I gently placed down the tea on the side table beside Bella, I took the seat and she took a sip of it and shot me a little smile.
"What did the doctor say was the cause again?" My mother asked, she was on the bed beside her. She sighed and answered, "irregular chromosomes"
"I don't think it's best we talk about this" I spoke up.
"I told you how important it was to stay healthy in your first trimester, I told you how fragile it still is—"
"I was healthy, this doesn't have anything to do with staying—"
"Did you drink the tea I gave you? Did you listen to anything I said?"
Is she being serious right now? I stared at my Mom in disbelief. "You aren't supposed to lose the child, Bella. This is a strange occurrence in this family, it has never happened before"
"It wasn't my fault"
"I'm not putting the blame on anyone! You had the child in your womb and all you had to do was take care of it and yourself"
"Are you serious right now?" I interjected and her eyes shot to me. "Are you seriously putting the blame on her? The cause of the miscarriage wasn't anything on her and you're seriously gonna sit here and say all this?"
"Pearl, stay out of this conversation!"
"Why would you say that to her? That's how you console your daughter in this situation?" I asked in disbelief. "Pearl please" Bella pleaded and I glanced at her.
My Mother stared at me with wide eyes. "You seem to have a lot to say, Pearl"
"Mom—"
"If you know too well, perhaps you should have been a good adviser to her. But since you can't even put your family together, I don't think you can help others"
"Mom!" Bella called out.
"I don't even want to talk you and your nonsense, so just shut up and sit still!" She lashed at me before turning back to Bella.
"Do you know what this means? What are people gonna say? The Wayne's couldn't make it but they will be here tomorrow, Derrick is devastated. This is your first child, you should have been more careful!" She continued scolding.
I stared at her, how can this woman be my mother?
Bella leaned down, wiping her eyes.
"Do you know what he's going through? Natalia carried that baby for 9 months and she delivered"
"Mom please"
"This was what I was trying to avoid! This was the one thing I didn't want to happen—"
"What kinda mother are you?" I blustered and she turned back to me again. "I knew you were judgemental but this...this is cruel. How can you be so—"
"Don't you dare speak to me in that manner!"
"How can you be so heartless! I'm used to you hating me but this is messed up! Do you even care about us? Why do you only think about yourself? Why are you so selfish?" I yelled, getting up, I couldn't take it anymore.
"Where have you been this past years? How dare you speak to me in that manner?! I gave birth to you"
"I'm beginning to doubt that"
"Pearl, please just don't—"
"Why should I sit here and watch her say all that to you? She should be a mother and not being so judgemental "
"I see you've grown wings, Pearl "
"Why is it so surprising? Go ahead, Mom. Say your mind, I know how big of a disappointment I am to you, I know how much you hate—"
"If you knew all this, you should have keep staying away" she cut me off and I nodded slowly.
"There's nothing I'll do to change the way you feel about me!"
"What have you done exactly? You do everything to stay away from your family. Stop pretending to care, for the past years you've been away" she accused, getting up too and walking to me.
"Can you both not—"
"Don't even pretend, Pearl. You talk about heartlessness, you talk about cruelty? You weren't even there for your sister's wedding, you ignored all the calls and texts—"
"Those are in the past"
"Are they? It just goes a long way to show how cruel you are, Pearl. What do you know about running a family? What do you know about making one?" She lashed, taking another step closer.
I stared into her eyes, I couldn't see any atom of love.
"What do you know about love? How dare you utter such words to me?!"
"I guess we are both the same, I'm your daughter after all" I retorted, with a smile on my lips. "I know why you hate me, I remind you so much of your past"
Her hand immediately made way across my face. "Enough!!!" Bella exclaimed.
"Good! Show your real colours, Mom! Don't pretend to want the best for me, you can fool everyone but not me, you're right, I should have stayed away"
I grabbed my bag. "Pearl" Bella held me back, I turned to her, wiping my eyes. "Take care of yourself but..." I tried to hold myself back.
