The Indifference of a Man Forgotten (BOOK I)

Chapter 22- The Beginning of the End

"Not all of us can afford to just up and leave people like you, Dahlia." She said it softly with no malicious tone, but the sentence spoken said otherwise.

"Are you only staying with him because of money?" She didn't say anything.

"If your financial problems are all that's keeping you with him then I'll be happy to help. Mother, I don't want you to suffer anymore. Why don't you-"

She scoffed, cutting me off.

"Mother. You've really gotten comfortable to call me that," I blinked, my chest tightening at the harsh words.

"Pardon?" Was all that managed to leave my throat.

"I'm not high up on the social ladder like you, I worry about things that you've never given a single thought to. You've been raised with a golden spoon, you're a decorated athlete; Beautiful, talented, and receiving more love than I could ever have dreamed of. You've got connections, and people looking out for you, I don't."

"I didn't mean anything in a mean way. You're my mother so I'm just worried, I want you to be happy, and I-" Scoffing, she cut me off once more.

Suddenly, it all looked so fake. The timid, quietly nice facade she had been showing me from the moment I first saw her all seemed so fake now.

With a scowl marring her lips, a glare piercing her eyes, my heartbeat crawled up to my throat when I realised what was happening right now; I'd been hit in the face with all my nightmares about her in that short instance.

The stifling silence wasn't helping to calm me down, if anything, the cold chill of this cruel reality was crawling up my spine in the most threatening way thought possible.

This whole time, none of what she's been showing me has been the truth.

What I'm looking at now, this angry, jealous, face is the true face she'd been hiding from me.

"You... This whole time... You-"

"-Yes. I might just be a dirty rat compared to your pristine self, but remember, Dahlia, I gave birth to you. No matter how much glamour you hide behind, you'll always be a dirty. You came from me, after all,"

"...Mother?" 

The shocked tears sprang to life in my eyes. I couldn't hide the desperation in my voice, wishing for all of this to be fake. How could a conversation take such a twisted turn? Just a minute ago, she was congratulating me for my achievements, and now...

Why now?

Just when I thought I had taken a step in the right direction to gaining some self-confidence. Why did she have to reveal her true colours now of all times?

"Why did you approach me?" I eventually gained the courage to ask.

"Meeting you wasn't my intention, if only your fathers would have listened to me when I first called out to them; Me and you would never have had to meet,"

What?

"My fathers?"

"It's a long story, but to put it simply; They paid me to stay away from you."

"...What?" How does that make any sense.

"I came from lowly origins; I left my abusive parents when I was 18. That's when I met your father, he saved me, and I didn't care about how bad of a person he was, I promised to stay with him for the rest of my life. And then when I was 19, I got pregnant with you; The plan was to abort you, but we weren't financially stable, so the little child support we received from the government helped. Raising a child was still too expensive though, so we abandoned you,"