Chapter 106 – Family (7)
Numerous people came and went to the mansion.
Most of them were people Isabella did not know.
They wiped away tears or expressed their condolences with serious expressions. There were women among her who burst into tears when they saw her.
She didn’t quite understand. She wonders why other people are crying when neither she nor her father are crying.
But Isabella silently let them vent her feelings.
With many mourners visiting, Isabella was able to see Sianna and Mason’s parents.
Feeling better without realizing it, she looked for Mason and Siana to be by their side.
However, the image of the sister who was so reluctant to be separated from her mother and father was nowhere to be seen,
While she was confused, they approached her and her father.
“Gordon.”
“Hey, you’re here.”
The two hugged each other in silence, and the sisters’ mother bowed her head to convey her greeting.
Isabella still looked around her, looking for her sister.
However, her sister did not appear anywhere.
Isabella mustered up her courage and tugged at the hem of her wife’s dress, and her wife frowned slightly and bowed her head to her.
“Why are you doing that?”
She hesitated and asked a difficult question.
“… Where are Siana and Mason?”
When she asked that question, her wife quietly knelt down and made eye contact with her.
“Siana and Mason are at home.”
Isabella quietly lowered her head. Even more than her mother’s death, she felt even greater sadness about not being able to see her friends.
The wife, seeing her actions, spoke to her in a friendly but trembling voice.
“… Do you miss Siana and Mason?”
Isabella hesitated. Although she had not spoken much with her wife, her previous brief and scanty conversation had caused Isabella her discomfort.
The sister’s parents always announce the end to her happy times.
A sister’s infinite affection for those people who are so resentful.
The image of her mother who resents and fears her, but at the same time, something she has never experienced before, and perhaps envies her.
Jealousy, resentment, fear.
Conflicted by her complex emotions, Isabella desperately hoped that she would tire of her actions and turn away. But the woman who cared for her children and had compassion for her did not seem to have any intention of doing so.
I was angry and uncomfortable. Her emotions, which were too complex and deep for her child to experience, continued to torment her sensitive daughter. The wife was torturing Isabella against her will with her good intentions.
She was like an innocent child pouring water into an anthill because she was worried that the ants would be too hot in the middle of summer.
At that moment, Isabella’s eyes became hot.
Embarrassed by this sensation she was experiencing for the first time, she was in a daze, forgetting about her pressure for a moment.
Whisper.
Before she could come to her senses, Isabella’s body was in her wife’s arms.
Her wife hugged her tenderly and whispered quietly.
“Mason and Sianna will come later. “Hold on a little and see you later.”
There was a gentle tremor in the wife’s voice,
Ironically, her actions, which stemmed from her fear and jealousy, seemed to be received differently by her.
Her wife’s embrace was warm and had a different scent than her mother’s unpleasant scent.
It was a warm and soft hug, unlike her mother’s embrace, which was thin and haggard. For a moment, her feelings of fear and discomfort faded away for a moment.
As she enjoyed the warm, loving embrace, a new realization was quietly etched into her mind.
People judge others based on their own thoughts and feelings.
The fact that it can work in a way that benefits you.
That night, Isabella stood in front of her mother’s coffin with her father.
The body was opened so that the face could be seen, and there her mother lay with her eyes closed.
There was light makeup on her pale face, and at first glance, she looked like she was just in a deep sleep.
Isabella looked up at her father standing next to her.
He told her with a heavy expression to say her final goodbye.
She couldn’t understand her father’s actions. Why would someone who never showed love for her mother have such a sad expression?
However, the clever Isabella did not let the story slip out of her mouth.
She quietly did as her father told her, and quietly walked over so that she could see her mother’s face.
My mother didn’t move.
Even if Isabella called her mother, she wouldn’t open her eyes, wouldn’t give her a hug that smelled like alcohol, and she instinctively knew that she wouldn’t call her Bella.
The image of her comfortably closed eyes was engraved in her large purple eyes.
Funny enough, she looked more comfortable after she died than when she was alive.
It was an unfamiliar feeling. It was unpleasant.
She didn’t seem to be her mother.
“Isabella.”
Her father’s call startled her, but she managed to turn her head without shaking her body.
By the look in her eyes, her father was waiting for her to say her last goodbye.
So she quietly lowered her head and placed her mouth on her mother’s face.
Instead of the warmth you feel when you get close to a person, the corpse seems to radiate a chill like ice.
If you’re not careful, when you get close enough to feel the cold skin on the tip of her nose,
She whispered quietly.
Her last wish for her mother.
After her mother’s death, Mason and Sianna’s visits increased significantly.
Isabella felt great satisfaction from that. Because the pity her wife felt for her ultimately benefited her.
But at some point, she could sense her subtle awkwardness.
Mason treated her as before, but it was Lucia who made her feel uncomfortable.
Lucia’s attitude towards her was somewhat cautious, and her behavior gave off a sense of distance.
If it was like before, I would quietly give in to her instead of her bickering.
She stops when she sees herself smiling brightly.
At one point, Lucia started to feel a little bit of worry in her heart.
She didn’t want to be away from her sister. Now that her mother is gone, her two sisters are her only attachment.
Then one day, while waiting for her sister to visit as usual, Isabella encountered an unexpected situation.
Instead of her sister, who always came to her mansion holding her hand, she came face to face with Lucia, who came alone.
She looked at Isabella with a slightly puzzled expression, holding her old doll dearly in her arms.
“… Are you here?”
Seeing her somewhat anxious expression, Isabella mustered up the courage to open her mouth. Upon hearing her voice, Lucia shivered for a moment, then nodded her head cautiously.
In Isabella’s eyes, her behavior looked familiar.
The image of herself that she saw when she met her wife was overlapped in her gait, facial expression, and attitude.
The two moved to Isabella’s room in silence and sat quietly facing each other.
However, Lucia seemed to have no intention of playing. She was just looking at her warily, holding her old doll preciously in her arms.
Isabella hated this situation. She has a situation where the person she likes doesn’t return the same feelings to her.
So, to win her favor, I did what children usually do.
He crossed the room and handed Sianna the prettiest doll she had in her toy box.
Sianna took her doll and carefully placed it next to her, then looked at her and asked.
“Childhood… Are you going to play?”
Isabella didn’t understand.
She wanted Lucia to be happy. She happily accepted her favorite doll and wanted to put down the old doll in her arms and hug the doll she had given her.
But why is mine much prettier and more beautiful than that doll?
Are you not accepting my favor?
Why are you rejecting me?
It was only when she noticed that Lucia’s body was shaking slightly that she came to her senses.
Her own expression was making Lucia feel scared.
It shouldn’t have been like this.
You shouldn’t hate me.
I like you.
You should like me just as much.
She quickly relaxed her expression and sat down, carefully keeping her distance from Lucia. After some time had passed and Lucia’s glaring eyes had calmed down little by little, Isabella thought carefully.
What should I do to resolve this awkwardness?
No, beyond that.
What should I do for you to like me?
Isabella quickly put her mind to work and came up with a solution that was close to her instincts.
There was nothing difficult. She recalled the feelings she felt in front of her wife.
Helplessness, fear, terror.
Shoulders shrunken, trembling breath.
Eyes with a trace of fear leaking out.
“… Lucia.”
As she cautiously called her name, Lucia looked at her.
“… “You hate me?”
Showing that kind of attitude to people her age,
It was several times easier than expected.
