Chapter 6: Andrea's Past 2

Two days had gone by but Andrea still refused to say anything about her home. After countless times of trying to convince her to give them information and assuring her that she'll be fine, she finally spoke up but her words were a shock to their very souls.

"I can't go back home. Everyone who ever cared about me is dead," she sobbed. "Mummy said it's my fault and that I'm bad luck. She sent me away from her before she dies too. She always hated me and now she hates me even more."

Veronica immediately rushed out of the room. Martin knew what a softhearted woman his wife but even he understood her. What on earth could cause a mother to say such hateful words to her daughter? Regardless of whatever it is, how could she say such a thing to a child? He got closer to Lily and tried to calm her down. Seeing that she let him close, he slowly attempted to hug her and to his surprise she hugged him back.

"I'm tired sir," she cried," I'm tired of crying and of all the guilt.  I should just die like my dad and brother."

Veronica was walking in when she completed her statement. She got closer to her and hugged her too. "Don't say that sweetie. We'll make sure no one can come and hurt you, okay? You're not a bad person and you're definitely not bad luck. From now onwards, you're not alone. We're all here for you and we won't take you back to that place."

The next day...

Victor brought a document containing the results of the little investigation he had personally done on Lily's past. Martin had requested that he didn't inform anyone of her whereabouts. He suggested that it be as silent as possible.

Per his findings, Lily's dad had died in a car accident, a hit-and-run, a decade before then. Her older brother had just recently died about a week ago. He was stabbed a couple of times during a robbery.

"Wait, so how is Lily to blame?" Veronica asked.

"I really don't know why her mother blamed her. Her mother, Liliana Anderson, was a top model about a decade ago. According to sources, she never seemed to like Lily. Back when her husband was alive, he literally did everything for her. They said although she was but a little baby, her bond with her dad was beyond what meets the eye. He must have loved her so much. Her brother was about five years older than her and he took up the role of her father when their dad died. They said he would always come to her defense whenever her mother was hard on her. Apparently, things got tougher when he got a scholarship to high school abroad. Lily was often seen sulking. She missed school regularly and had started to lose weight drastically. Unfortunately, on the day of her brother's return home for the holidays, he was killed in dark, with Lily there to witness it all. The murderer was apprehended about an hour after. As to what happened next between the mother and daughter, people could only speculate. Currently, no one knows of the whereabouts of the mother. Some believe she moved away with Lily." Victor explained.

"But that isn't the case. Lily ran away from her before then. Could it be that she's searching for her?" Veronica asked.

"I don't think she left just to find her. Her neighbours said there's barely anything else left in their house. Apparently, a few days after her disappearance, her home was raided by a group of men believed to be loan sharks. A neighbour said that they were furious because barely anything valuable was left behind. She had taken away most of her belongings. When I went to check out the place, it was indeed almost empty. I did, however, find a few things I believe belong to Lily so I brought them along. They're in my house."

"Thanks a lot Victor. Please help me put things in order so we can get temporary custody over Lily until the adoption is complete," Martin requested and Victor agreed instantly, telling him he'd make it possible.

Months went by and Lily was officially a member of the Perkins family. She had however requested that her father's name, her surname, be maintained.

One midnight, Andrea woke and went down to the kitchen to get some warm milk, hoping that would help her sleep. Just before she completely descended the stairs, she overheard Veronica tearfully murmur a prayer, hoping Andrea would finally open up to them. Hearing those words touched the little girl to the soul.

'Does she really care about me so much? Is this really the kind of mother other girls had? I thought mothers always preferred their sons and disliked their daughters. Mother said that if I had been a boy, maybe I wouldn't be such a burden,' she thought, staring at her new mother weep. Immediately a thought crossed her mind and she quietly rushed back upstairs. She lifted her pillow on her bed and took out her leather covered diary, gifted to her by Martin. She went back downstairs and handed it to Veronica who was stunned to see her up at that time.

"I want you to have this. This is everything you need to know about me," she said softly.

"But th-this is your diary," Veronica stuttered.

"Yes, it is...but I don't need it anymore. I'm not alone anymore. I now have a family I can share problems and experiences with."

Veronica's tears started to flow like they had a mind of their own. "I'm sorry for making you worry so much. I really want to let go off my past now and I think you can help me."

"I'll do anything to help you sweetie, anything, okay? You just have to tell me whatever it is." Veronica rose to her feet and hugged the little girl while trying to control her sobs.

"Then please read this...so you can finally get some closure on what happened to me," she said and Veronica nodded. "I'll go warm up some milk so I can sleep properly." Veronica requested to do it for her instead but Andrea refused and asked her to go ahead and read if she wasn't going to sleep soon.

A few minutes after, Veronica rushed to the kitchen and hugged her new daughter tight. All she needed to do was to read the first 30 pages to have a glimpse of what her past was like...

