All deception requires secrecy
- Sissela Bok
Reva
Propping my chin on my arm, which was resting on the back of the couch, I focused my gaze out the window. It had already been raining all day and yet the clouds didn't seem to have shed everything they carried. Maybe it was the arrival of spring, which had a mind of its own.
Not that I minded, because I loved the rain as much as anything that was caramel and smelled like roses. I always imagined it was because I was named after it.
Reva - a name my mother had chosen for me because I was born during heavy rainfall. Perhaps another reason why I subconsciously felt most comfortable when it was raining cats and dogs.
Sadly, she died a few days after I was born, so I never had the opportunity to find out if she liked the rain as much as I did. Dad would tell me about her from time to time and frankly, it felt like I actually knew her.
We didn't talk about her often because I always saw dad's eyes get sad, so most of the time I saved him the pain of having to reminisce about her. There was no doubt that he loved her deeply because he never looked at another woman after she died.
I would have had no problem with that, because all I wanted was to see him happy, and to become a widower at such a young age, with a daughter who was only a few days old, had logically not been easy for him.
But I could see the spark in his now aging eyes whenever he spoke of her. And with the pictures of her smiling face hanging on the walls, I could see dad's narrative reflect perfectly on her as a person.
She had had light brown hair that contrasted with her almost black eyes. I had a few of her features, but I got my gray eyes from my father. In all her pictures she had the same smile - young and carefree, a little shy sometimes when dad was also in the shot, smiling at her.
I sighed under my breath. The memories recounted always made me picture myself being there. I fantasized about how I stood by as a third person and witnessed their happiness. But it would always remain that - a fantasy.
I loved the rain, but sometimes it made me feel down, which I didn't like. In the background to all the thoughts buzzing in my head, I heard the pitter-patter of the raindrops as they hit the window pane and watched them roll down that I didn't even notice the door to my room open.
It wasn't until the approaching footsteps got louder that I jumped slightly and saw Sophia smiling in my direction until she stopped, having caught my attention.
"I didn't hear you come in," I said as I turned away from the window and sat up straight.
She brought her hands up to chest level and formed them into sentences. I knocked, but you didn't hear. Dinner is ready. she announced.
Sophia was the closest I would ever have to a mother because she had been with me longer than I could think or remember that is. She had been the helpmate, nanny and so much more of the household for decades. Helped my mother give birth even, because she insisted on delivering me at home.
She had always been mute but heard perfectly. I didn't know what had caused her to lose her voice forever and she didn't want me to ever ask about it again when I first became curious as a child.
I understood and respected that, even though as a child I had silly ideas like monsters stealing her tongue. I knew deep down that this was absurd and had no way of being true, but children liked to make up untrue stories to make reality fit their feelings and thoughts.
Dad said it was some time after my mother's death so I blamed it on the trauma or shock she must have experienced. Maybe it was for a complete different reason. I didn't know but I wasn't curious anymore.
Sophia always wanted me to talk to her instead of using sign language. I had learned it and still could do it, but I didn't use it much anymore. Only in situations where I wanted to tell her something but couldn't because other people were around, did it come in handy.
"I'll be right down," I informed her as she waited for my answer and nodded before leaving my room.
Being the daughter of a well-known lawyer wasn't all that bad some days because I didn't have to think about laundry, food, or other things since we had people to do those everyday chores for us. So I was always called to meals, but I was grateful for what these people did for us, even if it was just their job.
I used a clip to put my hair up behind my head and took the stairs to the dining area. My father was already sitting at the head of the table, which could host more people than we'd ever had in attendance, scrolling on his phone.
As a lawyer of many wealthy and famous people of high society, he had a lot on his plate. It was ridiculous how much rich people let themselves get into trouble and some were just unlucky in their human interactions so they ended up being deceived.
I could read the tiredness in his eyes as he looked up for a brief moment upon noticing my presence at the table. He smiled nonetheless and after a few typed messages, he slipped his phone into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.
"How are you, dear?" he asked as the maids continued to fill the table with various dishes that smelled delicious.
I loved dad for many things because he was always there for me as a father, no matter how hard it was to be a single parent, but it never failed to make me feel warm when he asked how I was doing every day after work, even though my answer was always the same.
