I was only gone for months, but by the looks of our house, it seemed like I had been gone for years. A lot of things had changed. Especially the painting, the only painting in the house—my parents' wedding picture—had been replaced with Uncle's portrait. Something inside me boiled. He really acted as if he owned the house during the few months I was gone.
"Ms. Mary? You're back?" Yana greeted me. By her tone, she was surprised to see me.
"This is my house isn't it?," I said sarcastically. "Where's my uncle?"
"In the library," she said, guiding me there. As we walked, I looked around the house. It had changed a lot—the flowers, the arrangement, almost everything.
"What do you want? I'm busy," Uncle Greg said irritably without lifting his head.
I let Yana go. I would handle him myself.
"Acting like a king when I was only gone for months?" I scoffed. He finally looked up.
Shock and horror crossed his face when he saw me.
"Mary? You're alive?" He stood up from his swivel chair, staring at me.
"Of course I am. Who said I was dead?" I walked closer to him. "You're probably disappointed that I'm still alive."
Anger flashed across his face.
"I know I already dropped out of school. I have no plans of coming back anyway, so everything else is yours, Uncle. But this house—this will never be yours. It belongs to my parents. It belongs to me," I said firmly.
"Tsk. Your parents… you have no idea," he scoffed.
Somehow, his words carried meaning.
"What are you saying?"
"Nothing, dear. Go on. I haven't touched your room, nor entered it. It's exactly the way you left it," he said, waving his hand dismissively.
"And my parents' room? Have you touched anything there?"
"Thanks to Jad, I did not."
I looked at him with a deadly glare before turning around and walking upstairs.
"Where is the painting of my parents?" I asked the cleaner.
"In the attic, miss," she said, avoiding my eyes.
"Get it. Put it back where it belongs and throw this trash away."
I went to my room. Uncle wasn't lying—it was exactly how I remembered it. I checked my parents' room as well. Just like mine, it was untouched. I started scrambling around, looking for something that might help.
"Astrid helped me find something that could help me," I murmured, caressing the necklace.
I searched through papers and books, hoping the necklace would give me a sign. I had already gone through almost everything, but Astrid remained silent.
"Gosh, this is going nowhere," I said in frustration, pulling at my hair.
I was done. I had spent almost two hours in this room, surrounded by papers, only to find nothing.
"You're no longer alive in the public's eyes, Mary. And as for this house… it's mine."
I turned around, hearing my uncle rambling again about his so-called rights.
"I am alive, Uncle—standing right in front of you. But don't worry, I won't bother you about these belongings. However, I have three conditions," I said, looking straight into his eyes.
"Conditions?"
"Yes. Conditions. Simple—swear." I raised my right hand. "First, you will not touch my room, my parents' room, or their belongings."
His eyes rolled. "What are the others?"
I smirked.
"Second, you will let me enter and leave this house whenever I wish." I paused, watching his furious expression—the look of someone losing control. "And last, you will never change anything in this house. These are my parents' belongings, not yours." I can see he do not agreed to it but stayed silent anyway.
"So, Uncle, choose your fight. If you want to keep acting like a king in this house, you'll accept my conditions," I said, raising an eyebrow.
He was silent for a moment.
"And if I don't?"
"I will come back home, live here, and make your everyday life hell just by my presence."
I watched his fists clench, his eyes locked onto mine without blinking.
"You won't sleep here or live here again?" he asked. I nodded.
"Deal—but I have changes," he said, making me frown. "Only your room and your parents' room. You're allowed to enter those freely. And you will never step into that school again."
"Deal," I said firmly.
He smirked and nodded nonchalantly. I turned my back on him and walked away.
I made my way back to RJ's house—the only place I could go now.
Walking around the alley, people looking at me like seeing a ghost. I disregard them, their not my priority—never will be. I don't give a fuck of what they think of me, they get over it themselves.
"Mary." That voice. I immediately turned around.
"Reina," I uttered. "You really have the nerve to talk to me right now after what you did?"
"You don't know the whole truth, Mary. And between you and me—only I know the truth. The whole truth," she said. Her eyes narrowed at me while her lips curled into a smirk.
"Why, Reina? Why did you betray me?" I asked, trying my best to keep the pain out of my voice. "You're like a sister to me, Rei. So why?"
"A sister?" she scoffed. "You always chose Jad to be around. Even though you barely knew Harmony, you always sat beside her. You and Micah did everything together, and you told Micah everything—especially your major. You never trusted me with anything. And when I thought you did, I was wrong. It was a trap. You never trusted me."
"I trusted you, Reina. I trusted you so much that I ate the food you gave me that night without a single doubt. I thought you were just being kind," I cried, my heart breaking. "There was something in it, wasn't there? That's why I passed out."
It wasn't a question anymore. I knew what happened.
"Haven't you thought about our friendship? The seven years we've been through? Haven't you thought about that before going behind my back and lying to my face?"
"There was no friendship!" she snapped. "If there's one thing I regret, it's that I underestimated you. I should've killed you along with your so-called parents. You have no idea what I went through just to get what I have now. It's your fault my dreams turned into ashes."
My ears rang at her words. I felt completely lost.
"What did you just say? What do you mean by 'so-called parents'?!"
"See? You know nothing. You're so naïve—just like your mother."
"My mother? Why are you brining up my mother here?" I asked confused, but I recieve nothing. she smirked and vanished right in front of me..
Using teleportation magic, she disappeared into thin air, leaving me alone with nothing but questions.
"Reina!"