Andrea's mother, Liliana, was a top model but missed out on a grand opportunity because she was pregnant with her and her husband, Andre, refused to allow her abort the child. Soon after, the agency cancelled her contract. Her husband was a manager at his best friend, Paulo's, company and insisted his wife then became more of a stay home mother since he didn't have the power to get her back into the industry.

The love between the couple still seemed strong, however, things became quite chaotic after the baby, Andrea, was born. Liliana barely ever did anything for the baby until her husband would complain. He and their son, Raphael, would do everything for her, ignoring the runts and complains of Liliana.

One faithful day, the family went to the park with the best friend of Andre and his fiance, Marilyn, a new model. While the men played with the kids, both women sat and chatted about the industry and how Marilyn could find a way to get Liliana back into the industry. Paulo then insisted that he helped him teach Ralph to play football since he was quite a champ at it. He then decided to hand two years old baby Andrea to the mother for the meantime. Marilyn played with the baby all the while till she got a phone call and excused herself, leaving Liliana with her baby. Liliana, on the other hand, did nothing but ignore the child, merely fidgeting on her phone. Andrea crawled away. While playing the ball, Andre noticed Andrea was nowhere near the mother nor Marilyn. He began to panic and scold Liliana while frantically looking all over for the baby. Ralph spotted her getting closer to the road as though she was following something. Everyone ran to her, except Liliana. Once they got there, she was already on the road and an overspending driver who was busy texting, was heading their way in his SUV. Andre managed to get to her before the car got there. Once he picked her up, he threw her to Paulo and attempted to get of the road. However, it was much too late. He was hit and thrown off the road. His final words where to his best friend but unknown to  the source of this information, Ralph, nor Liliana, who stood from a distance, too shocked to move.

Paulo had paid a visit everyday since, for a week, but always ended up in an argument with Liliana. The dawn of the following week, Liliana packed up everything they could take and moved away with the two kids. They never laid eyes on Paulo again, since then. Ralph had no idea what they argued about and so Andrea had no means of finding out until she was 10.

That day, Liliana had scolded and hit Andrea multiple times for breaking an old cracked mug with what she referred to as her 'godforsaken cursed' shaky hands. Andrea felt like she had had enough and wished her brother, who always protected her from their mother's outbursts, was around. Unfortunately or fortunately, he was given a scholarship to steady abroad. Andrea started to weep and asked, while on her knees, "Why? Mother, why do you hate me so much?"

"Because you're a nightmare child!" she blasted without a shred of concern for her daughter's emotions. "Ever since you entered my life, all you did was ruin it! You caused the death of my husband! YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED MY CHANCES OF BECOMING A MODEL AGAIN! BECAUSE OF YOU, I ALMOST LOST MY SON TOO BECAUSE PAULO WANTED TO TAKE BOTH OF YOU AWAY!" She screamed and began weeping.

Andrea looked at her stunned with fear of what she could do to her in that state, and also, confused. "W-Why didn't you leave me with him then?" she stuttered, still afraid, and sincerely hoping she'd say she couldn't leave her own daughter behind, no matter what.

"Leave you? Ha! With a billionaire?! In your wildest dreams Lily. I'd rather leave Raphael so he grows with riches and keep you to tame you and destroy you for destroying me, you demon child. I couldn't let them take my precious son from me. He's all I have. He and my husband were all I wanted. Why? Why?! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO COME INTO MY LIFE?!" She screamed and began throwing things at her. Andrea, who was addressed then, as Lily, from her name Liliana, ran out of the little house and as far away as her little legs could take her. Little did she know back then that her big brother had just arrived home for vacation, just in time to see her speed off.

About an hour later, somewhere during noon, he found her squatting between two buildings, weeping her heart out. "I don't want to go back," she begged. He sat with her till she fell asleep and then carried her home. Next thing she could hear were scoldings from Ralph. She then realized she was in his room, on his comfortable bed. She always slept on a mat in her mother's room but wasn't allowed to tell him.

Suddenly, the shuttering of glass drew her out of her daze. Three loud words dropped a bomb in her heart. "I HATE YOU!" she heard Ralph say and that could have been to only one person, his mother. He suddenly appeared at the door and entered the room. It took a while before he realized his little Lily was awake. She didn't move nor speak, just stared blankly at him. He apologized to her for everything and assured her he wasn't going anywhere again. Those three months went by smoothly but spookily for Andrea. Her mother, for the first time treated her like she was her child and assured them all that she had changed. Ralph's vacation had come to an end and Andrea and Liliana assured him that they were okay now so he shouldn't waste such an opportunity. With much fear and reluctance, he agreed and left.

Upon his next holiday, he regretted his decision. This time, he didn't make it in time to meet his little sister running out of the house. She had been gone since the dawn of that day and Liliana hadn't even bothered to find her. It was already night and the only place he could think she'd be was where she had ran to previously. That place would be very dark and quiet. He feared anything could happen to her. Liliana tried to convince him not to go but it only became an argument outside their home, attracting the  attention of neighbours. "Now I really hate you mother," his last words before running off to get his baby sister.

Fortunately, he was right. His sister was there....but unfortunately....