Chapter 61

"What on earth was going through your mind, Beatrice Chloe?!" My mother's voice boomed, piercing through the air and slamming into my eardrums. The words echoed within me, carrying with them a pain I had never expected. A pain that would manifest physically, as her palm connected with my cheek in a jarring slap. It was a sensation I had never experienced before, one that left me stunned and alarmed.

"I am so disappointed in you!" Her voice trembled with anger and hurt, each syllable landing like a blow to my already bruised self-esteem. “Since when did you start to get that nerve and be disrespectful to your parents?” The weight of her disappointment hung heavily in the air, suffocating any traces of warmth or understanding that once existed between us. The realization that I had let her down, that my actions had caused such deep disappointment, settled heavily in my chest.

Standing by my side, a silent witness to this painful encounter, was Josh