Edited for Wattys 2020 July 6th 2020.

When I opened my front door, a woman in a long white dress was waiting for me beside Ken.

I felt Amber, and Tess tense beside me. The fact that they were there, made everything so much worse. We didn't need to be detectives to know what was going on. In Toroyal, you couldn't be living with a woman if you weren't married to her. It's a rule that was voted when unplanned pregnancies grew of 500% rate a year.

The woman ran to me, her footfall light, and echoing in the whole floor. If slow romantic music, we would have thought it's the romantic scene in movies when the father that was hiding his love finally tells his daughter.

But my life wasn't a romantic movie. It was a thriller, written by the best writer out there.

I saw everything in slow motion. Even Ken's smile as it spread on his face, while he was looking at her. My lips curled up in disgust.

"honey." She said, holding my shoulders. "I'm Nora, your new-" she looked at my friends, but said it anyway "mother."

I sucked in a breath and shook her hands off with my shoulders. My foot also echoed in the whole floor. But mine was heavy, and spelled clearly the wrathful thoughts I was having.

"Who the heck is this?" I hissed at father.

He looked at me with a calmness that made me hate him a thousand times more. I didn't know that was possible. "my wife."

I clenched my fists. "you want to embarrass me? You want to make us look like fools in front of all the bloodsucking fanatics out there?."

I was going to lose all my fans-the only people who cared- if this information goes out.

"they're your friends."

"Exactly." When I realized he really didn't feel sorry, I left him standing, and walked back, in front of a Nora who didn't quite understand what was going on. I didn't know what was going on in my family most of the time. She was a fool to want to be a part of this. What kind of perfect family fantasy did he have to sell to her to agree?

She would be miserable soon. If she didn't leave today.

"guys. Not the right time here." They nodded. I loved how understanding they both were. But when I pressed the metal panel to open the door, nothing happened.

"dinner is served." Ken's voice emanated egotism. He believed he was powerful. And at that point, he was. The unfortune of the situation made me gag.

Why me? Why always me?

Because I didn't want to create a scene, and make them believe me and Father were at each other's throats most of the time, instead of the beautiful relationship he showed under the spotlight, I agreed to go to the kitchen. Although, in retrospect, I think it was obvious we hated each other. We were far way from each other, contradicted each other openly, and clenched fists.

Wasn't that obvious?

Oh, how much the man made me sick.

I looked at both of them, trying to stop my tears from spilling out. I hoped with all I had that they weren't visible. I was truthfully doing a good job at keeping it together.

But they must have been visible. I felt like the little girl that cries after a bigger kid steals her

toy -- childish, and powerless. " I guess dinner is served" I said, lamely.

During the whole two hours we were seated at the dinner table, I barely talked. I sat in my chair, sulking so much I couldn't even swallow my food. The lump in my throat was too big to even use my vocal cords at all.

Father specifically prolonged the dinner to make me miserable.

I knew so because every time conversation would stop for a while, he'd bring a new subject, occasionally looking at me. My friends had also turned their backs on me. They congratulated her on the amazing food, and although it was good-even excellent- I'd rather die than tell her. They made conversation with her. They talked to father like a long-lost friend.

From the looks of it, it almost seemed like I was the bad guy, sulking for no reason. The thought angered me so much more, that I accidently spilled my orange juice when trying to bring it to my mouth.

"oh snap. Exactly what I needed."

A cleaning robot came in fast, so fast it didn't even had the time to reach my shirt. I wanted to, so I could use it as an excuse to go change and NOT come back.

I wanted to hurt Nora so bad she'd leave our family, and never look back.

All I was waiting for was to find myself with her only. I was good at making people flee. Look at Cherry, and Daniel. Pouf! Left so fast and disappeared so well I could convince myself they never existed.

At some point, everyone just ran out of topics to talk about. Maybe Ken was also tired of sitting on a chair, because he called it quits. Everyone stood up. I walked straight to the exit, to execute my plan. Two people though, were shadowing me.