"—I'm so sorry" I whispered before walking out, I got out of the house and stopped when I saw Derrick heading up the porch. He paused, looking up at me.
She doesn't deserve all this shit.
I walked past him and headed to the car, Jeffrey pulled it open and I got in. While in the ride, I couldn't hold myself back from crying.
I wiped my eyes, glancing out the window.
Why is my family so toxic? This is why I stayed away all this while, she's right, I shouldn't have come back. What was I expecting?
Why was i expecting her to warm up to me? Why do I keep seeking validation when I know I won't get any? Why do I strive to be any better? Why do I claim to be someone I'm not?
Why do I even try to prove shits? Why am I here?
We arrived home and I couldn't even leave the car, I was tired... What was the point of everything I was doing?
What's the point of me working so hard?
How can I come from someone like her?
I stepped out, wiping my eyes with the tissues. I walked into the house and there was Evelyn, "welcome back, Pearl"
I looked up at her. "Thank you" i began heading up the stairs. "Dinner is ready, should I—"
"Don't bother" I walked to my room and paused at the door, I glanced at the other hallway, my eyes on the door to his study.
It was slightly opened, I let go of the door knob and walked to it.
Gently pushing it open, i stepped in, he looked up from the table, he had a large cigar between his finger and a glass of scotch on the other hand.
I walked in fully, he watched me as I took the seat beside, I dropped my bag on the table before grabbing the bottle and filling up the glass on the table, I added ice cubes and took a gulp.
This was what I needed now more than ever.
I sighed and placed down the glass, he blew out a puff of smoke and ashed it on the tray. I pulled my hair out of the bun and raked it.
Turning to him, "can I have a smoke?" I requested.
He held on a stare before passing it to me, I took a drag and let out a smoke, I took another drag before handing it back to him.
"How's Bella?" He asked.
"She's good" I took another gulp from the drink. "Why are you back early?" I asked too.
"I could continue work tomorrow" he replied, handing me back the smoke. I took a drag and puffed it out.
"We are really messed up. Imagine their reaction when we divorce" I brought up, chuckling to myself. "They'll have to get over it"
I ashed the cigar. "They'll be wondering what went wrong, Rosa will never forgive us and my mother..." I sighed and took another drag from the cigar.
"What will be our reason though?" I asked, turning to him.
Taking a gulp out of his glass, he answered, "We grew apart"
I laughed and passed the blunt to him. "Just in 6 months, I can't wait to see their reaction. They'll freak! But at least it won't change anything she thinks about me, I'm sure she have reached the peak of her disappointment" I muttered to myself.
Sucking in a breath, i looked up at him, he was just staring. "Few months to go. We make a great team, you know. The way we fooled everyone, what do you think made it more believable?"
"What happened, Pearl?" He ignored my earlier question.
"Do you think it's because we were friends? They all ate it up, like we were ever In love when we were friends. It's so absurd " I shook my head, taking another gulp from the glass.
"What do you think though?" I asked, filling up his glass. "It's crazy, we were friends because we did everything together. It's such a long time ago, I barely have memories "
I looked up at him before reaching out for the cigar. "You're the reason I smoke, you taught me in that alley, remember?"
"You asked me to teach you"
"I felt left out! You always ask others to come with you for a smoke but not me" I whined.
He smirked and gulped from the glass, I leaned on the table. "You were such a bad influence"
"I was a bad influence?"
"Yes, you're the reason I have all this bad habits. You're the reason I drink, smoke, spend all my time at the office. You're the reason I started my own business in the first place "
His eyes held questions. "Remember when you ditched me for Italy, you left me with no choice" I added, handing the cigar back to him.
"It was either this or work for my Mom and that will be harder than starting a business from nothing and I was also envious!"
"You ditched me and began a billion dollar enterprise, you had your shit sorted out. I'll hold that to you forever" I told him.
He ashed the cigar. "I didn't know that"
"I guess that's why it's believable that we are in love, we used to be so close " I commented, chuckling to myself.
