Of course Amelia fights back. With slaps.
One.
Two.
Three of them echo in the room, each sharp and burning hotter than the other on my skin. Then she grabs the envelope and tries to pull it.
Now, I'm not letting her get the best of me only to lose the one thing I risked my life for. I pull at the envelope too. Hard. Our groans fill the room and my eyes are now blurry from tears. I can't see Amelia's face clearly and my chest starts burning hot. From rage. From pain. From betrayal. From being lonely.
But I push all emotions away and focus on the battle at hand—securing the envelope. Only, the paper decides it has had enough stress for one day and rips.
Both Amelia and I stagger backwards and I land on the floor, wiping it clean with my baby pink formal mini dress as I glide down before hitting the wall with a thud. As for Amelia, she lands in her husband's arms. I didn't even notice him approaching us because of my blurry vision.
Angrily wiping the tears from my eyes, my heart breaks in half when I see the torn paper in my hands. You'd think I'd get half of it for someone who was struggling so hard but no, I get a corner piece of the letter whilst Amelia got the rest.
"Give that back right now," I hiss, standing.
"Leilani you stay where you are right now or I'll rip this to pieces," Amelia retorts, body now shaking with rage.
"You wouldn't dare!"
She better not dare. My grandma who's been silent all my life finally decides to send me something and she thinks disturbing that is cool? Not cool. If she tears that paper, I'm not caring about the consequences. I'm squashing her.
Removing my white stilettos, I place the torn corner in my bag before dropping it on the floor and removing my earrings, clearly readying myself for battle. Once I've tied my hair into a bun, I take a step forward.
"Leilani!" My Dad warns.
"Cowards should shut up!" I hiss at him, my strides growing wider now. His eyes widen. He's shocked of course. The Leilani he knows is reserved. She'd never say something like that to him, ever. But today I'm changed, and it's all thanks to Briana's rage bait after I saw her with Noah.
She was the catalyst needed for my mini transformation and if I'm being a little honest, my savior. She woke me up from this Family Guy horror episode I've been reliving every day since my mother's suicidal act. For the first time since Amelia came into my life, I feel free. But that freedom is coming out as chaos. 22 years of bottled up chaos that's ripened so good I could murder someone if they step a foot above my line right now.
"One more step and I'll tear it!" Amelia shouts. Briana is behind her, clearly scared but putting on a show since Mom and Dad are here.
As for the butler, he's already gone. Probably ran away.
"I dare you to try," my voice comes out as mockery and it clearly tickles Amelia the wrong way because the next moment, she rips the envelope into pieces just like she promised.
I was expecting that kind of reaction from her all along, but seeing the only message my grandma has for me after all these years get destroyed before my eyes sets off a bomb in me. So I charge. At Amelia.
Dad tries to grab me but I swiftly duck under his arms before appearing in Amelia's face the next moment. I can't believe choosing the martial arts club in college is coming in handy now. Add me being a gym maniac in there, baby my strength is on another level right now.
Balling a fist so tight it could rip someone's teeth off with one hit, I throw it straight at Amelia's face. She ducks just in time to avoid it, but it ends up landing on Briana's shoulder instead.
"Ugh!" She screams but I don't stop. I throw another heading for Amelia's head.
"Harry!"
"Leilani!" Dad grabs me from behind before I can hit his wife. Then he pulls me, throwing me onto the black couch behind him as I land safely on it. Good on him for not attacking me. I was so ready to fight him today.
I try flipping myself up but my tiny skirt moves up my thighs and I have to stop before my Dad sees all the goodies. I'd worn nothing but a g-string underneath thinking of surprising Noah at work today. Little did I know he was already getting some.
Once I stand and adjust my clothes, I charge at Amelia again, but this time Dad takes action. With one swift move, he slaps me across the face. Hard. A sharp scream comes from Amelia as I stagger backwards and drop onto the couch again. Black dots immediately obscure my sight for a moment and I struggle to contemplate what just happened.
Did my Dad just slap me or am I imagining it?
"You stop this madness right now, Leilani or I won't hesitate using my belt on you!" He yells, voice rough.
Yep. He hit me.
I force myself to stand, letting loose the fist I'd pumped. I know I can't win against him. He did martial arts too. Fighting him now would be a losing battle, especially considering Amelia and Briana can join in. Speaking of Briana she's now out cold on the floor with her mother screaming her name and crying. I don't know if she's pretending but it looks too real to be her acting it out.
At least I got in one good hit.
"Your accounts will be frozen for an entire week. No leaving the house, no wifi, and definitely no television. Amelia, call the butler and have him disconnect the TV in her room."
At my Dad's command, Amelia helps Briana up and places her on the couch before rushing out of the room to call the butlers. The moment she's gone, Dad relaxes his face and struts closer to where I am.
"Did I hurt you?"
I slap his hand away when he tries to reach for my face. "Save your acting for bitches who care. I hate you."
Then I turn around and grab my stuff from the floor, heading over to my room upstairs to lock it before Amelia and the butlers come over. There's no going back now. I've just waged a war I avoided for years now. I don't know what awaits me in the future, but if the letter grandma sent me is anything but hopeful, I'm instantly running away to hers and begging her to help me start over.
It's better to grovel at her feet than Amelia's. I'd rather forgive Noah and let him marry me like I had planned all this time. That way I can be free of the Mayfield family and name.
Locking my door I flop on my bed and grab my bag, producing the torn envelope piece. There's a tiny paper inside and I pull it out and read:
If you pass the comdition you get...
That's it. The rest of it was torn to shreds by Amelia.
"Ugh!" I shriek just when someone knocks on my door.
"Miss Leilani?"
It's the butler from before.
"Is Amelia with you?" I ask.
He hesitates for a moment. "No."
"Then wait there for a while and pretend you're taking care of business. I'm letting no man in my room, unless you wanna die tonight that is."
He doesn't reply and I take it as him agreeing to my claim before looking at the torn paper again, my heart breaking in two.
Why the hell did my grandma have to use such an old-fashioned way to send a message? There are texts, emails, and social media, and yet she used this? What does she have to say that needs her to use such an old-fashioned way of communication like this?
"Ugh! I can't with these mind games today. I'm going to sleep!"