Owned By My Step Brother

Chapter 19 - On my trail

Alice's Point Of View

“Don't do it,” I admonished myself sternly, but my legs moved faster.

Curiosity wouldn't let me sleep until I found out what was going on.

The shadow that passed by me in the hallway looked like my mother.

But what was she here for, and why did she have to hide?

“This is a bad idea,” my mind warned, as I followed closely, forgetting the time it was.

I tried to be as quiet as possible, but soon this person, if I was even sure it was my mom, had noticed that someone was following her.

She stopped abruptly, and I struggled to hide myself as she turned around calmly.

Checking for the person who had been following her.

“Whoever you are, go back now, if you want to live,” She said calmly, waiting for a few minutes before continuing her journey.

I stood there, frozen in the spot for some reason I didn't understand.

I wasn’t scared, but something else threw me off the chase.

“What wasn't Mom's voice?” I said out loud, as if trying to lecture myself.

But that wasn't the real reason I stopped following either.

Something about the entire situation felt off, and with all the strange things happening around me already, it wasn't worth the chase.

“... just promise me you will be back tomorrow to try again,” Mrs Charles’ words repeated in my mind.

Whoever this strange person I had been following was, it wasn't any of my business, but getting my life back together was.

The walk back home was silent and filled with a lot of thought.

I was at the point where I didn't even know what to do with my life, and it frustrated me so much.

“Why are you so late?” My mom's voice echoed, bringing my mind back to the present.

This was the last confirmation I needed that the person I had followed wasn't my mom.

Because there she stood angrily, wrapped in a bathrobe and shooting me death stares.

I wanted to tell her what happened, about Mrs Charles and the strange woman, but when I opened my mouth, other words came out instead.

“I am not a child anymore, Mom, it's barely past nine, you don't need to control me,” I said firmly, looking her in the eye.

“If you live under my roof, you will follow my rules,” she bit back, her anger increasing.

This was strange and new to me, especially since she had never acted like that even when I was in high school.

“You begged me to come back to this house, don't make me regret it,” I responded harshly, her words beginning to irritate me.

“I was only doing you a favor. With how much you have failed, there was no way you could afford that apartment, you know, you couldn't even keep a man, you should be grateful that I even let you stay here,” she screamed, looking at me in disgust.

I gasped in shock, my eyes widening as I processed the information I had just received.

My mom's eyes widened too, and she held her mouth shut while shaking her head.

“A…Alice, I didn't mean it like that…” she tried to explain, but my back was already turned.

I knew my mom better than anyone else, and she meant every single thing she had just said.

“Alice!!” She called after me, but I was long gone.

I ran to my room and shut the door, her betrayal sinking deeper with every passing minute.

I had thought my mom wanted me around in her very last days, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

Tears rolled down my face before I could even catch my breath.

“...Alice, you are like a daughter to me, especially since I don't have one of my own. Please let me help you just this once,” I remembered Mrs Charles' words.

Her comfort and how she had made sure I had eaten, how she had just sat there, silently comforting me while I cried.

How she had offered me the very things I had begged my mother for all these years.

When my best friend had stolen my boyfriend, she had taken their side and even invited them to her wedding.

When I almost died after the car crash, she was too busy with her new financeé to even save me.

“How could my own mother treat me so badly? Am I that unlovable?” I asked in despair, as I sank to the floor near my door.

And even now, she didn't chase me, didn't try to explain, didn't apologize; she never did.

She used to treat me so well before my father died, but since then, she couldn't see past her own selfishness.

“Maybe it's her own way of grieving,” I had told myself on different occasions.

I looked so much like my dad, and maybe that reminded her of him.

“She is just having a bad day,” I had tried to convince myself at other times.

But for five years, my mom had never taken my side, never shown me any love, or even supported me.

For the first time since my dad died, I had finally accepted that I was my own.

I slept off in that position, by the door, with my tears in my eyes and my clothes and shoes still on my body.

“Good Morning, Alice,” My mom greeted loudly, waking me from my deep, exhausted sleep.

I didn't respond to her but stood to my feet and began to prepare for the day.

I showered, got dressed, and packed a small bag in silence.

By the time I opened my room door, she was nowhere to be found, and for that I was grateful.

“Oh, Alice, how are you today?” Mrs Charles asked heartily, her eyes filled with excitement.

“I am doing okay,” I responded calmly, returning her hearty smile, as I walked toward the job aisle.

It was another long day filled with disappointment, but Mrs Charles’ encouragement had given me a new determination and a hope that things would get better.

I left the library that night happy and confident, but the further I walked back home, the more I was certain that someone was following me.