Fiona's POV
I closed the bathroom door behind me and leaned against it, my back sliding down slowly until I was sitting on the cold tiled floor.
That was when it hit me. Not the scolding or my father's words, not even Catherine's lies, but the absence.
I covered my mouth with my hand as the first sob escaped, sharp and ugly. My chest hurt like something inside me was cracking open, like a wound that never healed had just been torn wide again.
"Mum… I whispered.
"I wish you were here,. "I really wish you hadn't left me."
My shoulders shook violently as I pressed my forehead to my knees. The bathroom smelled like soap and disinfectant, too clean, too empty. Everything felt wrong without her, everything always did.
"If you were here," I whispered through tears, "Daddy wouldn't hate me."
My voice broke completely at that.
"He wouldn't choose them over me. He wouldn't look at me like I'm nothing."
