Tangled Love

CHAPTER 73

It's been a few weeks since Jake and I admitted our true feelings to one another. The more time I spend with Jake, the deeper I fall for him. The hype over our new unexpected relationship is beginning to die down in college. The envious stares are becoming less frequent and the loud obnoxious conversations are now hushed whispers.

Ivory is practically a best friend to me and has joined Trish and I's permanent friendship circle.

Everything is going pretty damn great.

I'm at the local food supermarket, pushing the trolley whilst Ivory browses the shelves. I glance down at my watch, noticing we've been frozen in place for the past ten minutes whilst in the junk food aisle.

"Delicious," Ivory grins, her eyes lighting up. She lunges for a bag of Toffee popcorn and drops it into the shopping cart. I glance down at it and grimace at the contents of our trolley. It's full of sugar and processed foods.

"Shouldn't we cut back a little on our sugar intake?" I groan, nudging the trolley into her back gently. She gasps over dramatically and turns around, her hand on her heart. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

"No! I love sugar, ok?" she huffs, causing me to roll my eyes at her drama queen attitude.

"Okay," I shrug, grabbing a box of golden balls off the shelves which are practically full of sugar. I know I'm a hypocrite but when it comes to Golden Ball cereal, it's worth it.

"Ooh, you just reminded me! We need milk." Ivory says, walking down the aisle. She stops before turning around —

"I'll be five minutes Em."

I nod at her, pushing the cart into the next aisle which thank god, is fruit and vegetables. I grab some bananas, oranges and apples throwing them into the cart, grateful for fresh and colourful foods.

"Emily?"

I whip my head round and come face to face with Mum. She's carrying a basket and her dark hair is pulled away from her face into a tightly swept back ponytail. She has dark circles underneath her eyes and her eyes are flat, emotionless.

"Mum." I say bluntly, taking a small step back. It feels incredibly surreal to see her after all this time.

"You look good," she smiles tightly at me and I stare at her, my eyes connecting with hers —

"Only because I haven't been beaten recently." I breathe out. I turn to walk away from her, wanting to get as far away as I can. The pain was still raw and I don't think I'll ever overcome it. She stood back and allowed me to be beaten for years by someone who was practically a stranger. Mum held out her hand and took hold of my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

"Emily, wait! Please." she pleads. The anger in me dies down a little at her desperate tone and I turn towards her, avoiding eye contact. I'm ready for that just yet.

"Come home." she said quietly, murmuring her words. Am I hearing this right?

"Ever since you introduced that monster into my life, he has beaten me black and blue! He's nothing but a violent, cowardly man. You're my mum, you're supposed to take care of me!"

Her eyes flashed with anger, the brown in them turning a shade darker.

"Trevor did nothing wrong."

My eyes widened in shock and I gritted my teeth tightly together, shaking my head in disbelief.

"I was going to tell you to run away from Trevor but you both deserve each other. You disgust me. Dad would be turning in his grave at how evil you've become." I said, watching as the fire in her eyes grew until they were burning holes through mine.

"How dare you speak to me like that!"

This woman was absolutely unbelievable.

I took a step back, making my face emotionless. I didn't want her to know she was upsetting or angering me.

"Goodbye Mum." I said flatly, turning my trolley around and walking away. Before I turned the aisle, I heard her shout me back. I briefly turned to face her, my eyes narrowed in her direction.

"He wasn't your real father!"

Her words were harsh and full of venom, directed to cause pain. I felt my world stop and I instantly froze, my eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. I shook my head, unable to believe her.

"You're saying that because you're angry and you want to hurt me." I said quietly, my voice wobbling. Mum barely flinched, her features were full of hatred for me as she spoke again.

"He isn't your father." She repeated, her words piercing straight through my heart.

And with that, she turned around and left me alone in the aisle, my body frozen in place.