Bella's POV:

I packed my bags and looked at the door impatiently; we would be leaving for the airport any minute.

"We are getting late. Let's go!" Dad yelled making my mom jump in fear.

She pulled my brother and sister towards her and ushered them out of the house with the bags in her hand. I followed her out of the house while my dad locked it behind me and put the keys in his pocket.

He was staying behind and I was internally glad for that. I wanted my mother to be relaxed and happy for a few weeks without his repellent presence.

We got inside the car and dad started to drive in the direction of the airport. My mom and I shared a glance through a rear view mirror. She gave me a reassuring smile but I knew she was frightened.

When I realized my father's action was not normal, I asked my mom why she married him. She told me her father was worse than my father was. Her dad was overprotective, strict, and delusional. He used to beat my mom to discipline her just like my dad. He did not even let her complete school before he arranged her marriage with my dad.

My mother was a fragile woman with an abusive past; she was always scared to get closer to men so she never dated anyone. My father was her only escape from my grandfather. She thought this marriage would save her and protect her from my grandfather's abuse.

She told me that my father was a dream guy for her, he was a little possessive but good to her. My mother was happy with him, and then she got pregnant with me. My father took care of her, treated her well for a few months, but everything changed as the months of her delivery got closer. My father started cheating on her; she got angry and demanded him to leave her. It was the first time when he hit her, her memories of her past came back hunting her.

My father started controlling her and she stayed with him because she was scared to leave. He never hit her again; he knew his stare was enough to make my mom do whatever he wants. When I was born, he found his new object to discipline.

He made sure I turned out his perfect daughter. He tainted my childhood with abuse, pain, and burning hate. My mother once tried to leave him when she figured out I was going through the same thing she went through in the past. However, her plan failed miserably when she fell pregnant with my brother. She had no other option but to stay for the sake of my brother, she needed money and support to bring my brother in this world.

My mom and I decided to stay. My father changed slowly when he found out my other was pregnant again; he became less aggressive and more caring towards her. My mother happy for a while, she thought he changed.

In the last twelve years, I had never seen my father hit my brother and my sister. My siblings are his perfect kids while for some reason he still hates me.

"We are here. C'mon, get out of the car. I have somewhere important to go," My father said sternly.

My mom pulled out my six years old sister from her car seat and my twelve years old brother sprang out of the car with a mischievous smile on his face. Mike and Lily had no idea about how our father treats me and what he did to me in the past. I never blamed my siblings for being oblivious of the situation; they were young and did not deserve to know what hate means.

"Mike, take care of these women. I trust you to make sure they follow my rules," my father said to my brother.

"I will take care of them," he said, nodding enthusiastically. My father patted his shoulder giving my mother a firm look of warning.

We went to the waiting area and sat down on the chairs. I took the seat beside mom so I could to talk to her.

"Mom, I think we need to tell Mike about the summer camp so he wouldn't rat us out to dad." I whispered in her ear.

She nodded her head and turned to Mike. She stopped trying to search the right word to initiate the conversation.

"I'm not coming to Florida with you guys," I said.

"What! Why?" He asked looking upset.

My brother and I had a good relationship; we make fun of each other occasionally but it was harmless.

"I have to attend this summer camp, but you need to keep it a secret. You can't tell dad that I am not with you guys," I told him.

"Does dad know about this summer camp?" He asked.

My father trained my brother to follow his rules and report him if someone did not follow those rules. Mike was nothing like my dad but it would not be long until he creates another psychopath like him. I needed to graduate fast so I could save him and my little sister; they deserve a better environment to live—without my father's nugatory rules.

"Dad doesn't know, but I need to attend this to graduate. You know how important graduation is," I said pleadingly.

"Sis, you know dad, he will get angry." He said looking troubled.

"No, he will not get angry. I will talk to him," I said.

"Mike, baby, you can do this for your sister, right? You just need to keep it a secret until we come back from Florida," Mom said cooing him.

"I'll try my best to keep this a secret. But dad would get mad," Mike said looking at me with uncertain eyes.

My dad had used me as a demonstration to show the consequences if anyone disobeys him. Mike had no idea that he never hits me because I made a mistake, he hits me because he enjoys seeing me in pain for some sick reason.

"I'm going to miss you," I said hugging him tightly. He patted my back hugging me.

I looked at my six years old sister; she was sitting silently on the chair. Her blond hair was resting on her shoulder and her lips were in a cute pout as she was dozing off. I picked my little sister from the chair and sat her down on my lap. I kissed her soft cheeks making her smile.

"Promise me you will not tire grandma. She doesn't have energy like you," I said.

"I promise," she mumbled in her light voice snuggling closer to me.

"I love you, my little nugget," I said kissing her head. I wanted to protect her from growing up so fast because I knew it would only bring destruction in her life. My father would find a new obsession to discipline another daughter; it would start from not wanting to send you to school, telling you not to make friends, and then hurting you if you even pass by the boy. Lastly, he would make sure; it becomes hard to breathe even in your own house.

"I love you too, Belle. You're the best sister," she said putting her head on my shoulder.

She was born prematurely; she was extremely fragile and had Asthma. I had been trying to shield this little girl from every bad thing that happened to me.

"Mom, you'll manage everything alone, right? I can still abandon this plan and come with you," I said looking at my mom.

"Oh, my sweet child, I know it's important for you and I don't want you to stop yourself from enjoying your school last year because of us. I'll manage everything, after all, I am your mother," She said squeezing my hand.

I knew she blamed herself for my past. She thought she was weak to stay behind with my father. But we both knew that we had no other choice; it was either a shelter home or nothing.

After the departure of their flight, I stayed at the airport until morning. Around seven in the morning, I took the cab and went to school.

I arrived at the school thirty minutes later; I paid the driver and walked to my teacher. She asked me for the form and I handed it to her.

