Dawn was waiting at the airport, gnashing her teeth angrily and tapping her feet.
This has never happened before. She had been waiting for over an hour. Just why was there no one coming for her?
Usually, they would be waiting for her at the airport with balloons and banners of how much they missed her. It was so embarrassing each time they did it but she pretended to like it so they wouldn't stop.
It was the difference between her and the other normal people who didn't have their families fawning over her.
She had been gone for almost a year but there was no one. No balloons and no banners.
The guards held a lot of banners to show love but...
Now she had to walk out of the airport and see if they were waiting to surprise her outside but there was no one.
"Did they forget I was coming back today?" She wondered out loud. "But that's not possible. They've never forgotten. Not once. So, what's keeping them?"
Her head was fuming. She wouldn't forgive them easily, even though they begged for her forgiveness. This was too much, making her wait for an hour like this.
Her legs were killing her.
She would have Patrick massage her feet, and Harry massage her shoulders to make up for this blunder. It was unacceptable.
And then, she spotted their family arriving.
"Ah, finally." She exclaimed and watched it stop a few feet away from her. She was prepared to act pitiful and angry but where were the guards? They were supposed to raise banners for her, right?
But there were just two cars, and she imagined the whole family coming in those two cars, but she was wrong.
Patrick got out of the car, and she waved at him, but he ignored her as if he didn't see her and turned to open the door.
After opening the door, he smiled and said,
"Watch your step, Lilah."
Dawn's face frowned heavily as she heard that name.
She watched Patrick help Lilah out of the car and her face twitched.
What was that blind girl doing here?
"Thank you, brother." Lilah said and Patrick smiled like a goof.
"It's no problem, Lilah. Let me walk you inside." He said but then noticed Dawn on the side. "Oh, Dawn is already here."
But Dawn was livid and confused. Just what in the world was going on?
"Brother," Dawn called. "What's going on?"
"What do you mean?" Patrick asked. "I came to pick you up?"
"But why did you bring sister Lilah along? She's supposed to stay at home, right? She can't see." She said that as if they didn't already know that Lilah was blind.
Patrick got mad at her words and said,
"You're saying that as if she isn't supposed to go out because she's blind." He scowled at her. "Should we keep her caged in the house forever simply because of her eyes?"
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Then you should talk properly, Dawn. You're going to hurt Lilah's feelings if you talk so carelessly." He said and Dawn felt a heavy blow on her heart.
Had her brother just scolded her? Her goofy brother who would do anything for her?
Why? How? How did this happen?
She looked at Lilah, who was simply spectating, and wondered what Lilah had done while she was absent. Why did it seem like her brother hated her now?
'Did she do something? Is that why my brothers didn't come to pick me up on time, and Brother Patrick is not scolding me?' she wondered, biting her lip.
She watched Patrick treat Lilah softly and then took in a deep breath. It was because she wasn't at home for all this while that Lilah was able to expand her influence.
Now that she was back...
"I'm sorry, sister Lilah." Dawn said, walking towards her with her soft and innocent expression. "You know I didn't mean any harm. I only worry for you."
Lilah smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I know. Sister Dawn treats me the best so I know you didn't mean it. You were just looking out for me." Lilah said.
She couldn't gloat even if she wanted to because she knew the end of their fates. She knew Patrick was only treating Dawn like that to convince her that he was on her side.
In the end, it was all for Dawn's sake.
"Shall we get going? You must've waited for a long time." Lilah said and Dawn nodded, smiling brightly.
"Yes, I missed you a lot, sister Lilah." Dawn said and peeked at Patrick.
This was his cue to dawn over her like he used to do. Usually, when she said something like that to Harry, he would chip in and ask if she didn't miss him as well.
But this time, Patrick did not do that. He did not even pay Dawn any mind. He was simply occupied by Lilah.
"Then, let's go." Patrick said, opening the car door.
"Yes, let's go." Dawn said and wanted to get in but Patrick stopped her.
"I have to sit with Lilah because I'm worried that she's not used to being in a car. You can take the car in the back, Dawn." He said coldly, and Dawn's expectations shattered.
"What?" The words escaped her lips like a whisper.
Lilah had no plans of intervening or trying to seem considerate because she knew this nice treatment she was getting was limited.
So, she would rather enjoy it while she had the chance.
Dawn stood there, frozen. Just what in the world was going on?
"Hurry and get in, Dawn." Patrick said, snapping her out of her thoughts. Right, she might've been imagining it. There was no way Patrick would make her sit with the guards.
"Alright." Dawn smiled but then Patrick pointed at the car behind them.
"Alright, hurry up. I need to watch you get in."
The guards got out of the car and came to carry her luggage. One of them bowed, waiting for her to go get in, but she was frozen, speechless.
This... This wasn't happening.