Happy Reading
I always struggled to comprehend why girls enjoy shopping so much. Ever since I was a kid, I never truly enjoyed shopping as it felt like a waste of time to me. Girls take hours to decide what clothes to buy whereas I can accomplish that task within minutes. Half an hour is the maximum amount of time I have ever put into shopping, the rest is spent in playing games at the mall and eating food.
But here I am, on a Sunday morning, shopping with my sister in law - Sienna because she was dying to hang out with me ever since I have come back home.
"Adaline, do you think I look fat in this dress?" Sienna asked while standing in front of the mirror in the changing room and admiring herself.
"I do see a bulge, but that's fine Si. You are pregnant now, you can't expect to look thin like before." Sienna sighed and said, "I'm excited for the baby but I can't imagine my tummy getting huge." I cracked up after hearing that. "You are expecting Si, your tummy is definitely going to swell up in a few months," I stated which made her lips curve into a pout.
"I will work out a lot after my delivery to get back in shape," she mumbled to console herself.
"I'll motivate you to do that," I said which instantly brought a smile on her face.
"You are the best," she said and gave me a tight hug.
"Can we please leave Si? I'm tired," I complained since we had been in this mall for nearly three hours now.
"Yeah sure, I'll just go to the loo once and then we can leave," she said while going inside her changing room to put on her clothes again.
"I'm going to head out first and buy ice cream for myself, shall I get one for you?" I asked.
"Nope, just meet me near the ground floor staircase."
"Sure, I'll see you there in ten minutes," I replied before heading out of the changing room and walking towards my favourite ice cream parlour at the mall.
I stood in front of the ice cream parlour deciding on which flavour to eat today. I was tired of chocolate so I thought of trying something new today- butterscotch maybe. There was a huge queue in front of the ice cream parlour and before I could make my way towards the queue, someone tugged my skirt. I looked down to see a small girl pulling my skirt with one hand and pointing at the ice cream parlour with another. Who is this girl? Is she lost?
I sat down at her level and asked, "Where are your parent's little girl?" A big smile spread across her face, she caressed my cheeks with her right hand and said, "Ice cream, Ice cream." I couldn't stop grinning after hearing those words, this girl is lost in a mall and instead of crying like other babies, she's busy admiring Ice creams.
She had short black hair with hazel eyes full of innocence. I took her hand in mine and asked, "What's your name honey?"
"Sophie," she replied with a smile.
"Who did you come here with?"
"Dadda...Dadda," she said and started jumping with joy.
Ahh, this girl is so cute.
"Where did you last see your dadda?" I asked since I definitely couldn't leave this girl alone in this mall.
"Princesssssss," she squeaked.
"Huh?"
"You look princesssss," she said pointing at me with her little finger and smiling like a Cheshire cat. I broke into a peal of laughter. This girl surely knows how to move someone with her words.
I pulled out my phone from my bag and decided to give Sienna a call, I needed her help to find Sophie's dad. There's no way I could execute this task on my own. Right when I was going to press Sienna's caller ID to ask for her help, I heard a familiar voice calling for Sophie's name from behind. I turned around to look at the owner of the voice and the moment my eyes found him, it felt like the ground beneath me just shifted. Adam looked back at me with his piercing gaze. I couldn't believe what I was seeing right now. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes.
Adam. He was Sophie's dad? No matter how absurd it felt, but I had to believe the truth which was standing right in front of me. Adam is Sophie's father.
Sophie ran towards Adam cheerfully and said, "Ice cream dadda. Ice cream." Adam looked at me and then at Sophie, he gazed at me for a few more seconds before picking Sophie up in her arms and kissing her cheeks affectionately. He was about to make his way towards me but I ran away. I didn't want to face him after what I just saw. How could he do that to me? How could he move on so easily? All these years he has been living happily here with Tessa and Sophie whereas I have been crying myself to sleep every single night. What did I ever do to deserve something like this? I was always good to Adam. I loved him unconditionally but all he did was stab me on the back.
I kept sprinting and had no idea where I was going. I want to go back to London. I can't stay here anymore. I pushed a few people on the way but I didn't care to look back at them. I wanted to flee. I wanted to go far away from Adam and his happy family.
