Fated to the Sapphire Alpha

Chapter 5: Social Assistance

I sat down to eat beside Sir Grant. I tried to think about his name, but my mind started to become foggy. It became harder to concentrate, and suddenly I was struggling to remember his name. After a few questions, I discovered it was Grant Hamilton. He was a laid-back guy with a split personality when it came to work.

There were many similarities between him and Mason.

After eating for a while, I finished my food, and Grant asked me, “Are you always eating this slowly?”

I took a sip of my soda and replied, “Because of all my complications, it takes a long time for my body to fully adjust to food. And since I know that social worker…” I pointed to the door in front of me, “the abuse my parents gave me is also a factor in why everything takes longer.”

He nodded, and I thought about how I would never know how they found out about the abuse. I never told anyone, not even Nat and Sam. After my response, I noticed a cop walking down the hall, entering the principal’s office.

My mother shouted as he entered, “You are not putting me in prison! It is not my fault she doesn’t obey!”

Governor Knight looked like he wanted to approach my mother, but the cop handcuffed her while reciting her rights. She was forced to walk backward, and when she saw me, she screamed, “f**k you! You are never welcome in my home again! That money and anything I still have is my bail money, you f*****g disgrace!”

The cop took her away, and everything was spiraling downhill fast for me. My entire heart felt tight, and I didn’t know what was going to happen to me now.

Sir Grant stood up, signaling me to walk back into the principal’s office. I took the same seat as before. I overheard the social worker speak after Grant closed the door.

“Pardon that brief exchange. She wasn’t supposed to talk after being handcuffed, but she clearly wants more time to reflect on what she did wrong.”

I let out a heavy sigh as he spoke. I knew my mother; she was holding back on her insults toward me. The principal then added in a more relaxed tone.

“Now, Mishi Cooper, you have been placed in the care of the Knight family, and you will still graduate as we have promised you. If you think you need some time to adjust, just let me know.”

After hearing his words, I began to panic. I slowly turned my attention to find my inhaler. Where is the damn thing? I kept asking myself to find it faster. When I finally found it, I placed it to inhale, only to realize it wasn’t working. As my breathing became shallow, everyone noticed what was happening and acted in their own ways.

Principal Swan dug through his desk and pulled out an inhaler. I took it and pumped in two full doses.

It was nearly impossible to calm my breathing, but thinking of kittens, puppies, chocolate, ice cream, and many other comforting things helped me relax.

Everyone in the room seemed to calm down once I began to breathe normally. It was strange how synchronized they were. Either I hadn’t taken in enough air, or I was overthinking things again.

Governor Ken began to speak with me after Dave handed him a set of documents, which he began to sign. Dave moved some of them toward me, and I signed them before he returned them to his suitcase.

For the most part, I had no choice in what I could do with my life, and hearing him only made me feel worse.

“You will be working at our estate and assisting my son for a while to make a fresh start. You will need to bring everything from the old home you lived in with your mother, and you will need to maintain your current grades. There will be more to discuss, but we will address it later, Miss Mishi.”

Dave handed me a new paper and suggested as I signed, “Maybe it would help you ease into living with the Knight family if you stayed with your best friend first. I believe her name is Natally?”

Holding my pen, I looked at Dave with tears in my eyes. He gave me a sad expression in response. I knew they didn’t understand that my tears were of mixed feelings. Nothing I had done prepared me for this moment of being on my own.

Without answering him, I let my tears fall. It confused everyone why I was crying, but they would never understand. My medical conditions needed to be treated, my insecurities about living with the school’s playboy were overwhelming, and the uncertainty of who the Knight family really was scared me.

While I was eating earlier in the hallway, I remembered the last time I had to stay away from my mom.

FLASHBACK

While hiding in the closet, I heard my mom shouting on the phone.

“I don’t care, Marco! You and your new mate need to get a grip on that fucker! He’s going to ruin everything! Unless you want her to stay with you! Is that what you want, you coward?”

Mom kept pacing as she yelled into the phone while I was locked in the closet. I had hidden there because I forgot my towel to shower, and when I heard my mom come back from work, I shut the closet door without thinking of the consequences.

Luckily, I had eaten at my job before I came home. Waiting for my mom to finish her rant and go to bed was going to take a while because she was having a good laugh at whatever she was hearing.

While laughing, I heard her say, “You really think she wants to be with you? You threw me out because you knew we were having a daughter, you sick bastard!” She slammed her hand on the small circular wooden dining table of our apartment, hard enough that I thought it might break.

Mom hardly ever made strange sounds, but I knew she was pissed. She growled like an animal and shouted at my dad over the phone.

“If you come near her, I’ll rip your ungrateful heart out! We have a deal, and you’ll keep it, or you’ll suffer. I’m doing everything to keep what’s left of my family. I’m getting myself back where I belong, even if it means dumping this rat bastard of a daughter! Getting laid by you wasn’t worth this hell of a life! I don’t even know why you ruined it for us, Marco!”

There it was, my reminder of how much my mom loved me. Was it really too much to ask for her to say she loved me? To hear that she found my work amazing? That despite the circumstances and hardships, I was worth something to her? Asking myself these questions just made me feel like a fool.

My mom couldn’t even wish me well if it didn’t include me getting struck by lightning or set on fire. If any of those things actually happened, my mom would be proud of me.

As I longed for a better relationship with my mom, I heard her talk more formally on the phone.

“Good evening, Luna Ava. Why the sudden need to contact me?”

Mom placed her hand on her hip—the same hand she’d slammed the table with. She was gripping her clothes so tightly they were wrinkling.

I looked down, knowing she couldn’t see me through the closet. I could see her through a small hole, and I could hear her perfectly well.

I had to stifle a gasp at her words.

“Listen here, Luna Ava. As much as I’d like to let you take a piece of garbage like Marco off my hands, I’d like for your interference in my life to end. You were chosen by Marco to do what he says and to sleep with him—not to speak to me.”

Mom rarely spoke her mind to anyone but me and my dad, but to hear her say this to another woman as bluntly as she was doing now—this was insane!

I guessed Dad had really riled her up. Then again, this was normal between them ever since I turned twelve. But my mom wasn’t done talking to this Luna.

“And another thing, Luna Ava. Once I finish dealing with this crap, I promise you I will fight for my title again, so be ready to meet our moon goddess, because I’m about to give you hell.”

Her invoking a Greek goddess wasn’t surprising to me. Mom never believed in anything other than the Greek gods. She had faith in the Divine Goddess of the Moon, which I found funny—if they existed, they would have given me a better life.

Seeing her talk like she normally did wasn’t a shock. Mom loved challenging anyone.

She was a big competitor in everything she did, and nothing mattered to her unless it was about being better than others. Unlike me, who simply wanted to be respected for my own intellect and feel important just by existing.

As I brooded over my thoughts, Mom shouted again, making me flinch. I adjusted my position to hear her better.

“Fine! Go to hell for all I care! Deal with her however you want, but I’m getting my title back, one way or another, you bastard!”

And just like that, Mom threw the phone, and I flinched at the impact. It hit the closet door, and then she ran to pound on my door, screaming as if she knew I was inside the whole time.

“You’re going to stay at your friend’s house! I don’t want to deal with a freeloader tonight!”

She ran into her room, slamming the door, and I knew I had to get out of there, or she would make it her mission to beat me until I passed out.

END OF FLASHBACK

These memories resurfaced. My mother was no longer in control, and it made me feel uneasy, especially knowing that my life was definitely changing. I guess she would get her wish of being free from me soon enough.