"Mommy... let's just go back home. I'm tired" the little girl dropped the idea of eating sweet things and instead hoped to eat her mother's cooking.
Since her daughter already decided, Isabella took her back home. She finally got some free time and decided to cook a feast.
...
Isabella was staring at her child, recollecting how her daughter made her realize how much she had mistaken about her life.
She clearly remembered the words said by her daughter earlier that day. "Mommy, you never think of your own happiness"
Isabella realized how she always burdened herself with all kinds of pressures and forgot about what she really wanted to do in her life.
She decided to swipe the life she had been living all this time and start afresh. 'I will fight against my own complicated emotions and become the person I once dreamed to be' Isabella thought with determination.
"Tina....." Isabella turned her head and looked at her daughter.
"Hmm" the little one hummed seriously as her mother rarely called her by her name.
"Where do you like to stay in the future? Should we just continue staying here or should we go live somewhere else..." Isabella said. Since the house she was living in was already sold to that man, she didn't want to live there anymore.
The little girl could understand the gravity in her mother's words and decided to give a truthful answer.
"Then, why don't we go to France? I once saw on TV. It's beautiful"
"Are you sure about that?" Isabella wanted to make sure her daughter decided only after thinking.
"Yes. I'm sure" The little one nodded.
Her daughter's decision of going to France brought Isabella a chance to get back everything that once belonged to her.
Isabella was truly determined this time.
Every single person whom she cherished as her own family slammed their doors on her face when she required help. They abandoned her when she was in a critical state. It was their selfishness that made her to suffer more than anything.
She had to fight the people who troubled her in the past and return them with exactly a hundred times worth the torment she faced because of them.
It wasn't about revenge for her. She just wanted to take this chance and let them know that she wasn't easy to bully. Not anymore.
With that thought, Isabella kissed her past pitiful self a goodbye.
---
The dark sky lightened up with the entry of the blazing sun.
Isabella who woke up from her sleep was surprised. That night, there were no haunting nightmares to disturb her sleep. Isabella smiled looking at Tina and hugged her close to her chest.
'I knew it was my failure to accept the reality that made me suffer' Isabella chuckled knowing how she slept peacefully for the first time ever in years without dreaming about that night.
The duo washed up and sat for a simple breakfast.
"Baby, when do you want to go to France?" Isabella asked for her child's opinion.
She already made some prior plans since she decided to go and stay in France.
But she needed to have her child's opinion before she could take any further action.
"Well. I think we should go right away. I'm afraid that man will come again and disturb us" the daughter said seriously while chewing on her toast.
Isabella gaped at the child seated before her with her mouth wide open. 'Since when did my sweet daughter become this serious? She looks charismatic' Isabella murmured in her heart.
With no reply from her mother, Tina looked up at her mother's face which still had a surprised expression.
"Mommy...." the little one waved her palm.
Only then did Isabella came out of her daze, "Okay..baby. Let's pack up after breakfast"
"Good then..." the little one nodded.
They completed their packing within an hour and Isabella prepared everything she needed to fly to France.
Her work place was very small and simple and she faced no problems in abruptly resigning from there.
By afternoon, the mother-daughter duo walked out of the house. Isabella knew she couldn't let that man knew their tracks of movement. Since he brought the house, he could demand any evidence about the happenings in and around the house. Hence she used the back door and tried her best to avoid the surveillance cameras around her house and also those on the street as well.
She lived there for a few years and she knew very well about the neighborhood. After she made sure that no one noticed their movements, Isabella walked forward and grabbed a taxi towards the airport.
The child looked excited about the journey and she didn't bother her mother right from the moment she left the house and enjoyed the city through the windows.
Soon, the mother and child checked in and took the plane.
While Isabella took a nap, the little one browsed through some magazines and after what felt like forever, she sneakily tore a paper from one of the magazines and hid it in her dress pocket before smiling cheekily.
...
As soon as they landed and walked out of the airport, they were greeted by a sharp voice.
"Isabella..."
Isabella looked towards the direction of the sound and saw her friend, Helena.
With her left hand holding her child's arm and the right hand dragging the luggage, Isabella walked over to where her friend was waiting for them with a car.
"Oh my, this must be my God daughter" Helena smiled at the child.
The woman kept gazing at the child as though she's charmed by the little angel's cuteness. Her unwavering gaze made the little girl uncomfortable.
Tina never opens up her heart to unfamiliar people. She wanted to avoid this strange woman but with her mother around her, she couldn't help but endure the continuous staring and the uncomfortable feeling.
"Baby. She's my friend, Helena. Also your godmother. Greet her" Isabella said to her child who was staring at the stranger in uneasiness.
"Godmother....?!" the little girl surveyed Helena, her gaze shifting from head to toes.