3

Cherry

It felt like a sharp pain pierced through my heart. I suddenly could not breathe, because right now everywhere felt stuffy. But I was trying so hard not to react. Xavier was obviously backing the kitchen, so he could not see me, but Gueneve was facing me, and I could see the glint of happiness in her eyes as she stared at me. But I could tell she hadn’t gotten the reaction she was looking for. I know she wants to see me react, but I won’t give her the luxury to see that.

So instead, I changed my demeanor. My countenance became expressionless, acting like they didn’t exist. I walked fully into the kitchen.

I got hot water from the dispenser, adding lemon and ginger, after which I walked past them and went to the fridge to grab a bottle of honey, which I added to the tea I was making.

“Hey, sis,” Gueneve called. Of course, I ignored her and focused on the tea I was stirring, not until she came to stand beside me, leaning on the counter.

“I’m greeting you, little sister,” she mumbled, grabbing my hand. I smirked and looked at my hand, which she was holding onto.

“Let go.”

“Why? Can’t I hold your hand?”

“For the last time, let go, Gueneve Brentwood.”

“Oops, sorry,” she mumbled and intentionally spilled half of my tea on my hand. It was burning hot, but I refused to react. I smiled and looked at her.

“What did you just do?”

“I’m sorry, little sister. I didn’t mean to pour your tea. My hand slipped,” she smirked.

I smiled and gulped down the remaining half of my tea. I got another hot water from the dispenser and walked up to her.

“Wh… what are you doing?” she stuttered, with fear in her eyes. I dropped the cup on her.

“Sorry, my hand slipped,” I smirked back at her.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh…!” she screamed, holding onto her hand.

“Stop yelling. No one is coming to your rescue. My parents are gone,” I said challengingly. Well, my brother still ended up running into the kitchen.

“What’s going on?” Zayn asked, looking panicked.

“Zayn, she fucking poured hot water on me. Look, my hand is swollen.”

“Hot water?” Zayn asked and looked at me.

“She did it first,” I showed him my hand.

“Are you okay?” my brother asked as he grabbed my hand.

“Hmm, you know this kind of pain is nothing to me.”

“You’re a lady. You should take care of yourself. Come, let’s go dress your wound, okay?”

“Hmmm.” I smiled as my brother led me out of the kitchen. I saw the smile on Xavier’s face when he was staring at me. Was that a proud look? Of course not. He’s definitely angry that I interrupted his little fun time.

My brother was dressing my wound when Xavier walked into the living room holding Gueneve’s hand. I tried so hard not to look at them as I focused my attention on my hand.

“Sit here,” Xavier said to Gueneve, and she sat on the couch opposite ours.

“Are you done using this?” he asked my brother.

“Sure, you can have it,” Zayn said to him, and he took the first aid kit and went to sit beside Gueneve.

“Are you going to treat my wounds?” she asked him, and at that moment, I stood up immediately and was about to leave.

“No, I brought it so you can dress your wound,” Xavier replied to her, and for some reason, I saw myself smiling. Without turning back, I went upstairs to my room.

I spent the rest of my day with my fans, doing livestreams and promoting most of the products I was paid to promote, including the companies I had deals with.

By the time I was done promoting products, I was tired and hungry, so I went downstairs to make something to eat because I was hungry. But I didn’t know it was already nighttime since I had been in my room all day.

“Come join us for dinner,” my father said to me, and as much as I did not want to do that, I still had to because I had no energy to argue with him. So I walked straight to the dining table and sat beside my brother.

We began eating, and I was fast because I wanted to leave.

“Gueneve, darling, what happened to your hand?” my father asked. Just when I thought I was going to have a moment of peace, the bitch began to shed tears.

“What happened? You can tell us, sweetie,” my mother urged her. As expected, she looked at me.

“It’s Cherry. She dropped a cup of hot water on my hand.”

“What! Cherry, is that true?” my father’s voice thundered. I was minding my business and eating in peace because I didn’t have the energy to talk back at him.

“Your father is talking to you,” my mum added.

“I’m so disappointed to have a daughter like you. How can you be so mean to your sister?”

I thought I could hold back my anger, but my father reached his limit. I slammed my spoon on the table and stood up.

“Really, Dad? You were so quick to notice the bandage on her hand. What about mine?” I yelled, raising my hand.

“What happened to your hand too, honey?” my mum asked.

“It doesn’t matter, because whatever happened is surely her fault!” my father blew the last straw. I sighed tiredly, and in a calm tone, I said to him,

“You know I would have argued with you if it was any other day, but today you said you were disappointed in me, which left me baffled, because what makes you think I’m proud of you as a father?” I paused and stared at him.

“And who appointed you, in the first place, disappointed? In case you don’t know, I’ve been disappointed in you ever since I was born, so you have no right to say that to me. It’s not your place.”

I angrily kicked the dining chair and began to leave.

“Please, uncle, don’t shout anymore. I don’t want to see you upset,” I heard Gueneve’s voice saying to him as I left.

I thought I could hold back my tears, but seeing my parents all the time and them showing me how much they will never love me breaks me. I’ve told myself I’m never going to cry because of them, because I spent my childhood doing that. But yet, I’m crying right now. Guess I was not so strong after all.

I ended up running so much that night. Whenever I’m stressed or sad, I usually go for a run because it helps clear my head. By the time I came back home, it was only my brother Zayn who was seated in the living room waiting for me.

“You’re back,” he said with a smile.

“Hmmm.”

“Don’t take what Dad said to heart. I promise he doesn’t mean any of that. Tomorrow, I’ll take you shopping and get you whatever you want, okay?”

I pouted.

“What’s that for?” Zayn smiled.

“You still see me as a little girl you can bribe with shopping?” I said to him, making cute puppy eyes.

“Of course, because I know you like that.”

I smiled and nodded.

“You should get some sleep too.”

“Goodnight.” He kissed my cheek.

“Goodnight.” I watched as he went upstairs. I know the only reason why I’m still here is because of my brother. I would have moved out a long time ago. I just don’t want to be apart from my brother.

I grabbed a bottle of cold water from the fridge before making my way upstairs, but as soon as I entered my room, I noticed the light was off and everywhere was dark, which is unlike me because my light is always on. I located the switch on the wall and turned on the light.

“Shit…!” I cursed, holding onto my chest as I shivered in shock.

Xavier was sitting on my bed, with a grin on his face, his gray eyes giving shades of masked emotions.

“Princess, you’ve grown a lot.”

“Xavier, what are you doing here?” I asked, gulping nervously, because this is the first time he’s in my room—and hell yeah, my room looked so messy. But right now, my thoughts were messier.

He slowly took off his hoodie, and now I could fully see his smirk.

“I’ve missed you, princess. Did you miss me?”