"Guess what's funny-" I spurted the words as I stared at him blankly, "-my mom's name is Sophia Valdez."

"-Was, I mean," my voice broke as I corrected it.

Jonas opened his mouth to say something when another call reverberated in the stillness.

"Amyra!"

I didn't recognize the voice at one go, but I was sure that it was still somewhere in the back of my mind. Heart, actually.

My heart ceased to beat for a moment as my apprehension flashed into reality, right in front of me.

It was her.

"Mom-" the sound wave was generated with the greatest effort by my voice box, but it barely came out as a whisper.

She was here, right in front of me, beautifully aged in the timespan of a decade; I was seeing my mother after ten years.

Her ocean-blue eyes stared at me as if trying to spot her nine-year-old little daughter in me. I had my mother's eyes.

Did she even recognize me? I didn't look the same as I did ten years back after all. Kids tend to undergo more facial change than older people.

"A-m-y," she spluttered, throwing her arms forward to embrace me.

I subconsciously shifted a few steps back, not giving her the chance to do so.

"Don't-"

"-don't come near me!" I shrieked in between my breaths.

"Amy-" she continued in a broken voice, "-I'm your mom."

"No, you aren't!" I choked as my back pressed against the wall. "Get away from me-"

"Mom, what's happening-?" June inquired in a completely baffled tone.

"Amy-!"

He hurriedly clutched me by my left arm as I began losing my balance. I was wailing my heart out, but no sound came out. Even tears seemed to have frozen in my eyes.

"She left me- June!" I slurred, grasping his t-shirt as if I was a mad patient who just ran away from a mental asylum.

The undisguised puzzlement in June's face said that he was as shocked as I was; he clearly didn't have any clue of what was going on.

"Mom, what-?" he muttered, expecting an answer.

Momma stood silent, tears welling up in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks like rivulets.

"I need an explanation for this," he demanded.

We limped towards the sofa, Jonas holding me firmly by my left arm so that I wouldn't lose my balance. There was a long stretching unbearable silence.

"Mumma!" a call from a little girl sliced through the silence as she flung her arms around my mom.

She must be the other Amy.

I hated the fact that she highly resembled the nine years old version of myself, even though she was much younger. The little Amy.

"Amyra, I didn't want to leave you-" mom tried to explain, but I cut her out in the middle.

"Do you have any explanation for what you've done-?" I stammered.

"Lizelle!" she called the maid.

"Take Amy to her room."

After Lizelle had left with little Amy, she began her story.

"Your father sent me a divorce letter ten years back," she said in a low voice. "I wanted to take you with me, but he got your custody."

"Remember you were asked in a court whether you want to stay with your father or me, when you were little?" she asked.

I remembered that vaguely. I was indeed taken to a court one day. Only if I was mature enough at that time to understand that my parents were having a divorce.

"You said you wanted to stay in Valdez Mansion... plus your father had proved in the court that you would have a better upbringing there than being with me since I didn't have a specific place to go. That's why your father got your full custody."

"Because Pappa said that you were leaving me!" I almost yelled. "I hadn't seen you for days, what else was a nine years old girl supposed to think?"

"Amy, trust me, I wanted to stay close to you, but your father didn't let me-"

Her eyes almost begged me to listen out to her.

I turned my head away. My heart was crying to hear her out, but my action was controlled by my mind.

"He abused me," she whispered.

I turned my face back at her. Her face was disorientated as she blurted out the words.

I never knew that.

She tugged her long sleeve to reveal an obnoxious bruise on her left arm.

"This is the only scar left," she mumbled. "If I don't count the scars in my heart."

My heart shattered into two at her words.

"Mom, why didn't you ever tell me-?" Jonas gasped, falling down to hug her knees.

"I didn't want to involve you in my past life Jonas, that's why I never told you anything about it. Only your father knows," she replied in between her sobs.

"How could you then leave your nine years old daughter with the man who abused you?" I asked, ignoring the emotional outburst within me.

"Your father loved you, Amy, I was sure of that. I had even planned on escaping with you, but I failed. Your father wouldn't let you go, and I knew I couldn't stay there either. The divorce statement was already passed, and he had your full custody, which meant that I couldn't even meet you."

Her head was bent low, a look of guilt taking over the tears.

"I know I have wronged you, Amy," she continued in a broken voice.

"I can never forgive myself for being so helpless."

I didn't say anything; I didn't know what to say. My mom had gone through so much and I never got to know?

I wanted to wipe away her tears. I wanted to hear about all her sufferings which I never got to hear. I wanted to embrace her tightly, tell her how much I missed her all these years. I wanted to do many things all at once-

Then again, I could not forget the negative feelings that had accumulated inside me in the past ten years for her so easily.

Nevertheless, a new surge of anger coursed through my veins towards my father at that moment. I could never imagine that my father- the person I considered my superhero all my life, did something like this to my mom...

"How did you meet dad?" Jonas asked, breaking the silence.

"Your father was my lawyer when the divorce took place," she answered.

"After the court's decision, I went to stay with my sister Emily in another state, she was the only family member I had left. I wasn't allowed to contact Amy, but Emily would call there every once in a while to find out about Amy's well-being. At least I was assured that Amy was doing fine there."

She took a short pause for breathing before continuing, "Two years later, your father proposed me for marriage. We were quite good friends by that time, and Emily advised me that I should accept the proposal. I knew I needed to start a new life sooner or later, I couldn't stay with Emily forever after all. We got married that year."

"There hasn't been a single second in the past ten years when I haven't thought about you, Amy," she mumbled, turning back to face me.

"You took care of me just like you would have taken care of Amyra, right?" Jonas asked.

Mom nodded as she caressed his unkempt hair.

"Amberson and I had a child a year later," she pointed towards the little Amy's picture on the wall while saying it.

"I named her Amy, after you."

Her voice still had that mother's emotion in it. The same one as ten years back. I could finally see my mom in her.

Both Jonas and mom were staring at me with anticipation; I knew they were waiting for my reply.

I took a deep breath before finally speaking, "You found a new daughter, a new Amy-"

I gave a painful smile before continuing, "-but did you ever realize that this Amy will always have only one mother?"

I could say that I was not the only one whose heart broke at that sentence, but I decided to remain unaffected.

I couldn't forgive her yet.

"How coincidental was it-" Jonas muttered in a dejected tone, "-that a whole decade later, your real daughter and your stepson had to encounter like this. That too, right after Mr. Valdez's death."

"When did you get to know about it, mom?" he asked.

"Bella informed me yesterday that Amy was living with you and Xaviers. I couldn't believe it, it was beyond my imagination. Then I called Xaviers-"

Her words were coming in broken fragments.

"Amy, don't you remember Aunt Bella?" she asked, examining the question on my face.

"Who's Aunt Bella now?"

I guess I knew- Mrs. Arabella.

"Arabella- my best friend. She used to visit us frequently at Valdez Mansion."

Now it made sense why it always felt like I had seen her somewhere before. Well, I wasn't supposed to remember someone I had seen ten years back in my childhood. Even she had difficulty in recalling my name when I first told her.

I don't know why, but it felt like I couldn't stay there any longer. I rose up on the spur of the moment and gave another painful smile before muttering,

"The world is indeed round."

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