The blow on Abbi's head had temporarily disoriented herself as she looked at her own mother, the numbing pain throbbing on the left side of her head.
Ice cold, without love, without remorse.
Those were the words that could describe her mother's gaze.
"Mama, why?" Abbi's eyes were filled with confusion and fear.
Abbi's mother took a step forward, while Abbi herself instinctually backed away from her mother. Her back touched the wall as she moved herself backwards.
"You ungrateful runt. I raised you well, and this is all you could do?"
"N-no, I can do better, Mama-"
"Eleven years. I raised you for eleven years with loathing, sweat, and tears, and this is all you could do?"
Eleven years? Abbi was confused by what her mother had said. She was thirteen years old. Something didn't line up. However, there were far more important things for Abbi to think about.
"M-Mama, I'll be better, I… I ju-"
"Don't call me 'Mama.'"
Abbi was taken aback, shocked. Her heart sank deeper and deeper as she looked at her mother in shock.
"... No wonder your mother and father wanted you."
Abbi's heart hit rock bottom; it seemed like it would never rise up again.
"... Mama…? What do you mean? Aren't you my… Mama?" Abbi's voice trembled.
"No."
Something broke inside Abbi.
"The family's future depended on my child. However, I'm unable to bear any child, so…" Abbi's mother pointed at Abbi with the book in her hand, "We adopted."
"N-no… You're lying. Mama's lying, right?"
"Stop calling me 'Mama'. I'm not your mother."
"But… Mama loves me, right? All those times you said that Mama loves me, Mama means it, right? Right…? Abbi tried to force a smile, gripping onto whatever hope she had left.
"No. I never loved you. I only said that so that you'll grow healthily and give what this family needs; what I need."
Abbi's smile, or her attempt to smile, disappeared. Something broke even further within Abbi. She was on the verge of tears.
"Mam-"
"STOP, CALLING ME MAMA YOU USELESS PIECE OF S###!"
BANG!
In her rage, Abbi's mother threw the book away. It landed just by Abbi's left side, making a loud noise and leaving Abbi in shock and tears as she cried.
Behind Abbi's mother, the door swung open, revealing a chubby male in his 40s.
"RACHEL! STOP! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Abbi's father had overheard what Abbi's mother had said to Abbi and tried to intervene before the damage got worse.
Abbi's mother, for the first time, was silent from her husband's scolding. In their relationship, Abbi's mother was the more dominant one since Abbi's father married into the Angelos family.
"We will talk about this later," Abbi's father said angrily to his wife, who looked at him in angered silence. After that, he walked towards his daughter.
"Abbi, are you okay?"
Abbi was crying uncontrollably with her back on the wall. She looked at her own father, who was crouching in front of her, clearly asking her caringly. However…
How could she know if her own father loved her? After all she had heard from her own mother? Perhaps her father was also going along with the whole 'bring the Angelos family back to glory' plan. From her thoughts and her mother's actions, she was mostly sure- no, she was definitely sure of one thing.
Her father didn't love her either.
"A-Abbi, wait!"
Abbi jolted and ran, and ran, and ran, and never looked back.
The three children looked at an older girl with sympathetic looks. One of them, a girl with a pink bow, was wiping the tears that wetted her face while the older girl just silently sat in front of the children as her eyes reddened and tears flowed. She bit her lip, trying not to cry.
"Abbi…" Basil began.
Abbi forced a smile, "... I thought I would have gotten over this by now but…" Abbi wiped her tears, "... it seems that I still haven't gotten over it."
Aubrey just looked down, unable to look at Abbi, "... I'm sorry."
"Huh? Why?" Abbi tilted her head in confusion.
"I shouldn't have asked…" Aubrey mumbled her words, but it was still comprehensible.
"No, no. Aubrey, it's not your fault, okay? I could've said no, remember? So… it's okay! It's not your fault! I chose to tell the three of you!" Abbi grabbed Aubrey's small hands and fidgeted them in an attempt to comfort Aubrey.
Aubrey looked up to Abbi with pearly eyes, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Aubrey! It's not your fault. And, look!" Abbi pointed at her face, clearly red due to her crying, but dry from her tears, "I'm fine!"
Kel and Basil showed expressions of concern. Basil whispered something to Kel, with Kel nodding in return. The two boys then approached Abbi.
"Um… what are the two of you doing?" Abbi looked at them with a confused yet forced smile.
Kel was patting Abbi's back from her right side, "Um… comforting you?"
Basil, on the other hand, was patting Abbi's left shoulder. If it was Mari and not Abbi that Basil was comforting, Basil would've already hugged Abbi from the start. But since Basil wasn't as familiar with Abbi as he was with Mari, Basil decided to respect Abbi's personal space. Kel, on the other hand, just gave her his usual pat-on-the-back.
It was a pretty awkward sight to look at.
"T-thanks," Abbi responded hesitantly. As she changed her gaze to the little girl in front of her, Aubrey suddenly approached Abbi quickly.
"Aubrey!?" Abbi was startled that the girl in front of her suddenly hugged her.
Basil and Kel were also surprised by Aubrey's action and stared at her. However, they see no need to tell her to get off Abbi; they were all sympathizing with Abbi's story, and felt the need to comfort her.
Abbi, on the other hand, was still surprised by Aubrey's hug. However, Abbi soon hugged Aubrey back in response; she didn't realize it, but she really needed the hug.
Abbi then rested her head on Aubrey's head, feeling the fuzzy texture of hair and the warmth from her head, and slowly tightened the hug.
It was warm. It was comforting.
Basil and Kel saw Abbi tightening her hug, and understood what she needed. Basil and Kel soon gave Abbi a group hug.
While the other three were hugging Abbi, Abbi had slightly teared up, being reminded of her mother's warm hug that she missed so much.