Once, my paranoid love

“And you, Mr. Robert, bring your daughter home. I want her. She has the audacity to ignore my call,” Paul said frankly to Robert. It seemed he was ordering Robert.

“What is this, Anne?” Robert asked as he glanced at Anne. His voice seemed deep.

“Honey,” Anne said, “he is very possessive of his sister.”

Paul looked at his mom and said, “Sister?” ‘How could she tell it lightly when she knew everything?’ Paul thought as he tightened his fists.

“Sister? She isn’t my sister. She is my-,” suddenly Anne slapped Paul so hard. Before he could say something inappropriate.

“Paul, shut the fuck up. I’ve had enough of your drama!” Anne shouted at Paul to stop him.

Paul stood there like a statue, touching his face. ‘Why are you doing this, mom? Why?’ He gritted his teeth while wondering.

“Go to your room, Paul,” Anne ordered. “I don’t like to repeat myself.” Anne walked into her room, holding Robert’s hand. She did not turn back to him. Paul was standing right there thinking, ‘After slapping me in front of him, you and your husband walked to the room. I hate you, Mom. I miss my father terribly. Because of you, he left me.’

[In Robert’s room.]

“What is this, Anne?” Robert asked her as he pulled his hand away.

Anne said while combing her hair, “It’s nothing, honey. He was just concerned about Elena.”

Robert worriedly asked, “Where is Elena?”

“Honey, I have no idea. I tried contacting her numerous times, but she never answered the phone.” Anne sighed and started showing off her phony care for Elena.

“And don’t get Paul wrong. Actually, he informed me that she had not returned home. So I told him to look for her outside,” Anne retorted.

“However, I have no idea what happened there.” She stated it once more.

“Paul adores Elena, but she despises him, and I’m sure she despises me as well. But…” She said, crying hysterically, “I love her as if she were my own child.” Anne hid her tears by covering her face.

“Baby, stop. Please stop crying.” Robert tried to consult her. Robert patted Anne on the head as he drew her close to him.

“I’m extremely sorry, honey. I know you and Paul both adore her. Let me fix it; I’ll talk to Elena about it. What gives her the right to show you guys the cold shoulder?” Robert expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation.

Anne smiled wryly while crying. ‘Robert would have suspected Paul if I hadn’t managed to pull it off.’ Anne thought while pretending to cry.

‘I know you don’t like them, Elena. But they adore you, so if you can’t love them, at least respect them.’ Robert patted Anne’s head while wondering.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

**

[At Ron’s residence the next day]

I got up early today, as I have done every day. “Good morning, Madam,” a maid remarked as she entered the room where I was reading a book.

“Good morning!” I greeted her cheerfully.

“Please come and have your breakfast,” she stated. I nodded, but Eva remained sound asleep.

“Where is Ron?” I asked her about Ron.

“Sir, he has already gone to college. He told me to take care of you,” she said.

Eva abruptly rose from her position and asked, “What exactly are you talking about? Is he gone?”

That lady left after replying, “Yes, ma’am.” After she left, I got out of bed and urged Eva to get out of bed and come to the dining room.

‘Ron walked away without saying anything to me. How could he do that? He did not even feel like waiting for me. Is he disappointed in me because of last night?’ As Eva thought, she jumped to her feet. She needed to get to campus as fast as possible to meet with him.

“Eva!” I narrowed my eyes. I thought she was sleeping, but when she heard about Ron, she just jumped. “Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Ah, Elena,” Eva said quickly, “Lots of things happened last night, but now I have no time to say anything. I will tell you everything later, okay?”

“But… What happened to you?” I asked in a confused tone. Eva’s behavior surprised me.

“Later, Elena, I need to freshen up now,” she said as she ran to the washroom. I stood there in awe and murmured, “What is wrong with her?”

***

[Paul’s bedroom]

“Where are you going?” Anne asked as she stepped into his room and found he was getting ready to go.

Paul said, without staring at her, “I have classes.”

Anne took a deep breath and came to him in a humble manner, saying, “Last night, Paul…” But he stopped her in the middle and said, “Mom, please don’t tell me anything. You don’t need to explain it to me.”

Anne started babbling again, “Paul, please listen to what I’m saying. I handled everything last night. And now, please don’t make any unnecessary drama.”

Paul locked his gaze on her for a moment and then flicked her hand away.

She frowned at him and said, “Paul, you…” He walked out of the house, completely disregarding her.

“Ungrateful brat, just like his dad. He will never try to understand me,” Anne murmured in rage.

[At the university]

Eva and Elena were eagerly awaiting the start of the class. Meanwhile, Eva caught a glimpse of Ron as he was passing the hallway next to the room.

“Ron,” Eva said as she screamed out his name. I whirled around and said, “Eva!”

She didn’t answer me; instead, she bolted. I had arched my brows since the morning she had been behaving weirdly. What happened between them?

Eva said, “Wait a minute, Ron.” Ron stopped and made eye contact with her.

“Ah dear, what’s the matter?” Ron locked his gaze on her, and his face brightened up as he answered Eva.

“Ron, why didn’t you wait for me?” As she gripped his palm, she asked. Ron took a quick glance around the room. Every single person in the room was staring at them.

He added, with a smile, but it seemed he was forcing himself to smile, “Eva, sorry, I was in a rush and I didn’t want you to wake up as we went to sleep late last night.”

“Ah, that’s the reason. I thought…” Eva stopped in the middle of her sentence and thought, ‘So Ron is not angry with me.’

“What did you think?” Ron asked, but Ron pulled his hand from Eva’s hand, which made Eva a bit embarrassed as well as shocked.