Her misery
"What just happened?" Albie asked Xavier.
Xavier looked up with raised brows, genuinely confused. "What?"
"Why did she run off like that?" Albie asked again.
"You should ask her that question, not me," Xavier replied, standing up and walking out of the class.
Albie and Mason, sensing that something was off, decided not to press further. They could feel Xavier's irritation and chose not to poke the lion any more than necessary.
The trio walked outside the building and saw Emma waiting in front of another building. Albie immediately smiled. "Hey, that's Emma again. What is she doing there?" he said, catching Xavier's and Mason's attention.
Within a minute, they got their answer. A boy whom Xavier had seen once before walked up to Emma. Casually taking her bag from her shoulder, he walked towards the university entrance side by side with her. They could be seen talking, though it seemed more like Emma was doing most of the talking.
This time, it wasn't just Xavier who felt displeasure; all three of them did. Why was Emma so talkative with that person when it was so hard for them to get even one word out of her?
"Is he the infamous Kai, the guy doing his master's, the one Emma spends all her time with and who picks her up and drops her off?" Albie asked.
"Are you doing a commentary? We all know the rest of the story. Just ask if he’s Kai or not," Mason replied tersely.
"He is," Xavier replied.
"How do you know?" Albie asked.
"I met them before college started. They didn't recognize me back then," Xavier said.
"They seem really close," Mason remarked as he watched Kai open the car door for Emma and put their bags in the back seat. "Who are they? That car looks expensive. They must come from a prominent family. Why don’t I recognize them?"
Albie and Xavier both looked at the car, unable to answer. They had the same question lingering in their minds. Xavier had even tried to find information about her through college records but found nothing. It was as if she were an invisible person meant to be ignored by everyone.
---
"Will you go to the party with me?" Emma asked softly.
"You know I can't, Emma. We don't have the invites. Only big and important families are invited, and we’re just your father's trusted comrades," Kai replied, his voice gentle but firm.
"You can be my date. I'll talk to my brother. He can ask Dad for you," Emma insisted, her eyes pleading.
"That's not a good idea, Emma. You know your father doesn’t like taking suggestions from or for you. He'd be furious if he found out you dared to make a demand. We should let this be. You must go alone. It's just about ten minutes. I'm sure you'll manage," Kai said, shaking his head slightly.
Emma looked down at her hands in her lap, feeling a mix of frustration and resignation. What Kai said was true. She couldn't risk angering her father; she never knew when he might decide to stop her studies.
The car ride was filled with a heavy silence. Emma stared out of the window, watching the cityscape pass by in a blur. The streets were busy with people going about their lives, seemingly carefree. She wished for a moment that she could be one of them, not bound by regret and painful past.
Kai glanced at her, sensing her discomfort. "I am sure, things will change, eventually."
Emma chuckled in pain. "I hardly believe so… sometimes it feels like it’s never going to get better."
"It will," Kai said in firm voice, "I know it will..."
She knew that Kai believed her father was the source of her pain, but only Emma understood that her true sorrow came from within. Each day, she internalized her father's harsh words, believing she deserved every insult. The pain wasn't just physical; it gnawed at her soul.
Every night, she was haunted by self-blame, convinced she was the cause of all her misery. Her father's anger mirrored her own self-loathing.
It wasn't just her father's actions that hurt; it was her belief that she deserved them. Her guilt darkened even her happiest moments.
Emma's chest tightened as she recalled the event that shattered her world. The memory was a wound that never healed. It wasn't just that her father blamed her for her mother's death; she blamed herself. She believed she was responsible for killing her own mother.