Someone suddenly held my arm in an attempt to stop me. "Why are you running like that Adaline?" Sienna asked and jerked me out of my reverie.
I was at a loss of words. I just saw Adam with his daughter, Sophie. Why didn't anyone told me about this before? Why did every single person hide this from me?
"What's wrong Ad? Talk to me please," she begged.
"I just met Sophie at the mall," I whispered which made Sienna cough.
"You never told me about her. Why did no one ever mention about Adam's daughter to me?" I asked.
I wanted answers. I wanted the truth.
"I didn't think it mattered to you," Sienna replied in a low voice.
"What do you mean Si? Why wouldn't it matter to me?"
"Adaline just leave it. I don't think you can handle the truth."
"I want the truth. Please."
She stared at my face for a few seconds then let out a sigh. "You sure you want the truth?" She asked in a hard tone.
"Yes."
"I'm going to be one hundred per cent honest with you Adaline, so I hope you don't hate me for speaking the truth. But the truth is that YOU left Adam, YOU were the one who broke up with him before leaving for London. It's not just Adam, you left all of us behind Adaline. You never came back for holidays. You didn't even come to my fucking wedding, Adaline."
I didn't know what to say. Everyone thinks I'm the reason behind the breakup but little do they know the truth. "You left him Ad. He can do whatever the fuck he wants to do in his life. You have no right to be mad at him or any of us for not telling you about his life. We thought you didn't care about him anymore. Isn't that the reason you left him? Why is he suddenly bothering you now?" She added
A tear fell down my cheeks. You have no right to be mad at him. Sienna's words kept echoing in my head. I was tired of pretending to be strong in front of everyone. I wanted to break down and cry. I wanted the ground to just open up and take me in. I didn't want to face anybody. Everyone thinks I'm the bitch who left him, they think I'm the one who sabotaged our relationship.
"Don't cry now Ad. You wanted me to be honest with you and that's exactly what I was," Sienna explained.
"I..I..didn't't break up..with him.." I blurted out and Sienna's entire body tensed.
"What do you mean?"
"He cheated on me...with Tessa."
Sienna's entire face was pale by now. She couldn't believe the words I just said. Her face had an unreadable expression. "So you are telling me that you didn't break up with him but it was the other way round?" She asked.
"Yes. He told me after the dinner party that he cheated on me with Tessa."
"Why did he tell everyone that you broke up with him then? Was that asshole trying to gain sympathy from us?"
"No. That was because of me. I asked for that favour from him. I didn't want anyone to know that I was cheated on. Hence I asked him to lie to everyone about the break-up."
Sienna didn't utter a word and directly came in to give me a hug. "I'm so sorry Ad. All these years I thought you were the one who left him. I'm so sorry."
I hugged her back and said, "You don't have to be sorry Si. I was the one lying to you guys."
"Now I can understand why you were avoiding coming back home. I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you. You endured so much pain on your own. Alex is going to kill Adam when he finds out the truth."
"No, you can't. Please don't tell this to anyone. This just stays between us, " I pleaded.
"But Ad-"
"No Si. Promise me this just stays between us."
"Ad everyone has the wrong idea about this. They think you're the bitch who left Adam. The whole town thinks that way. The truth has to come out."
"No, it doesn't. I want everything to be the same way."
Sienna seemed angry but eventually, she gave up and said, "Okay. I promise you this stays between us."
"Thank you, Si. I love you, " I said and hugged her again. She reciprocated with a tighter hug and said, "I'm so sorry Adaline. I'm sorry for not being there for you in the past three years. I'm the worst sister ever."
"No, you're the best Si. I feel so good to finally vent out my feelings."
"I'm going to protect you, Adaline and I'm going to kill Adam for breaking your heart."
I giggled. "You don't have to do that. He's happy with his family. It's time for me to move on now, " I admitted.
"You will Ad. I'll make sure to find a better guy than Adam for you."
***
Hey guys!
How did you feel about Sophie's revelation?
I know I have been keeping you in the dark for a long time so I have decided to write the next chapter from Adam's perspective to uncover all the truth. (I'm so excited for this ^_^)
Please don't forget to Vote and comment down below your thoughts. I love to see your feedback on the story.
Thank you
Love you all <3