Claudia POV
But my husband avoided my question. He walked into the house with his two daughters, ignoring me completely and leaving me alone with Clarissa.
When our eyes met again, the ugly memories I had forcefully buried clawed their way back to the surface.
The bullying.
The torment.
The way everyone deliberately refused to acknowledge my suffering.
Such was the way my old family was. In my father's eyes, Clarissa was always the golden child, while I was nothing more than unwanted baggage after my mother's death. As such, my father turned a blind eye to all my abuse. He and my stepmother allowed Clarissa to commit unspeakable acts of violence and hurt against me, but whenever I fought back, I was heavily punished.
Emboldened by their support, Clarissa's cruelty only grew more unrestrained - to the point where I thought I would die at her hands. In fact, there was a point in time where I wished I died. I was so alone, with no one to rely on.
I had thought I'd finally escaped my past when I cut off all contact with them, but this devil had followed me all the way fifteen years after I left that damned house. I felt my breath shorten with every gasp of air I took, and my heart pounded painfully in my ribcage, threatening to escape.
Clarissa tilted her head slightly, her grin widening. "What's with the long face, Claudia? Aren't you happy to reconnect with your old family?"
My teeth clenched as I struggled to stay calm. An undercurrent of fear, peppered with rage simmered beneath my skin as memories of her cruelty resurfaced, vivid and merciless, leaving me tongue-tied as my worst memories floated to the forefront of my mind.
I couldn't forget everything she had done to me. I remembered it all in horrible, graphic, painful detail.
Instinctively, I covered my arm, the one marked by a uniquely shaped burn scar.
But Clarissa noticed immediately and giggled. "Oh, thank you for reminding me. I still remember using Mom's curling iron on your arm, just to check if it was hot enough."
She spoke of it with delight, as if torturing me had been a fond childhood memory.
"Oh, and do you still have the scar on your chest?" she continued lightly. "I remember beating you with a bat because yours were bigger than mine back then. It's all for your own good though, you shouldn't be attracting the attention of those high school boys. What if they saw your scars and puked?"
I had so much to say in my head, but not a single word came out. All the trauma that haunted me every night since I was a child surged back like a tidal wave, leaving me completely speechless. Every scar I had on my body felt like a fresh new wound.
How could Miles, my beloved husband, do this to me? He, who knew the story of every scar on my body. He knew, in vivid painful detail, how Clarissa had left indelible marks on my body and mind. He had kissed every single one of them in their ugly glory, and promised to protect me from further harm.
So how could he bring her into our house?! Was this some kind of sick joke?
Or was I trapped in a nightmare I couldn't wake up from?
"Hm? Can't speak at all?" Clarissa asked with light amusement. "Did you become mute after I strangled you back then? Ah, there's still a faint mark on your throat."
I made an aborted sound, trying to speak. I wanted to run. I wanted to fight. More than anything, I wanted to wake up from this nightmare. I wanted - no, I needed Clarissa to be gone.
Clarissa watched me struggle to form words and laughed behind her hand. "Oh well. That was all in the past, right? We were just silly sisters. A little fight between siblings was inevitable."
She didn't wait for my response, brushing past me to walk into my house. But before she disappeared inside, she glanced over her shoulder, shooting me a malicious grin.
"If you want to ask something about Lara," she said with mock sweetness, "you can ask me, or Miles. I'd be happy to answer."
"Though I don't think you'll be ready for the answer, Claudia."
She walked into my home, and my body trembled like a leaf in the wind. My legs faltered, and I grabbed the handrail to keep myself from collapsing.
After more than a decade of bullying and abuse, I had developed a flight response toward Clarissa. Right now, all I wanted was to escape and never return to a place that Clarissa had stepped in.
But Aurora was inside with Miles. With her. So, I forced myself to calm down. I took multiple deep breaths, let go of the handrail, and forced myself to walk into the house to face my greatest fear.
As I entered, I saw Miles leading both girls up the staircase to the second floor, with Clarissa following closely behind them. They walked together like a picture-perfect family to the family room to cut the birthday cake I had painstakingly prepared earlier this morning.
I gripped the railing and hauled myself up, my palms sticky with sweat. When I finally reached the room, I saw my daughter blowing out the candles in front of Miles, Lara, and Clarissa.
Miles and Clarissa had celebrated Aurora's birthday without waiting for me, as if they were the real family in this house. It was as though I was a ghost in my own home. They acted like I didn't exist at all.
It placed me in a position where, if I raised my voice or confronted Clarissa, I would be the one who looked irrational for confronting her.
I stood a short distance away, completely silent, as Miles helped Aurora cut the cake and said warmly, "Now, who do you want to give the first bite to, little angel? Daddy, right?"
Aurora didn't answer right away.
She looked around and when she noticed me standing at the door, her face lit up.
"Mommy! This is for you!"
My lips curled into a smile instinctively.
Even though my heart felt ice-cold, at least my daughter still remembered me, the mother who raised her, and preferred to give the first bite to me.
I walked slowly toward my daughter, deliberately ignoring Miles and Clarissa.
Whatever confrontation awaited us could come later—after Aurora's birthday was over, after she went to bed.
I refused to ruin her most special day, even if it was already late at night.
But before I could reach Aurora, Clarissa suddenly snatched the fork from her hand and took the first bite of cake.
Both Aurora and I froze in shock.
"Hey!" Aurora protested immediately. "That was for Mommy!"
"Oh, don't be so stingy, little angel," Clarissa said lightly as she licked the frosting on her thumb. "I'm your aunt. Wouldn't that make me your second mommy? I am as important as her."
Then she turned to Miles, smiling sweetly.
"I'm sure your Daddy agrees with me, right, Miles?"
I swallowed the curse word that was threatening to emerge, and turned my head toward Miles, silently pleading with my eyes for him to defend his daughter from this woman.
Even though I hadn't confronted him yet about Clarissa, he should at least know what to do when someone crossed Aurora's boundaries—right?
However, faced with both my gaze and Clarissa's, Miles deliberately avoided mine.
He nodded at Clarissa, then smiled gently at his daughter and patted her head, "What Aunt Clarissa said is correct, little angel. This is the first time you two have met. Wouldn't it be nice to treat her better?"
"But the first one is for my Mommy!" Aurora insisted. Her small face flushed red as the six-year-old teetered on the edge of throwing a tantrum.
"Be more sensible," Miles said calmly. "Your mother has spent a lot of time with you. It's time to spend more time with Aunt Clarissa and Lara as well."
Then he added, "Besides, you can call her Mommy from now on too. I'm sure your mother will agree. She's just as sensible as you are."
The moment those words left his mouth, something inside me snapped.
"What the hell are you talking about?! I never agreed to that! I am Aurora's Mommy and I'm the only one she needs!"
Everyone turned to look at me, and Clarissa was the first to sneer.
"Ah, what a shame," she sighed theatrically. "I knew you were always a crazy bitch. What's wrong with me trying to get closer to Aurora?"
She turned toward my daughter and continued softly, "Don't you see this, Aurora? Your mother has always been unstable. She beat me up when I was your age, and one day, she'll beat you too."