Chapter 148
Third–person POV
Th
Amber and Mary sat across from each other in an empty restaurant. It was a quiet place, offering a sense of privacy for their conversation. Mary settled into her chair, her posture rigid and a look of disdain etched on her face. She rested her purse on her lap and crossed her legs, ready to address the reason they were there.
Amber, with a calm expression, spoke up first.
“I want to thank you for agreeing to meet with me today, Mary,” Amber said, her
voice dripping with false sincerity. “I know this must be difficult for you, especially with what’s going on with Marlene.”
Mary’s eyes rolled involuntarily at Amber’s words. She had little patience for pleasantries and small talk. “Don’t involve Marlene, and just get to the point, Amber,” Mary replied impatiently. “Why did you want to meet with me?”
*
Amber’s calm demeanor faltered for a moment, but Mary’s directness didn’t catch
her off guard. She took a deep breath before responding, her voice tinged with a hint of forced vulnerability. “Mary, I know this is going to sound strange, but I have to ask, why do you hate me so much?” Amber said, her gaze
unwavering. “I genuinely want to understand what I ever did to make you hate me
this much.”
Mary seemed taken aback by Amber’s question; a mixture of surprise and
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irritation flashed across her face. She scoffed before replying, her voice laced with bitterness. “Isn’t it obvious, Amber?” Mary shot back. “Your existence alone has always been torture for me, because you’re the daughter of the bitch that took everything from me. Need I say more?”
Amber sighed, her eyes searching Mary’s face for any signs of understanding. She honestly didn’t understand what exactly her mother had taken from Mary to make Mary so hateful and resentful, even after twenty years of legally being her mother. “I know you hate my mother, Mary. You’ve made that quite clear over the years,” Amber stated calmly. “But I can’t understand what my mother did so wrong for you to hate her so much. What did she ever do to you? Why do you hate her so much? I honestly can’t comprehend how you could hate your childhood best friend so deeply to the point of taking it out on her daughter.”
Mary’s features hardened as she stared at Amber, her voice low and laced with emotion. “Don’t you get it, Amber?” Mary retorted, her frustration evident. “You remind me of your no–good mother. The pain, the betrayal, and the self–loathing that I experienced because of your mother. I see her in you, and that’s why I hate you.”
Amber felt a growing frustration building in her as Mary’s expected responses continued. The lack of a direct confession only fueled her irritation, but she knew that losing her composure wouldn’t get her the answers she wanted. With a deep breath, she composed herself, maintaining a calm voice as she addressed Mary’s evasiveness.
“Listen, Mary, you’re not telling me what I want to know,” Amber said, her tone steady. “I need to understand why you hate my mother so deeply and why that hatred extended to me even though you raised me as your own. I want to hear vour instification Mary So heln me understand
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her anger rising. She clenched her fists,
boiling emotions threatening
around the empty restaurant as she dove deep
17
THE M
unearthing the time when her heart
image of Elena, her
flickered with a mix of disgust and delight as she turned her
Amber, her
IFE
something, Amber?” Mary sneered, her voice laced
life happened twenty–two years ago, and it was the
heard that Elena had been run over by a car and had died on
beginning of my happiness in
shock was evident, her eyes widening at the harshness
the depth of Mary’s hatred or
hear in
her voice trembling. “You… you mean to tell me that you consider my mother’s death as the beginning
“Yes, it was,” she replied coldly. “Words cannot begin to describe the joy I felt when I heard the news. All those years of
in disbelief, her mind reeling from the bitter words that had just poured out of Mary’s mouth. She couldn’t fathom the
had
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in Mary’s heart. Slowly regaining her
the courage to voice her
tinged with
deserve your hatred for so many
her gaze distant and detached. “Elena was just
“She just existed, and at some point, I realized I was
response. “I still don’t understand,” she admitted. “How can you hate
so hard to understand, Amber?” Mary retorted, her voice laced with bitterness. “So, Elena and I grew up together, and we have been best
until I didn’t.”
as she listened to Mary’s words. “But why?
“Because Elena was like
they all fell for her. I was just the pitiful friend, never chosen, and always in her shadow.”
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eyes widened at the venom in Mary’s words, struggling to comprehend the depth of her stepmother’s bitterness. She couldn’t wrap
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