Third time, the charm!

- CHAPTER 17 -

How do you face disappointments?

The inability to live up to your goals, the fear that you were not enough - do these things haunt you?

Does your heart palpitate, it's beat strumming faster than the strings of a guitar under a skilled musician's hand?

Or maybe your stomach fills with dread, a lead so heavy you believe its weight will drown you deeper than the earth's surface?

Once upon a time, Yua was all of this.

When the heavy door closes behind her, her small world becomes even smaller; just herself and her mother.

Like it has always been. For the longest time.

Amidst the spacious room, Yua feels short of breathe. The spotlessly polished walls mock her from every direction and grow taller with each passing minute.

Yua hasn't felt this way for the longest time. She isn't prepared when the forces of these emotions rapidly surge within her, rendering her incapable of properly controlling herself.

Because she knows what is coming.

"I asked you to do one thing."

Ananya's voice is chilling. Even the heart of a glacier would be warmer than the current expression on her face.

Sitting on her dark mahogany chair, one hand rests on the matching table, while the other supports her frowning temple.

Her eyes are closed, and she purses her lips together, like she is trying to hold back from saying more. As if she is exercising extreme restraint to mince her words.

But that has never stopped her.

True to her predictions, Ananya barely inhales another breathe before she unleashes another cold wave.

"How hard is it?

"To ask my only child, the only other person who's on my side to do one thing right?"

Yua swallows, the guilt sitting heavy in her stomach.

Her mother has never raised her hand at her. She didn't need to when she knew her words cut deeper.

"Why was it so hard to do ONE thing correctly? Am I being unreasonable?"

"Do you know how your actions have affected the value of our company stocks?"

"At this rate, how are you going to inherit my legacy?!"

In her mind's eyes, Yua sees her childhood play like a movie reel.

When Yua was 8, she placed second in a spelling bee competition. With great pride and excitement, she showed off her shiny medal to her mother. In response, she only asked, "You couldn't get first?"

When Yua was 10, she participated in a 200-metre sprint for a sports day event. She saw her mother amongst the sea of parents. Her heart surged with warmth at her rare presence, and she worked hard to finally win bronze. When she looked back to find her mother, she only saw an empty seat.

When Yua was 13, she won second place at an esteemed international science competition. Her project won her 5,000 USD, got voted promising talent (a title not even privy to the winner), and a chance to be interviewed by a German publication that specialised in STEM for teens. But none of it mattered anymore.