Someone knocked at the door. As the maid Lily opened the door, it was shown that the person was Scarlet. "Is Florence here?" Scarlet asked as she came inside.

Lily closed the door behind her and answered, "Yes, You know that..."

"Yes, I know," Scarlet interrupted her and went towards Florence's room in a hurry, she knew that Florence was there.

"You should listen out of courtesy. Guess she pulled some strings to get into high society," Lily whispered.

Scarlet went as fast as she could, and soon, she reached the door of their room. The walls of the room were painted with whitish-cream colour, which represented quiet and fresh feelings, and the floor was covered with a brownish-yellow carpet.

She almost shouted, "Florence! How are you feeling? Tell me, are you okay? Anything broken?"

Aurora was already there with Florence. Florence was laying in her bed, Aurora sat beside her.

Aurora answered, "Just a sprained wrist." Aurora recommended her to a seat. Scarlet sat down in the respective place.

"I am fine, Scarlet. Relax," Florence consoled.

Scarlet moved closer to Florence and held her hand, "How could you do this, Florence?"

Florence held her hand tighter and answered, "I'm innocent! It's all that rock's fault. It came out of nowhere!"

Florence grinned, "It's 100 per cent at fault for the accident!"

Scarlet let go of her hand and answered, "Very funny! Let's get you to a doctor."

Florence shooked her head and gave a "no" gesture to her. She hated doctors, injections especially, so she didn't want to go.

Aurora commented, "I also insisted her to get to a doctor, but it was all in vain."

Florence interfered, "Calm down, both of you. I'm fine."

Aurora added," She fell down from a bicycle, and she's saying, it's nothing serious."

Scarlet put a seal on Aurora's statement, "Yeah."

Florence teased them, "Actually, I'm really sad. Because I lost the race due to this accident."

Someone knocked at the door. "Yes, come in," Aurora said.

Lily entered the room and informed them, "Ms. Florence, Mrs. Seraphina would like to see you in her study."

Florence got confused, "I didn't know mom was here."

"She just arrived and went straight to her room through the yard," Lily answered.

Florence stood up and walked away, while Aurora was still worried about her.

Florence knocked at the door and entered the room. She wanted to keep herself calm, so she could act like normal. Florence walked carefully towards her mom's chair.

There was darkness in the room. The curtains to the windows were drawn with the sunlight peeking through a bit, mom was pressing her palms together,  which she only did when she was angry. It was apparent that she was there to think and not to study or work.

There were only big bookshelves and a big desk with a chair in which mom was seated.

"Mom, you want to see me?" Florence questioned.

"I needed you at the office today, too, but you weren't there. I guess that you had something more important than attending today's meeting. Where were you?" Seraphina said while knitting her eyebrows. and she flexed her palm, again and again; something she usually does when she was angry.

From her mom's tone, she felt that mom knew about the race. Her face lost its colour,  but she didn't want to escape from reality. It wasn't in her nature, so she answered straightforwardly. "You wanted to see me in your study, so I'm guessing you knew exactly where I was."

Mom tried to calm her nerves, "I heard you took your bicycle and went to the repair shop for which I paid the bills."

Her mom wanted her to accept what she did right in front of her.

Florence exhaled deeply, "No."

They were silent. Mom realized that she had no courage to say it.

Mom questioned, "Are you doing this just to spite me?"

Florence answered, "That's not true, mom. You think everything I do is problematic because you never approve of my actions."

Mom steamed, "What's there to approve of, huh? Instead of doing your job, you go around smashing bicycles and motorcycles."

Florence burst, "I'm doing my job, mom. I'm not a clerk working full time at a grocery store!"

Mom commented, "Oh, you want to catch a whale without getting wet. Is that so?" After a few moments of silence, mom continued, "Listen, I want you to stop being irresponsible, Florence. No more racing! Got it?"

Florence was silent. Mom yelled, "I said, 'Got it?"'

Florence seriously responded, "Yeah, mom. I got it. All I need you to get that I have my own life. All right?"

Mom boiled, "What life? You can't have your own life without fighting for a cause, a goal. You're just hurting yourself on this bloody races. You're wasting both your energy and your time. It's time you pulled yourself together!"

Florence bowed her head, and without saying another word she left.

Aurora and Scarlet were worried about her, due to the harsh nature of her mom. Their patience ended. Aurora yelled to Scarlet, "Florence can be so annoying sometimes."

Scarlet answered, "Yes, she had an accident, and still she jokes about it like it's nothing. Unbelievable! I think their talk is going to take long."

Aurora answered, "Probably. You know her mom, too. I wonder what they're talking about."

Scarlet yelled, "I don't approve of what Florence did, either. But it's also not fair that aunty puts so much pressure on her."

In a flash, Florence came out, and Aurora stood simultaneously because she knew Florence needed her this time, Aurora said, "Florence? Florence, wait, let's talk."

Florence was walking fast from the lounge. She answered, "Not now," and she left.

Florence went for a long drive. She always does it when she was anxious about anything or especially after an argument with her mom. That's the thing which calms her.

"I'll talk to mom," Aurora told Scarlet, she left to talk to mom.

"I have my own life, Right," Words echoed in Seraphina's ears. She began to cough, as Aurora entered the room, she gave her medicines with a glass of water. After taking medicine, she was fine.

Aurora yelled, "What happened, mummy? You were too hard on her?"

Mom answered in a serious tone, "It was nothing compared to what she did!"

Aurora told, "Wish you didn't pressurize her too much. I could've talked to her nicely and make her promise.

"She's promised many times before," mom steamed.

Aurora consoled, "She's too young. She'll learn in time."

Mom answered, "There's only one thing that can teach responsibility properly if the business failed. I've no choice but to marry her off."

Aurora exclaimed in shock, "Marry her off?"

Mom yelled, "Otherwise she'll never change her ways. She needs to get married one day and settle down before she hurts herself. She needs to learn responsibility. We don't know what will happen in life, and I want her to be a responsible woman before I die."

Aurora tried to escape, "Scarlet."

"What about her?" Mom outpoured.

"I left her alone in the lounge, I should go back. Mom, let's talk through this issue later," Aurora countered.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

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~Mery Ruaid