"We will be leaving in this bus so you better take your favorite seat before it's gone. You have only one bag?" My gym teacher asked.

I nodded and he hands me a sticker to put it on.

I gave my bag to the driver who threw it in the trunk. I went to the back and took a window seat.

Maybe the idea of going to this summer camp was not so bad.

-🖤-

Gabriel's POV:

I arrived at the house and paid the driver. I rang the doorbell and my biological father opened the door. He looked around worried when he did not see his sons.

"Where's Nick and Matt? Why didn't they come with you?"

His questions, his concern about Matt and Nick pained me because he did not ask me why I came back alone or if I was fine.

"I wasn't feeling well so I decided to come back early. Matt and Nick are probably still at the club," I answered trying to avoid any other conversation.

"Are you alright?" He asked nervously. I did not know if he was actually concerned or it was just a rhetorical question.

"Yeah...I'm better. Maybe it's just a jet lag, nothing asleep can't fix," I said with an awkward smile and went to my room.

Next morning, I woke up and hurriedly packed everything. I went downstairs to find everyone on the table having breakfast.

"Good morning," I said taking a seat beside Nick.

The all said good morning giving me a polite smile. I did not think there was a need to tell them about last night's incident.

"Nick, Matt, I'm really sorry for leaving the club last night abruptly. I had a headache. You guys were enjoying and I didn't want to interrupt you," I said looking at Nick.

"That's fine, we can understand. The place was way too crowded and we did not stay there long," Nick said patting me on the back. Matt gave me a reassuring smile munching on the breakfast.

"What would you like to have? We have scrambled eggs, coffee, bacon, and toast. We also have cereal if you want," Pamela said.

"Anything would be fine," I said.

She placed scrambled eggs in front of me with toast and coffee.

After breakfast, I was ready to leave. Matt slapped my back telling me to come and visit again.

"I know you haven't spent much time with us. However, we know a lot about you, brother. Our parents always talk about how you are growing up, how good you're in studies, and how much Mr. and Mrs. Russell like you," Harry said.

It was new information for me. I knew I was adoptive but I did not know who my real parents were. They never contacted me and I never contacted them. A few months ago, Frank and Pamela contacted my parents and I talked to them on facetime.

"I didn't know...I have three brothers. I didn't know anything about you guys. If I knew I would have come sooner to meet you guys," I said hugging Harry.

"We are getting late, let's go, Gabriel," My mother said.

Frank and Pamela took their seats while I slide on the back seat.

We arrived at the school, my other college mates were waved at me. I got out of the car with my bag.

My mother placed her hand on my arm. "Gabriel, we are sorry for keeping you away from brothers and from us. But we had our reasons,"

I gave her a reassuring smile covering the pain. I wanted to know their reasons which I was unable to understand.

"What's done is done. We can't change the past." I bid goodbye to them and ran towards the bus.

The bus was completely packed. I searched for an empty seat and noticed one in the back. There was a girl sitting or sleeping, I couldn't tell, on the window seat. I sat down beside her startling her.

She snapped her head at me and glared at me. I was taken aback at her reaction.

Maybe I did something wrong.

"Hey! This seat is occupied, get up." She said sounding angry.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know," I said getting up and looking around for another seat when boys and girls started to laugh.

"She's lying, man. That seat is empty," A guy said smirking at the girl.

I sat down on the seat again and she glared at me.

"I said I don't want to share this seat with you, leave!" She yelled trying to look intimidating.

But unfortunately, she looked like an annoyed kitten with her soft features and short height.

"It doesn't look like anyone is sitting here and I am not going to stand on the bus because it upset your ass," I said getting comfortable.

"Don't be smartass. I have a friend and I am reserving this seat for her," She said fisting her small hands. The bus door closed and some boys snickered making a face at her.

"No one in this whole bus wants to sit beside her. She's crazy,"

"Watch your mouth, Jonathan!" Then she tried to leap at the guy but I caught her waist and she froze. I pulled her back down on her seat.

"What is wrong with you? You need to calm down." I said handing her water bottle.

She stared at me with a bewildered expression on her face.

She didn't take the water bottle and I sighed putting it back in my bag. She curled herself on the seat, pressing her head to the window like she wanted to get away from me.

She put the earphones in her ear and closed her eyes.

I shook my head thinking what a crazy girl she was. I pulled out the book from my bag that I planned to read during the trip.

Unintentionally, I found my eyes moving back to her. She had beautiful honey color hair, they looked soft and shiny, falling on her chest in small ringlets. Her complexion was extremely pale like she had never seen the sun. When she was glaring at me I noticed her eyes where brown.

I didn't know how long I was staring at her. She was simply beautiful.

I felt like a creep so I removed my eyes from the sleeping beauty beside me and focused on my book.

Half an hour later, I was distracted by the weird noises she was making. I shut the book and looked at her to realize it was her stomach.

Her stomach just growling like crazy. She must be hungry

I searched for the cookies that my mom baked for me. I put them somewhere in my bag. After the struggle of searching the box, I finally found it and placed it on her lap.

She opened her eyes and glared at me.

"It's my lap, not your table," She snapped, sending daggers in my way.

I leaned closer to her ear and whispered, "Your stomach has been growling for a while so I figured you must be hungry."

Her cheeks turned crimson and she looked down on her lap.

"My mom made these cookies for me, they are not poisoned or anything," I said.

"I'm not hungry," She said, giving cookies the mouthwatering glance.

I opened the box and picked one eating it silently while she stared at the box anxiously.

"The offer still stands," I said. I closed my eyes so she wouldn't feel embarrassed.

I heard the sound of munching and smiled.

"When did I start liking stubborn girls," I muttered to myself.

Maybe from today.
____________________________________

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