Chapter 5

My brain still wasn't healed.

I still couldn't really make sense of everything she said.

But right then, I just felt this deep, uneasy feeling inside me.

I instinctively lifted my head, looking up at Mom with urgency in my voice.

"Mom, you have to be safe and healthy too!"

But Mom didn't answer me.

Her reply was gentle, but she didn't really respond to what I said.

"Annie, be good."

We walked into the house, passing through the living room.

Dad was trying to comfort Nina.

"I know it's not your fault. You asked your old classmate to help Annie get treatment. I know you meant well," he talked to Nina.

Nina started crying again.

Her eyes were full of tears, like she'd never run out of them.

Mom ignored them completely and took me straight upstairs to our room.

By the bed was a photo of Mom, Dad, and Joseph all together.

Back then, Mom had just married Dad, and I wasn't even born yet.

When they took that family photo, Dad had already lost his parents, and Mom only had Joseph left.

So what should have been a big family portrait with everyone from both families ended up being just the three of them.

Right after the photo was taken, Joseph put on a mock-serious face and joked, "Seriously, what's so special about James Foster?"

"All he's got going for him is that pretty face. Honestly, someone else might try to snatch him up someday and you'll be the one hurting.

But the guy Mom and Dad lined up for you, Mark Linley, now that's someone with real credentials and connections."

Dad's face turned bright red and he blurted out defensively.

"I love Claire. She's the only one I'll ever love, for the rest of my life. I'd never do anything to hurt her, or let anyone else make her suffer.

"If I so much as look at another woman, Claire can just take my eyes out herself!"

Joseph punched Dad in the chest.

He said, "Don't just say it! If I ever catch you standing closer than three steps to another woman, I'll make sure you keep your word. And don't come whining about your eyes then!"

Mom's cheeks turned red, and she couldn't help but laugh.

Back then, she was still the pampered, free-spirited heiress of the Peyton family.

Even after her great-grandfather passed away, and her grandparents died on the battlefield, Joseph was the one who stepped up and took care of her, all on his own.

He made sure Mom never lacked for anything, no matter how hard things got.

But when Mom fell for Dad's gentle, caring ways, she broke off the twenty-year childhood engagement with Mark Linley without a second thought.

She married Dad in a whirlwind wedding, and then I was born.

Now, Nina, the heroine from the story, has shown up.

Dad and Nina are way too close now, definitely closer than three steps.

He never brings up the promises he made to Mom anymore.

Joseph keeps saying Nina did nothing wrong, and that Mom's just making a fuss.

All those things they said, all the times they treated Mom like she was their everything, they've forgotten all about it now.

Mom silently tossed that family photo into the trash.

She got rid of every other picture she had with Joseph and Dad, tossing them out together.

The only photos left by the bed and on the coffee table were just of me and her.

After that, she never asked Joseph if she could stay over again.

Nina, who said she'd move out in a week, was still around, never leaving.

Mom never argued with Dad about it anymore.

She just went with me to every treatment, day after day.

Joseph kept his word and transferred the estate into Mom's name.

He also gave Mom the savings account that Grandma and Grandpa had left behind.

Mom took everything without a second thought.

After that, Joseph stayed angry for a long time and stopped coming to see her.

But Mom didn't seem to care at all.

As my mind slowly started to work a little better, Mom began teaching me numbers.

When I turned six that fall, the elementary schools in Capital City started enrolling new students.

Mom took me to one of the top elementary schools in the city to ask about signing me up.

But the principal said I was too slow, and they couldn't let me in.

He told Mom I should go to a special school instead.

When we got home, Mom took my hand and asked, "Annie, do you want to go to that elementary school we just visited?"

I wanted to tell her the school said they wouldn't take me, but the words stuck in my throat.

Seeing the hope in Mom's eyes, I hesitated, then gave a faint nod.

Mom's smile lit up her face.

As the new year brought another cold snap, she wrapped my hand in hers.

"Annie, you haven't seen your Uncle Joseph in a long time, have you? How about I take you to visit him?"