Bella's pov;
I believed my day after classes was going to be the same. But then, I knew it was just going to go wrong from the moment my mother called me to inform me of her presence in this city. To put it simply, she had purposefully and intentionally come to the little apartment we owned- her way of surprising me and making me dread my day after classes.
"You're late."
And as usual, she went straight to the accusations, not even bothering to welcome me as soon as I stepped past the door threshold, into our small sized living room.
It took everything I had in me not to snap and tell at her in return, swallowing the dissatisfaction I had left in me.
I was smart enough to know that yelling out my dissatisfaction would only lead to the same accusations from her- about how I killed my father years ago and made her lonely.
Though, I had my doubts whether she was truly lonely from the way she behaved most of the time.
"Thank you for the warm welcome, mother," I bit back, unable to stop myself from voicing out a bit of my displeasure.
I didn't have to turn to look at her to know the kind of look she had on at the moment. After all, she never liked me talking back to her.
Her main aim: to throw words at me while I take them without complaints.
I used to love doing that, wanting to satisfy her at all costs since she was my mother and perhaps, just like she said, my father had died because of me.
I was all too ready to do as she wanted, wanting to please her and a way of apologizing for the happiness I deprived her of.
Only if I knew that this was never going to be enough for her.
"Look at you! Aren't you ashamed of yourself? I've told you quite well to not only lose that weight but watch how you speak to me. If not, not only are you not going to end up with a mate but he might not even want you!" She hissed and just like always, her words stung.
It was like getting stabbed with a knife in my chest and then cruelly twisted to cause more pain.
If only it wasn't my mother wielding that knife.
I stared at her, keeping quiet with tears already stinging the back of my throat, remembering all that happened to me in the span of two days.
As if it hadn't been enough, my own mother had to rub salt on my wound when she should have been the one person I could run to in times like this.
Pushing back the tears that crawled up my eyes, I stared at the woman whom I looked just like- the only difference being that all of her body parts were toned, doing no justice to her age.
The same brown wavy hair, dainty eyebrows, small button nose and then lips that looked like they had been carefully crafted for days.
All of these features, I had them, the only difference was mine had more than the usual fat surrounding them.
Would Carman want me? He seemed like he did and although, there were no promises from him, just a few words exchanged between us, my mother's words hit harder.
"What have you come here for, mother?" I asked, sighing and throwing down the bag in my hand while trying so much to act like her words weren't affecting me.
Each step I took to the corner of the couch, which was my safe space anytime my mother was here, was like I had heavy metals on my feet, making it difficult for me to move.
"Is that the way to speak to your mother?" For a brief moment, I found the look in her eyes pitiful, tugging at a certain part of my heart that immediately felt bad.
And once again, years of guilt eating at me caught up in no time.
With one last step, I got to the corner, immediately slumping down while trying as much as possible to hide my sweaty palms.
"Why are you here, mother?" I asked again, swallowing thickly and holding back, keeping my cool knowing that it was only just going to lead to me being fed on how I was the cause of her loneliness.
I watched her roll her eyes at me, shaking her head before suddenly walking around the little space available in the merged parlour and kitchen.
Looking at her, it seemed like she was about to come up with another barbaric excuse again and at this minute, like she always did.
It was her way of manipulating me.
"Well…I just wanted to let you know that I've finally found a mate and we'll be permanently moving to the city in his home. You don't have to pack too much," she stated all in one breath, while I looked on, already sick of her sudden announcement.
"O…oh! I'm happy for you…," I slowly started to say, swallowing in between and trying as much as possible not to sound like I was being bitter.
Meanwhile, the only thing I wanted to do was to scream,yell and cry out to her why she had made that decision and was only just telling me.
"As for moving out, this is the closest place to my college, so I won't be moving out with you. You can just go ahead with your own plans."
For a brief moment, I expected her to begin to yell and for her to say I was being selfish but instead, she said nothing, only trailing her long, neatly polished nails on the stool in the kitchen, not even staring at me.
This was weird.
"I'd say you should start packing up because the new owners are going to be here anytime soon. I sold the house."
She said nonchalantly and at that point, I realized how much she didn't care about me. My eyes burned with unshed tears, my heart charred and scarred knowing that this was how insignificant I was in her eyes.
"S…oo, you didn't think to inform me weeks ahead but only a day before I am to pack?" I asked hoarsely, tears already coating the back of my throat.
"The Alpha, my mate, told me at such notice too…," she paused, a smile on her face which I'd never seen before.
Now that I properly looked at her, I noticed the brightness of her eyes and how light was now shining in them, her cheeks stretched into a wide smile.
But that would have been all if I didn't just register what she said;The fucking Alpha was about to become my stepfather?!
Which only meant …Ronnie, was about to become my step brother!
And to top it off, I had only a few hours to mentally prepare to live under the same room as the one person I hated and held so much disgust for. Someone who had used me!
Looking at my mother now, telling her all of this would just be her way of deducing I didn't want to see her happy.
And neither did she care to ask me about how I was fairing in college whether it was just the same bully case like in highschool.
And it didn't look like she was going to care!