Chapter 5
Late at night, Antonio came home with Blanche’s perfume on his clothes.
Kendall was already sleeping soundly.
Seeing me, Antonio said, his tone rarely gentle, “Blanche ran into trouble at the bar, and I went to deal with it.
“It was nothing serious.”
I nodded, pretending that I took his word for it.
Antonio wasn’t a good liar because he didn’t care about me and didn’t bother to perfect his lies.
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But I wasn’t going to make a scene because he wasn’t worthy of my love anymore.
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“Go take a shower for Kendall. She must have been tired from playing today,” he ordered me, sounding so matter–of–factly.
In silence, I walked to the couch and picked up Kendall gently.
Then I carefully took off her jacket and was about to take her to the bathroom.
When I was unbuttoning her shirt, she woke up.
She opened her eyes groggily.
At the sight of me, she frowned and pushed my hands away with great force. “I don’t want you! Go away! I want Blanche!”
I was stunned. Before I could react, she kicked my calf hard.
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My calf was wrapped in gauze, and the wounds she caused with the fork hadn’t healed yet.
The pain was unbearable. My leg bent uncontrollably.
“Piss off! You’re disgusting! Don’t touch me!”
Kendall’s voice was sharp and grating, filled with great resentment. It sounded as if she hated my guts and felt nauseated even coming near me.
Hearing this, Antonio scolded, “Kendall, she’s your mom. This is inappropriate.”
She cried so hard that her eyes turned red as she screamed, “She’s not my mom! Blanche is my
mom!”
Enduring the pain from my swollen calf, I stepped aside.
Antonio walked past me without even glancing at me as if I were the maid.
A bit helpless, he frowned at Kendall, who kept screaming. Then he called Blanche on video.
His set of movements seemed so natural. It seemed he had already done this a lot of times.
Even his helplessness seemed affected. He feigned it just to brush me off because I was Kendall’s birth mother.
“Blanche, Kendall misses you. Coax her, will you?”
He sounded so gentle. Everyone who heard his voice would assume Blanche was the love of his life.
I saw Blanche’s face on the screen.
She smiled sweetly and said gently, “What’s up, Kendall? Do you me?”
miss
Kendall immediately threw herself at the phone, looking aggrieved as if being touched by me made her sick.
“Yes, Blanche. I miss you so much.
“Yesterday at the kindergarten, I got a reward for the model I made. I wanna give it to you. When will you be here?”
Smiling, Blanche said, “I’ll go visit you tomorrow, OK? Be good.”
Kendall nodded hard and finally beamed. She started to chat with
Blanche.
Yet, whenever she faced me, she was constantly silent, sarcastic, or
hostile.
As I watched them interact, the last bit of affection in my heart vanished.
I turned around, went back to my room, and closed the door to block out their happy voices.
Then I took out my phone and double–checked my flight and accommodation details in Speynia.
Everything was ready. All I needed to do was board that plane tomorrow.
At night, Antonio held me in his arms and whispered, “Kendall is just a kid. Don’t be upset, OK?”
He held me so tightly as if he sensed something and was afraid to lose me.
I tried my best not to puke. Closing my eyes, I pretended that I had already fallen asleep.
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As I listened to his even breathing, I silently counted down to my departure.
Everything would be over tomorrow.
