CLAIRE I shot up from my bed as soon as my alarm hit. It was morning already, and I needed to prepare for work and get there as early as possible. I yawned tiredly from not getting enough sleep through the night. After Alex agreed that I should go and see my father, we talked for over two hours after that. Not exactly talked, we just held hands and stayed like that for the most part. I had a feeling that if we didn't get caught by one of the servants, we might have never even tried to disengage from each other. Oh, the embarrassment I made as I raced to my room.I dressed up as fast and efficiently as I could. I made my way to the café to tell the woman that I wouldn't be able to stay for work that day. I felt bad that I was always leaving work. If she was a bad person, she might think that I was taking advantage of her, especially with this free day thing I was about to ask her off. Still, my spirit was drawing back home and I needed to make sure that everyone was okay."Good mornin

ALEXAKIS I drew closer to the woman and shook my head, not even knowing where to start with my lamentations. I wondered if it was even right to always dump all my worries on her. But I couldn't help it each time I saw her. My worries were always lessened one way or the other. Even if I chose not to talk, the comfort I always got from her was more than enough to take me through what I needed to deal with better about the whole issue that was bothering me in the first place.It was more like she was my personal therapist -someone who comforted me when it looked like all hope was lost. I could be feeling like the worst shit on earth, and yet when I see her, I feel this calmness within me."Come. Let's get inside," I told her. I held her hands, and we both walked to my room. When we got in and were seated, I told her everything the Elders had said, how harsh some of them had sounded, and how they had made me look like I would be a failure forever if I didn't measure up to my brother's st

CLAIRE As we drove away from the Morning Dew Pack, my heart couldn't stop thudding. I didn't know what to think or even how to think about it. One thing I do know was that I was sceptical about this visit that I was going on. I didn't think I would be able to recover from it if my father turned me out once I got there under the influence that no one wanted me, therefore my presence was not needed. If my father didn't say anything, I think I would be able to hold on to my sanity and reject whatever it was that the other two might say about my sudden appearance.Becky and Evie.I didn't miss them a single bit, and I was not even apologetic about the whole thing. I was even sure that the two of them would make me regret that I even bothered to check on them, but they were not my business. As long as my father appreciated me and the effort I took for his sake, I would gladly overlook everything mother and daughter did to spike me up.Before two hours was up, we got to the land that belon

CLAIRE As I sat on the floor of the cave, my hands went to my eyes repeatedly to clean my eyes, and I had to sniff in to control the tears that were falling so rapidly. I didn't bother to wait for the verbal words that would tell me that my presence was not needed at the house, no. I figured that it would even be worse if Becky came out of her room and saw me in the house. The woman would never stop until I was humiliated until the end. So, to avoid that, I opened the main door and made my way out of the place.How could a father be so callous to his only daughter?Even if he was angry with me until death, he should have at least smiled at me a little to show that he appreciated the fact that I came home to check on him. Not just home, I had even gone as far as forgetting how he turned me out of his house just to satisfy his wife and stepdaughter. And to crown it all, he just blatantly showed me that even if I had been dead all these months, he didn't care about any of that. Not even

ALEXAKIS As I thought to do it, I asked Kieran to get the words across to the Elders that I would like an audience with them. The man got up and went to do as I instructed. Luna Lisa decided to leave me to my own devise as she felt that I was going to be busy. Busy it seemed to her, but I actually had nothing I was doing. The meeting I scheduled would not be immediate. It would take the Elders at least an hour to group in the meeting hall, so I still had some free time on my hands. I tried to tell her that, but she insisted that I used the time to get some rest.I knew I wouldn't be able to get that rest she insinuated, so I just got up from where I sat and dragged my feet toward Claire's room. I didn't know if enough time had passed for her to ignore what her father did or if she was still living in the rejection. But all I knew was that I needed to talk to her, especially since the decision I was about to make was one that could affect both of us in the future. So, before I would l