A Beautiful Consequence

The Uninvited Guest

It was a surprise to Talia to receive a letter from her "Biological parents", it always was. She was eighteen when she found out that she was adopted, and that was almost three years ago. She always thought she grew up with the best family ever, a mother who raised her and her twin sister up single handedly after her father passed away when she was eight years old. Her mother raised the two of them up to the best of her ability and she had to credit that woman for that, even if she did show blatant preference to the way she treated Talia and her other daughter, Bethany.

Growing up with her sister was always pleasant for the first fifteen years. Attached to the hip would have been the right way to phrase the Richardson sisters, they used to be each other's best friends and partners in crime, always pranking one another or simply causing mischief in the neighbourhood they lived in.

But that all changed the day a new devil in the name of Nicholas Raven entered their lives when they were fifteen. He was a new kid in their school and he took an instant liking to Talia. Soon, Talia became the best of friends with Nico and further apart Bethany distanced herself from Talia over the next few years gradually.

Talia recalled her world tumbling down when her mother, Leah Richardson, confessed to her when she was sixteen that she was adopted. When Talia questioned her for more answers, Leah's lips were sealed and all she told Talia curtly was that, some day she will understand. Talia bitterly stared at the her biological parents sent her.

They made their presence known since she was sixteen years old. Though it's been five years and she was yet to meet them, not that she was interested in it at all, they always sent her a letter at least once a year just right before her birthday, with a card, a letter briefly describing about how they have been and how much they missed the daughter they gave away amongst other sentimental bullshit that Talia no longer believed in. A part of her heart withered and died the day Nicholas left her, stomping her heart out, piece by piece.

Her relationship with Leah and Bethany was also pretty much non existent these days, she huffed. Even though she was only going to be twenty one soon, she was very definite of her future. When she close her eyes, as clear as light she can envision her forty years from now, living alone with forty cats. What a bright future she was looking forward to, she thought and chuckled as she stared at the little box she held in her hand.

Usually, the letters she received always came in a thin envelope, but the one she received today was very fancy and wrapped with a bow. She was curious about the content that the box held within. However, just as she was about to unwrap the box, she heard a knock on her house door.

Frankly, it all came as a surprise to her when she heard a knock on her house door and opened it just to find a man who had gone missing for five years standing there, looking just as, if not even more gorgeous. Standing tall and proud, with a bouquet of roses in his hands, his blue eyes were shining with an emotion that she couldn't quite decipher on.

"Talia", he began with a gentle smile on his face. "It's...been a long while.", he said softly as he stared at his feet.

Talia raised her eyebrows at this man's obliviousness. She wanted to scream at him and ask if he held no shame, she wanted to ask him where was his dignity, she wanted to slap him, scream at him, hold his collar and shake some sense into this man. She wanted to make him feel even the slightest of what she felt all those years ago.

Better still, She wanted to slam the door on his face, but she didn't do any of these things that she utterly desired to do. "What are you doing here?", she asked coldly, wiping out every ounce of emotions from her face. Even though she was more than tempted to slam the door at his face, she didn't do that simply because she had morals, too. She was raised to treat her guests, enemies or friends, with the same humility.