Chapter 036

Chapter 36
Lucas had always been a deep sleeper, but tonight, he hadn’t planned to fall asleep at all. He had only meant to stay by Sophia’s side for a little longer, just in case she had another panic attack. Somewhere between holding her hand and watching over her, exhaustion had taken over and he fell asleep.

Thing was, when the sound of the front door unlocking echoed through the house, he stirred a bit but didn’t wake up. It wasn’t until a familiar voice rang out that his senses slowly returned, but he still felt extremely sleepy, going in and out of sleep.
“Lucas! Sophia! I’m home! You wouldn’t believe what just happened! I got a promotion!”
Isabella’s voice was full of excitement, as she entered the house. She had had a great day and nothing was better than sharing the news with her family.

Lucas groaned softly, rubbing his tired eyes as he slowly sat up from the floor.

At the same time, Allison was going down the stairs with a bright smile on her face.

“Welcome home, mum.” She greeted, her arms outstretched out for a hug. Isabella didn’t even spare her a mere look as she shut the door.

Instead, she walked right past her, heading straight for Sophia’s room without saying a word. Allison’s smile dropped like temperatures in icy weather. Her arms dropped awkwardly to her sides, and she didn’t know how to feel.

She had expected this. She had known that earning back her mother’s trust wouldn’t be easy. Still, it hurt so much. She watched her mum go up the stairs.

Maybe she shouldn’t have come back home.

Inside Sophia’s room, Isabella paused at the door, taking in the sight in front of her.

Lucas was sitting up groggily on the floor, papers scattered all around him, looking like he had fallen asleep while working. Sophia was curled up on her bed, fast asleep, her face very peaceful now.

Isabella’s heart softened at the sight of them. Her poor baby.

She went forward and crouched beside Lucas, gently shaking his shoulder.

“Lucas, baby. Hey, wake up.”

Lucas blinked up at her, looking confused for a moment before the realisation set in. He remembered that he had heard her call in.

“Hey.” He mumbled, voice heavy with sleep. He stretched his sore limbs and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “You’re back. How was work?”

Isabella smiled, whispering.

“It was great, so great. I got a promotion. I wish you came today.”

“I’m sorry, I felt too tired to go.” Lucas’ said softly, and then a proud smile spread across his face. “And a promotion! That’s amazing, Bella. Congratulations.”

She beamed, lowering her voice.

“Let’s go outside. I don’t want to wake our baby girl up.”

Lucas nodded, carefully standing up and tucking Sophia’s blanket around her before following Isabella out of the room. He quietly shut the door behind him.

Once they were in the hallway, Isabella let out a deep sigh, shaking her head.

“I can’t believe it. All these years of hard work, and it finally paid off. And I was thinking they were planning to leave me in there forever.”

“I always knew you’d get higher.” Lucas said, squeezing her hand. “I’m proud of you.”

She squeezed back, then tilted her head at him.

“Thank you honey. Now, tell me why you were sleeping on the floor in Sophia’s room.”

Lucas sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“She had a panic attack.”

Isabella’s smile vanished instantly.

“Oh, no…”

“Yeah, and this one was really bad.” Lucas shook his head. “I heard her scream and ran in. She was shaking, crying, barely able to breathe. She begged me not to leave her, so I stayed. Even after she said I could go later, I just couldn’t. It didn’t feel right leaving her all alone.”

Isabella’s nodded, feeling tears in her eyes. She hated that Sophia was suffering. After all she had been through, she deserved a break.

“Do you think we should tell her?” she asked softly.

Lucas knew exactly what she was referring to. The whole accident thing and the gory details about her mother… or the death of her mother, which was what they knew for sure about her.

He shook his head.

“Not yet. She’s still too fragile to handle that kind of knowledge.”

Isabella sighed, nodding in understanding. She knew he was right.

“I just feel so guilty, you know?” Isabella sighed.

“I understand, but hey! It’s a happy day, okay? Plus, did you see Allison yet?”

Isabella’s face went from worried to stone hard.

“Yes, I did.”

“And?”

“And nothing. I don’t want to ever see her again.”

Lucas stopped walking, frowning.

“Bella…”

Before he could say more, they both heard a shaky voice from the bottom of the stairs.

“Mum…”

They turned to find Allison standing there, her eyes glassy with tears running down her face.

“I’m really sorry.” She whispered. “For everything. For what I did to Sophia. I was… I was so angry, and I let it control me. But I never meant to hurt her like that. Please, forgive me.”

A heavy silence fell between all of them.

Isabella folded her arms, her jaw clenched.

“Yes you did. You knew she was on meds and you went ahead to do it.” Isabella wasn’t taking any nonsense. “Do you even understand how serious what you did was? You could have added to the trauma she already have. We are trying our bests to make her okay, and you could have taken away all our efforts to restore her to good mental health. Do you even realise that?”

Allison swallowed hard and nodded.

“I do.”

“Even worse, you could’ve killed her.” Isabella looked scornful of her daughter.

Allison flinched.

“Yes, I know. I’m really sorry, I didn’t think it would be that bad.”

Isabella let out a slow breath, shaking her head.

“If I’m being honest, I wanted to report you to the authorities. I wanted to turn you in and get you locked up for as long as possible.”

Allison’s eyes widened.

“Mum—”

“But I won’t.” Isabella interrupted. “And don’t get me wrong. It is not because I want to protect you, but because I believe in second chances. If you truly regret what you did, then prove it. Apologise to Sophia properly. And treat her better. Not because you’re afraid of punishment, but because it’s the right thing to do. She is your sister. Blood isn’t always everything.”

Allison’s throat tightened. Apologising to Sophia was the last thing she wanted to do. She had initially thought of having Sophia out of her life for good, but it wasn’t worth her mum’s disappointment.

Besides, Sophia and her were still on very bad terms. How was she supposed to work her way around that? She didn’t want to. She still detested Sophia for taking everything from her.

But then again, she also knew that this was the only way to start fixing what she had broken.

She nodded.

“Okay. I will apologise to Sophia.”

Isabella looked at her daughter for a long moment, then let out a tired sigh.

“Go to bed. We’ll talk more another time. I don’t have the strength for this right now.”

Allison wiped her eyes and nodded again.

“Goodnight, mum. Goodnight, dad.”

Lucas gave her a small nod, and Isabella simply turned away. She wasn’t a fool. She knew that Allison wouldn’t start liking Sophia anytime soon, but if Allison was interested in making some changes and being more civil… no, more caring towards Sophia, then her little girl would be back again.

And how she longed for that!