I had gotten my degree three years ago at the ripe age of twenty-two and after working in an office for only two years I quit my job, which was why I was home most of the time. So it was safe to say that every day passed the same for me.
To someone looking at us from the outside, we looked like a happy and successful family, which we were. But there would always be a missing piece.
"Good, took care of the roses until it started raining," I told him and he hummed. We both took a piece of steak on our plates and cut into it. Caring for the roses in our garden was a good use of my time. Besides, they always needed to be tended to in the spring so they would bloom properly. "How was work?"
He brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes and I couldn't help but notice how silver threads decorated it. One of the worst things in the world was probably watching loved ones age. "As usual. Been dealing with the Winstons and their son who keeps getting pulled over for speeding."
I laughed under my breath. Besides serious and big court cases, he occasionally faced absurdities like this one, which didn't really get him excited. But he still did his job with ever equal interest and diligence.
"Where's Rai, by the way?" I asked, noticing that we were almost done eating, but my cousin still hadn't shown up at the dinner table.
Raiden had been living with us since both of his parents had died in a fatal car accident. He had only been four years old at the time and I didn't know if he even remembered it. Fortunately, he had not been in the same car when a truck lost control and crashed head-on into my uncle and his wife.
I remembered how devastated my father had been over the death of his younger brother, but there was nothing he could do because even the paramedics had arrived too late.
We took Raiden in and my father always guaranteed that he treated us both the same, even though I was a lot older than my cousin. He tried to be as much of a father as he could, even though he knew he could never replace my uncle.
Still, it didn't stop him from trying. He took Raiden to soccer games, fixed his bike, went to parent-teacher conferences at his school, and even performed the boys' talk when Rai hit puberty.
"I don't know, Sophia informed me he went out with his friends." He shrugged and chewed on his final piece of steak. I nodded.
Being a teenager at seventeen, Raiden obviously wanted to experience everything he could. We both trusted him and knew all his friends, which is why my dad never had a problem with him going out. They were probably playing some kind of video game together.
After we were both done with dinner, two of our maids cleared the table and I helped them wipe the table, even though they insisted I shouldn't. I went back to my room, picked up a book from my shelf, and went back to the page I had last stopped at.
By the time it got dark it had stopped raining, but the smell of fresh and wet soil filled my nose as I opened my window to air out. I hadn't realized how long I had been reading until I felt the pain in my neck from the strange position I must have been in.
It was Saturday night and aside from a few things I had to do during the week for my father's law firm, I mostly had the weekend off. I was probably supposed to go out and have fun like any other adult my age, but here I was.
Sorting through the binders my dad wanted me to organize by case and date as a favor, I heard my phone ring. I furrowed my eyebrows as I saw the caller written on my screen.
"Dad, I'm literally upstairs. Why are you calling?" I teased into the phone as I answered the call after the second ring. His office was down the hall and he usually stayed in the living room with a drink.
"Reva, I'm not home," I heard him say and the closing of a door in the background. I put the binders aside and worry filled my insides. I hadn't realized he had left, nor had I been informed, and from the way his voice sounded, I knew it was something serious.
"Did something happen?" I asked, bringing a hand to my waist as I waited for his answer.
"I need you to come, please." his voice was merely softer, more cautious, but it didn't change the rock that was growing inside me, weighing heavier and heavier.
I deeply hated calls like this because they made me anxious.
"It looks like your cousin has gotten himself into trouble." He added and I couldn't stop my hand before it pinched my nose. We trusted Rai, so I couldn't gauge at all what it was that he could have done.
I rushed to my closet and grabbed a jacket, ready to go wherever they were. "Is he okay?"
"Yes. He's healthy, don't worry." he sighed and I took a deep breath in relief. That was the most important thing.
"I'm on my way." I reached for my car keys and wallet. "Where are you?"
His answer made the crease between my eyebrows deepen so much, I worried it was permanently engraved there.
"Jeon's mansion."
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A/N: I'm back with a new story. I hate writing the first chapter of a book because I never know what to write lol but hopefully, you liked it 🥹🫶🏼
I will be writing this story in past tense because I want to try it out. Please let me know if I accidentally switch to present tense lmao that would be embarrassing 🤓
thank you guys for helping me choose a name for our mc on my IG and thank you for reading!!! I'm excited for this one