"We basically did everything together. I can't believe you ditched Stanford to go to Cornell with me in NYC, gosh, we were so stupid"
"I'll do it again if I had the chance" he muttered and my gaze met his.
Moments later.
We both laughed, and I leaned on the table, shaking my head. “She almost took my head off, and you didn’t even bother to stop the fight!”
“You threatened to leak her nudes. I still don’t know how you got those,” he replied, giving me a pointed look.
“From your phone, obviously. She was so obsessed with you; I still can’t believe you kept in contact with her after all that shit,” I said, smacking his arm for emphasis.
Reaching for the bottle, I frowned. “We’re out of scotch. I’ll grab more from the cellar.”
He raised a brow. “How do you even know there’s a cellar?”
“I can smell alcohol from a mile away,” I replied, grinning.
“Alcoholic,” he muttered under his breath, earning another smack from me.
“Come on, what’s the passcode? I’ve tried everything I know,” I asked, throwing my hands up in exasperation.
“Your birthday,” he said casually.
That stopped me for a moment. I locked eyes with him, a smile slowly spreading across my lips. “Awwwn, Travis. That’s... actually sweet.”
“Will you just go grab the damn drink?” he huffed, shaking his head.
Still grinning, I walked to the door, entered the code, and pushed it open. The cool air of the cellar greeted me as I stepped in. Grabbing the Macallan, I headed back out.
“I can’t believe you kept this stash hidden from me,” I teased as I filled our glasses.
“And you wonder why,” he muttered.
Ignoring him, I raised my glass. “You shouldn’t let yourself get wasted,” he said, watching me closely.
“Why not? It’s not like I’m showing up at work tomorrow. This week’s been... unproductive,” I replied, raking a hand through my hair.
After a pause, I asked, “What’s your plan after the divorce?”
“I’ll stay in Washington for a while,” he said, swirling the liquid in his glass.
I hummed in response. “Maybe I’ll go on a trip. Staying in L.A. will be hell. The family’s going to drag me through it.”
“I’ll take the fall for everything,” he said, his voice steady.
I chuckled bitterly and took a sip. “You’re a man, Travis. You do no wrong in their eyes. Even if you take the blame, it’ll still somehow fall on me.”
Leaning forward, he rested his arms on the table. “Pearl, I don’t want to cause any more conflicts between you and your family.”
“Trust me, it can’t get worse than it already is,” I replied, shaking my head. “My mother hates me, and everyone thinks I’m the biggest disappointment in the family.”
Reaching for the bottle again, I sighed, but he stopped me. “Pearl—”
“Don’t pity me, Travis. I’m used to it. I’ve been getting bad looks whenever I walk into a room my entire life. It’s like I’m a magnet for a certain hatred. I don't thrive like you do, but you know what? I love it. People are... exhausting. They’re all pain and no payoff.”
“That’s enough,” he said firmly, taking the bottle from my hand.
“What? You don’t want me to get drunk?” I teased, chuckling dryly.
“You’re drunk and high as well,” he pointed out.
I laughed, the sound hollow. “It’s just like that one time in college,” I murmured, leaning on the table. “If you really wanted to look out for me, you shouldn’t have ditched me.”
I lifted my gaze to meet his. “Why did you ditch me, Travis?”
His expression shifted, and he ran a hand down his face, looking away for a moment. My throat tightened as tears gathered in my eyes. Why was I so damn emotional lately?
I wiped my face quickly and cleared my throat. “You’re right. I’m drunk,” I admitted, placing my glass down with care. “I’ll go to bed.”
I rose slowly, pushing the chair back, and grabbed my bag. “Good night,” I said softly, turning to leave.
Before I could take another step, his hand caught mine, halting me.
He stood and moved in front of me, his expression unreadable. “I never ditched you,” he said quietly.
I tilted my head, confused.
“You once asked me why the Empire is here in L.A.,” he began, pausing as his hand came up to wipe away the tears slipping down my cheeks.
His voice softened. “It’s because you’re here.”