Because of him?
Because of him?
"You are back. Why didn't you call to let me know you were done for the day? Would have come pick you up." He said when he came out of his room to find her taking off her shoes.
"It's not far. Besides, I haven't been working out lately and walking helps me." She said weakly before changing into a house slipper and walking towards the couch to drop down on one of them.
"How was your test? You look exhausted." He said before moving behind her to massage her shoulder.
"It was good. I think it's going to be an A plus." She said and raised her head so he could see the smile on her face. He smiled back and ruffled her hair which made her push his hand away quickly.
"You are doing well." He complimented. "What about him? Do you think he did well?"
Once again, she knew he was talking about Jeremy.
"You seem to care about him so much." She noted.
"I don't."
"You do."
Leo sighed and shrugged, "I don't know. He seems... to like Chloe a lot. I can't dislike someone who likes my sister." He said before going over to sit down beside her.
"Chloe has been through a lot. I want her to be happy, really. But.... I don't know. I guess she's going through a lot right now and is in a dilemma." He said sadly.
Mia didn't know whether she was supposed to tell him about how Chloe left the hall during their test. She guessed she didn't have any right to do that, so she didn't mention it to him. It was Chloe's private affair.
"He did well. He seemed to know what he was doing." She answered with a faint smile and yawned.
"You skipped breakfast this morning. We should go out to eat. There's somewhere I'd like you to go with me after that."
"Where?" She asked with a cautious look.
"Just somewhere. So freshen up quickly, I'll be waiting for you here." He said and began to nudge her towards her room.
Two hours later, the car stopped in front of a really big hospital. This wasn't the King's hospital so she had no idea why they were both here.
"What are we doing here?" She asked curiously when he opened the door for her to step down.
He looked at her quietly before he cupped her cheeks, not minding the fact that they were in public.
"Do you trust me?"
"Okay, this is creeping me out now." She said as she searched his eyes, hoping to get the reason they were both here.
"You... don't want to ask for an IVF to be performed on me since you're traveling right?"
Seeing how serious and wary she looked as she asked made him laugh and shake his head. "Why would they be need for an IVF when we can directly... you know.." He winked at her which made her face blush and forcefully pulled away from him.
"Just come with me. Hmm?" He offered her his hand and after looking at it for a while, she placed her hand on his and they both walked inside the hospital until they stopped in front of a door.
VIP WARD ROOM 034
PATIENT: MARY LUCAS
Seeing the frown on Mia's face as she read the words on the door, Leo braced himself.
"What are we doing here?" She asked with a deep frown.
"We cannot keep pretending that you do not have a family. You need to have a chat with them."
"I do not need to do that!" She turned to walk away but he held her hand to stop her.
"Mia, I know you are mad but..." He licked his dry lips before he continued. "Just one chat with them and you can decide what you want to do. Whether you want to still remain with them as a part of their family or not, you have to make that decision today and let them know about it, then we can move on. Please?"
"Leo..."
"Please... for me." He cut in but she still shook her head. She wasn't sure about it. She wasn't sure she was ready to meet them. She was going to remember how she had spend the past years trying to help them while they paid her with nothing but wickedness. She may lose it and do something she might regret. She didn't want to go.
But Leo wanted her to. She had to talk with them and get some closure on the whole issue. He wanted that for her. He couldn't just up and leave the country, knowing Mia still hadn't decided what she wanted for herself.
"Please." He pleaded again.
She wasn't pleased with the idea but she sighed in resignation and took in a really deep breath before she nodded very slowly.
"Thank you!" With a pleased smile on his face, he held her hand and opened the door gently.
Once she took the first two steps inside, she heard two women giggling inside the room.
"You should eat if you want to leave here soon." The older one said to the younger one. Mia could hear the love in her voice. She sounded really worried for the health of the one on the hospital bed.
"I'll eat later. Check this out... what do you think? It's going to look good on me." The younger one said and turned her phone's screen for the older to see.
Mia's hands balled into tight fists beside her as she watched the scene. The mother-daughter moment which she had come to ruin.
"Oh... Mis--ter.." Linda stood up from the bed when she saw Leo and Mia standing by the door.
Mary dropped her phone and looked at the both of them in surprise.
Mia could see Mary looked a lot better now. She had lost it when she got into a fight with Mary or rather... when she whipped Mary like a little criminal that she was, and she had sustained a lot of injury, thankfully or not, Mary seemed a lot better now.
A few minutes later, it was just Mary and Mia left inside the room while Leo and Linda excused them despite Linda's reluctance to leave Mary alone with Mia.
Mia stood beside Mary's bed with her hands beside her while Mary looked at anywhere else but at her younger sister.
"I believe there is something you have to say to me." Mia said patiently.
"..."
Mary still didn't look at her. She kept her eyes fixed on the bouquet of flower on the couch which someone had sent to her.
As Mia looked at her sister, she felt a strong urge to cry. There had been a time where Mary cared about her. Where they had been like real sisters. What happened?
"What happened?" She asked out.
"I couldn't." Mary said and looked up. "I couldn't live like a rat..."
"Not that." Mia shook her head. "What happened to you? To us? To the Lucas' family."
"Why did you become so... so hateful?"
The question seemed to also hit Mary. She looked at her sister quietly, not knowing what to say. Her eyes began to sting with tears.
Mary shrugged. "I guess I owe you an apology for the loan. I wasn't sane when I signed that contract." She said, choosing to ignore Mia's question.
"You weren't sane? You weren't sane when it was drafted, wasn't sane when you signed it, wasn't sane when mother followed you there to sign it, wasn't sane when you ran away?" Mia asked in incredulity.
"...." Mary remained quiet. Nothing seemed to annoy Mia the more than the fact that she wasn't remorseful at all. It was as if she wanted to be remorseful but something was stopping her from doing that.
"This is where we end. I believe you both know that you no longer have me as a part of your family. I don't need anything from you two except leaving me alone."
"Because of him? He asked you to leave your family for him?" Mary scoffed. "You choose him over us?"