Chapter 146 Why Are They Arguing?
ANNA'S POV
Alright, after I’ve settled in and had dinner I’ll go and see Ryan. I wouldn’t bring up the whole thing about hearing his maid, I’ll just go and see him. There was no need to turn something small into a big issue when I didn’t even have the full story yet. If he doesn’t want to tell me that Tracey came over then I’m sure he has his reasons. Who knows, he might even be planning another surprise for me again, and I sure as hell do not want to be the one to ruin it by jumping to conclusions.
I let out a small sigh, one meant to calm my racing thoughts, and got out of the car. The evening air brushed lightly against my skin as I shut the door behind me. The familiar sight of the house in front of me usually brought a sense of comfort, but tonight it felt different, heavier somehow. Still, I brushed the feeling aside and immediately started walking straight towards the front door, my heels clicking softly against the pavement.
Once I got into the living room, the first thing I noticed was how quiet it was. I was just about to drop my purse on the couch and head upstairs when my eyes caught Dan standing by the stairs, his arms crossed tightly against his chest. He wasn’t on his phone, wasn’t watching TV, wasn’t doing anything at all. He was just standing there, staring ahead like he was guarding something.
Why was he just standing there like that?
Before I could even ask, my ears picked up faint voices drifting down from upstairs. They were low at first, muffled, but there was a sharpness to them that made my chest tighten. Raised voices. My brows frowned instinctively as I turned my attention fully to Dan, then to the staircase.
I walked closer to where Dan stood, lowering my voice even though I wasn’t sure why. “What’s going on?” I asked.
He let out a small sigh, one that sounded tired and conflicted, then slowly unfolded his hands before turning to me. “The voices you’re hearing are Mom and Dad,” he said.
Well yeah, that was obvious. Who else lived with us?
“I know that much,” I replied, my tone a little sharper than I intended. “Why are they arguing? They barely argue with each other.” My parents weren’t perfect, but heated arguments were rare in this house. Disagreements, sure. But not this.
Dan hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. “You wouldn’t believe the reason why,” he said.
Something about the way he said it made my stomach twist. “Try me.”
“It’s because of Isabel,” he added.
My face immediately filled with confusion. Isabel?
But she’s out of the house. She’s gone. Why would her name suddenly be dragged into a fight serious enough to shake the peace of this home? Why were they scattering their peace for someone who wasn’t even here anymore?
“Which of them brought up Isabel when she’s not even with us?” I asked, disbelief clear in my voice.
Dan looked away for a brief moment, then back at me. “Now this is the part you’d find hard to believe,” he said. “Turns out Mom went to meet with Isabel. And now she’s claiming that Isabel is a changed girl from what she saw, and she wants Dad to let Isabel back into this family.”
Huh?
For a second, I honestly thought I misheard him. “Mom went to see Isabel?” I repeated slowly. “So Mom was speaking with her?”
Dan didn’t answer. Instead, his gaze drifted back up toward Mom and Dad’s room, where the voices were still going, rising and falling with tension. That silence alone told me everything I needed to know.
So my suspicion from that day Dad and I went to the event center was right. I knew something was wrong when Mom said she didn’t want to come with us. That wasn’t like her at all. Even though she tried so hard to hide it, I could tell something was off. Was that the day she went to see Isabel? Because everyone in the house wasn’t around. It was just her. That would have been the perfect time to go without anyone knowing.
Without another word, I stormed upstairs.
What happened to not keeping secrets from each other in this house?
“Anna, relax,” Dan said from behind me as I climbed the stairs. “Their emotions are all over the place right now. It’s best to wait till they calm down.”
But that didn’t stop me. I kept going, my steps quick and determined. Mom shouldn’t have done this at all. I wasn’t annoyed that she went to see Isabel — no, that wasn’t it. I had noticed that Mom was slowly missing her. The signs were subtle, but they were there. What annoyed me was the fact that she didn’t tell anyone. She kept it to herself, carried it alone, and now it had exploded into a full-blown argument.
Secrets have a way of doing that.
And another thing I couldn’t support was her sudden desire to bring Isabel back here. Mom might believe Isabel has changed, but how sure could she really be after just one meeting? Isabel might have seen how vulnerable Mom was in that moment and decided to take advantage of it. She always knew how to play her cards right.
This could easily be her own way of trying to crawl back into this house and stir up more problems. Problems we had finally started recovering from. Peace we had only just begun to rebuild.
No matter what Mom says about Isabel changing, to me a leopard can never change its dots. People don’t just wake up and become different overnight, not after everything Isabel had done. Not after all the damage she caused.
Isabel can’t come back here.
Because if she does, this place would lose all its