Chapter 172: What if I told you...
I was sitting across Natalie in a quiet corner of a cafe. I watched as her eyes immediately flickered down to glance at my arm the moment she sat down. Her brows were knitted together to form a tiny frown between her brows. A mixture of worry and concern was swirling in the depth of her eyes as she stared at my arm. "What happened to your arm?"
I glanced at my bandaged arm for a split second before I looked back up to meet her gaze. "Oh, it’s nothing. I fell and scraped my arm," I explained without going too much into detail or bringing up Evelyn. She will find out sooner or later anyway.
She reached out to gently touch my arm. "Does it still hurt? Is it serious? Please be more careful," she urged as the frown etched on her face deepened slightly.
I let a slight smile fall on my lips. "I’m okay now, it was mostly some superficial scratches, don’t worry about me."
"How can I not worry about you, Aurelia?" She asked, her voice laced with concern and genuinity. "You are my daughter, of course I will be worried." The warmth of her words seeped through my skin and tugged at my heartstrings. I couldn’t hold back the smile that was starting to appear on my face. I was still getting used to this – The warmth and love that I have never gotten from my ’mother’.
A low chuckle left my lips. "Thanks, mum," I mumbled under my breath but the words that left my lips felt foreign and unfamiliar. But it did put a smile on her face, hearing me call her ’mum’ once again.
Silence lapsed between both of us for a brief moment before the next few words that left her lips broke the silence. "Aurelia..." She started, her voice trailing off as she hesitated for a moment. "Why don’t you move in with us?" She suggested, a slight smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
As soon as the words registered inside my head, I froze and my eyes widened a fraction. Shock and surprise evident on my face as I stared at her with a blank expression that masked my features. I opened my mouth wanting to say something and I ended up stuttering, struggling to find the right words to say. "...What?" I uttered a single word. "Move in with you?" I asked, echoing her words.
She nodded. "Yeah. I mean you are our daughter. I just want to be close to you and catch up on all the lost time," she explained, her dark brown eyes running wild with emotions as we locked eyes.
I lowered my gaze, averting her eyes. "I’m not sure if this is a good idea..." I muttered softly under my breath as I let my gaze remain fixated on my wringing arms. I lifted my head to meet her eyes once again. "James doesn’t like me... and besides, I am already living with Xavier."
"That’s not true!" She exclaimed quickly and inhaled a sharp breath. "Well... He is still very much attached to Eve and is still processing everything. After all, the news was sprung onto him without a single warning. You just need to give him some time to accept it and come to terms with reality."