Nicholas put the money in his pocket without bothering to check.
Cecilia waved at him as he drove off without looking at her.she stood there,watching the car move further and further away.
Stupid!
She pinched herself inwardly, she wanted to invite him to her room just now but she found out she became tongue tied. She smiled again, giving that man's attitude, he would have bluntly said a 'No'.
Patricia didn't even know what to do at this point. After coming back from church,Stella was still no where in sight.what if she really got kidnapped and in danger?she couldn't sit still, the neighbors were already throwing sympathetic glances at her.
Stella?
Did she just hear her voice? She sprang up to confirm.and when she came outside, she really saw her standing with Mrs Ebenezer.
"Stella! Where did you go?" Patricia was both angry and relieved.they had Been worried for nothing.
"Pls,come inside" she told the two people.
So,Mrs Ebenezer explained how Stella ended up with them yesterday. They spoke for a while as Mrs Ebenezer advised Patricia to be more available in her daughter's life. After some ,Mrs Ebenezer left,leaving the mother and daughter.
Patricia looked at her daughter and sneered at Mrs Ebenezer's advice.
'Is she a kid to be looked after?'
"Why did you leave the door open?" Patricia asked cooly.
"I'm sorry, It skipped my mind" Stella said with her head down,she was a bit disappointed.her mother must care about those stolen items than her life.
Swish!
An object came flying towards her direction, hitting her forehead. Stella winced in pain holding her forehead.
"You fool! How could you forget? Don't you use your brain at all?you're so useless!". Patricia shouted like a shrew.she was obviously angry and wasn't even satisfied after hitting her with an object,this stupid girl actually left the door open when she clearly knew there were thieves around.
but her mind was so clouded with anger that she forgot that those thieves could have still broken the door even if it was locked.she didn't think of the mental stress that Stella would have gone through at that point.
Stella got up and ran outside in tears.was she really so useless? Her mother doesn't love her and her father abandoned her when she was conceived. No one wants her.
She sat down on the floor,in a hidden corner, hugging her legs.her mother would beat and scold her at every slightest provocation. Sometimes she would be forced to go without food.
Her mother didn't even know she was sexually abused at 15 by a neighbor's friend who came visiting and she was alone at home .she got lucky not to have been raped as a neighbor knocked on the door and she escaped. That incident left an emotional mark on her.but her mother was oblivious to all these.
She only cared about going out to parties, club and only God knows where.she was also a social media influencer and had a bit of popularity.
Stella's beautiful eyes were moist with tears as she thought of running away, but where could she go?after some time, she got up and went back home.as she entered, she saw a man sitting on the sofa and her mother was chatting with him,she seems to be in a good mood as she laughed with him.
But her mother gave her a subtle angry look,which indicated she was not needed anywhere around.Stella greeted the man and then made to go out when she heard him ask her mother.
" who is that girl?"
"Oh she's my sister's daughter" Patricia lied through her teeth.
"Ohh she's very pretty" he laughed.
At the door, Stella heard this and was even more disappointed. This woman didn't deserve to be a mother, why? This wasn't the first Time she has heard her deny her in front of someone.and whenever she said that, it was easily believable, her mother looked so young and beautiful and she was just 32 .
Was she so bad? Stella strolled down the street, lost in thought.
In the evening, she came back home again and the man was already gone. her mother sat there,eating oranges.
"Stella ,come here", Stella sat down opposite her.for a while, there was silence.
" mum,why do you hate me so much?" Stella found her voice, hoarse from crying before.
"What did I do wrong to you?".she had asked these questions before without any response. But the woman in front of her only kept eating her oranges indifferently.
" that's not the reason I called you here", Patricia said without any expression on her face. Stella's emotions didn't get to her.
"It's high time you go back to your father" she continued.
Her father? She's never met him before and was curious about what he looked like. When she was bullied in school and came back home crying because she was called a bastard,she had asked her mother who her father is.but she only told her he was a stupid man who abandoned her when she was conceived.
Stella also got to find out that he was married now and has a family.even though she wanted to meet him,she still has mixed feelings about going to stay with him.a man who abandoned her when she was a baby wouldn't accept her now,will he?
And why was her mother telling her this,now?she was probably still angry about the theft issue.but her next words surprised her.
"I'm getting married"
Oh she wanted to get married, so, she became an outsider who was not needed.
"So,you want to send me away?". Stella said in low spirits. She wanted her mother to be happy and get married but she never thought it would be at the expense of her stay.
" I don't want to go back to my father but I do want to see him" Stella was rational. A step dad would be better than a step mum.men are more broad minded than women.she has heard stories of stepmothers. So,she would rather choose to stay with her mother and her new husband than go out there where her life might turn to hell in the hands of a step mother.
"What did you say? You won't do what..?" Patricia asked with gritted teeth.this little brat thinks she can defy her.in her dreams! She won't let her ruin her plans.
"I said, I don't want to stay with my father" Stella repeated.
"So,tell me where you are going to stay, see.. let me tell you,your life won't be easy with me.just go find another place to stay" Patricia said angrily then stormed out of the house.
Stella sat motionlessly as her heart went cold.is this woman really her mother? Because she couldn't understand her attitude towards her.which mother in the world says such a thing to their daughter?why was she so unlucky to have such a mother?
The only good thing she appreciated was that.. At least,she finished high school, her mother let her go to school. But she knew she didn't really care about her education as she never bothered to check her grades,neither did she care if she did her assignment or not.but fortunately, she was an intelligent girl.
Stella smiled,her mother was probably joking. She won't go so far as throwing her out. No matter what she was still her flesh and blood. Thinking about this, Stella didn't worry anymore. In fact, she even went to chat with their neighbours.they were nice to her and she soon forgot about what her mother said.
When her mother came back later,she didn't mention her father neither did she bring up their earlier argument. Everything looked just fine and Stella relaxed.even after some days, they didn't talk about it.her mother just went out as usual.