From the look in Mother’s eyes, I already knew who had just entered the room, and when her features suddenly transformed and turned soft, there was no doubt as to who had entered the room.
“Oh, welcome, honey!” she gushed, a big, fake smile on her face as she walked past me and went to stand beside her husband. “I didn't know you would be home too soon.”
I turned slowly to face them, and my eyes widened slightly when I saw the man standing in front of me. He was tall, maybe six feet four, broad and handsome with silver hair mixing with his black.
I will admit, Mom struck gold with this.
“Hello, sir,” I said, not bothering to make my face pleasant or even convey any emotions in my voice. I just stared at him blankly, ignoring my mother’s warning stare.
“You’re Rosette,” he noted, a statement, not a question, but I nodded regardless. His eyes dropped to my cheek, but he said nothing about the bruise there and just raised his eyes back to mine. “You weren't at the wedding.”
“I had more important things to do.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Things that are more important than your mother’s wedding?”
“Yes, sir.”
It must have been my imagination, or the lights playing tricks on my eyes, but his lips twisted slightly, like he wanted to smile but thought against it.
He shook my mother’s hand off him like she was bothering him and walked towards me, his strides long and sure. He… had an aura around him. It was more than just dominance; it was pure power. And his eyes… there was something so unnerving about them, and it wasn't the way he was staring at me like he could see right through me.
“I'm sure you know who I am,” he said as he stood a foot away from me.
I shook my head. “Apologies, sir, but I don't.”
This time, he did smile. Just a small lift of his upper lip, but a smile nonetheless.
“You’re odd, Rosette,” he mused with amusement lacing his voice. Then he held out his gloved hand to me. “Silas Varkas.”
I placed my hand on his, and he shook it firmly like he was meeting with a businessman. “Rosette Voss.”
“The butler will give you one of the best rooms in the mansion. Feel at home. Feel relaxed, and if you need me, I'm just a call away. We’re now family, Rosette.”
I raised an eyebrow slowly. “Are we, though, Mr. Varkas?”
His eyes flashed. It wasn't my imagination, this time, or the lights playing tricks, his eyes flashed gold, there and gone the next. He turned to look at my mother from his shoulder, his smile back in place. “You didn't tell me your daughter was this smart, my dear.”
Mom laughed, the sound high-pitched and fake. “Oh, she is. She’s very smart.”
He looked back at me, pulling his hand away. “I’ll see you later, Rosette. It was a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure my boys will love you.”
I watched his back as he walked towards my mother, leaned down, and placed a kiss on her forehead before he left the room. Mother turned to me with a smile on her face, her mouth opening, but I beat her to it.
“Who is he?”
Her smile widened. “He’s rich, Rosette. Filthy rich.”
“That wasn't the question I asked. Who the fuck is he?”
“Watch your language,” she hissed, the smile dropping from her face.
“Don't bullshit me about my language right now,” I snarled, baring my teeth at her. “Do you even know anything about him? What he does? The type of person he is? Or you just saw him and his big car and you were drooling all over him?”
She marched to me, her heels clicking against the marble floor, a shaky finger pointed at me. “I am your mother, Rosette, and I will not tolerate you talking to me with that tone and such language. I am your mother and you will–”
“Then act like it!” I snapped, my chest heaving, the familiar, hot feeling of rage wrapping its fist around my throat and making it hard to breathe. “When have you ever been a mother to me? Huh?! When, Vera?! ‘I am your mother. I am your mother,’ but you have never for once shown me motherly love. You have never held me or laughed with me the way other mothers do with their children. All I ever got from you is hate and rage, and yet you still call yourself my mother!”
The rage was like a second heart in my chest, beating with intense force, making me shake.
My mother stared at me with her eyes wide and her lips parted. She took a slow step towards me, her legs shaking, but she still managed to stand straight.
“Do you want to know something, Rosette?” she asked, her voice a barely audible whisper. “I used to be wild and free. I used to be very beautiful, but then your father, that… bastard came into my life and cut off my wings. And then you were born and you took my light. After the both of you came into my life, my days were filled with darkness and hardship.”
“Are you even listening to yourself?” I asked, my voice cracking. “How is any of that my fault? Sure you can blame Dad, cause he knew what he was doing, but me? You brought me into this world! You made that choice! And the first emotion you showed was hate. You didn't even give me a chance, you made no attempt to love me. You said I took your light away, but I never even had any light to begin with. Your rage and hate sucked up that light from your womb.”
I took a step towards her, and she just stood still, watching me with her face blank. I think she was who I got my blankness from, because right now we looked so similar, like I was staring into a mirror.
Maybe we were more alike than I thought.
“I want you to suffer, Mom. Really suffer. Because you should never have given birth to me if this was all I was going to get.”
I stormed past her, my entire body aching. For the past twenty-two years of my miserable life, I had never said those words out loud. They had tightened around my throat, but I never gave in to the temptation to say it. But it seems the straw finally broke the camel’s back.
I didn't know where I was going because this mansion was new and like a maze to me, but I just kept walking. I needed water to quench this fire that was raging in me.
I was so lost in my head and my rage that I didn't see where I was going. As I rounded a corner, oblivious to my surroundings, I collided with something hard.
“Shit,” I cursed, rubbing my forehead.
Something shifted in front of me, and before I could look up, a cool voice drawled, “Well, what do we have here?”