I stopped. "what?"

"are you mad?"

I was mad. It felt like betrayal because they sided with the enemy. She was clearly the enemy, and your friends' enemies are also your enemies.

"you're not really mad at us. You're mad at her." Tess said.

It wasn't wrong. but it wasn't totally right. I was ma at them too. I just dropped it. I had another plan to execute and needed all my energy. A part of me wondered, as they were walking to the door, if I was being too hard on them. Maybe they'd leave me soon for that. I had been in a bad mood the last few days.

But Nora came out, after making sure the cleaning robots cleaned everything perfectly. I pushed myself off the wall.

"you're one of the most despicable people I've ever met. Who do you think you are?"

She opened her mouth, rubbing her chin for a really long time. "I-" she titled her head.

"what? Someone ate your tongue now?"

"what's wrong with the food? Is it because of that. I-"

I lifted my eyebrows. "so you're looking for validation, now? Think being part of the perfect family will make you feel like you're good enough? You're not? Who left you without-""

"enough" father cut me.

I continued talking. "-looking back?"

She didn't respond. "that's your problem. You don't stay in your lane. Too nosy. Too extra. Look at you clothes; like it's a holiday-"

"enough" Ken was now standing beside her, taller by a head, in a grey tuxedo. Grey, again. He loved things that had no taste. He was there to protect her.

"It's okay. I can deal with this." There were tears in her eyes, though. She could not deal with this. Although, I felt a pinch of guilt, I knew it was for the greater good. I couldn't risk letting someone getting close to my heart again and crushing it to leave.

She wanted his approval so bad my eyes were hurt by how shining the need was. She was desperate? Where had he found this other despicable piece of human?

"you need me." She said at last.

"I don't need someone who makes people flee her like the plague"

"You need someone like a mom." He tears were very visible by then.

I gulped. My voice still didn't waver. I thought I was getting closer to my goal.

I wasn't. She was getting closer to hers.

" I don't need someone incompetent."

This time, she didn't retain he tears. i hurt her. I did it. Now what? Is she going to leave?

She didn't. She stayed. The reason hurt me, and made me cry.

The roles were reversed.

"you're a seventeen year-old girl, who already has been crushed to death by people. I understand your fear. That's why I'm here to stay."

Her words felt like jumping in ice cold water, and losing your breath. She looked at me, and held my gaze. For an agonizing long time.

I was waiting for her to back out, to say that she was joking, or didn't mean any of those things.

Tears I didn't know I was holding formed a waterfall on my face. I half-convinced myself they were tears of anger. But we all, to some level, knew they weren't. I was so emotional. With everything wrong that was going with my surgery, and family, I felt like I was struggling for breath in water without having any air in my lungs left.

Suffocating, and drained, was how I felt the two previous days. They say that after hardship, there's always ease. But I couldn't see mine coming from anywhere. It felt like everyday is worst than the last.

"you're dumb. You're going to get hurt beyond repair. Our blood knows best how to do that."

"you hurt me to leave, but I'm the person that'll stay for you. Nothing is wrong with you, and has ever been."

I walked backwards into the dining room to the door that led to the pool in the middle of the house. I didn't want to turn my back to her. Was she some sort of witch?

I accidently touched my face, and felt something gooey on my fingers. I curled my lips. Eww. Snort.

I was a mess. A bigger mess than the one I had been with Mother a month ago. I wasn't an angry mess. I was an emotional mess, something I never was.

It made my blood boil more.

"you'll regret it at a time when regret won't help you change anything."

Then I opened the door, and ran to my semidetached house. I closed all windows, and ALL the lights in the seven-story house. I felt like being with my thoughts only. No light.

I was freaked, but my thoughts, and what had happened earlier freaked me out more.

I didn't trust her.

I fell asleep after a long while.

When I found her reading my top-secret documents explaining my surgery in my room the next day, trust was not an option anymore.

How did she know the were there? How did she even get in?

It's what I was determined to find out.

***

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