone.”

“Oh?” Clara is taken aback by my words, her jaw dropping. I nod.

“Yes,” I nod. I look her up and down, trying to rub salt in the wound as my petty side comes out, “you deserve nothing good. You are a liar, a manipulator, and deserve to live in misery’s company. It’s honestly a surprise to see someone even be willing to marry you.”

“Yeah, well,” Clara stammers, “you don’t deserve to live a happy life either! You are just as much of a brat as I am! Everyone around us can see it!”

“I’m not the one throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of a shopping mall,” I breathe the words out, almost laughing at the sight.

Clara huffs to herself. She turns to her mother for help but she is at a loss for words, unable to form a coherent sentence, a retort to put me in my place like she usually does.

I look between them, taking one last look at the women who have tormented me for so long. I do not wish to say goodbye and I especially don’t want to continue to enable their behavior.

Without wasting another second, my mother and I link arms together, turning away from the desperate duo that stands for us. We walk around them, leaning into one another for support.

Weirdly enough, I feel much lighter than I did before. It feels as if I am able to finally close this chapter of my life, to focus on the road ahead instead of dwelling in the past and what I should've done.

As we take our first steps out of the mall, the sun hits our faces and I feel like a new woman. At least now, I can learn from my previous mistakes to move on with my life. I can continue to grow my business, helping those who need it the most, while learning to love somebody who does not share the same shade of green eyes as Adrian.