Chapter 234: Chapter 234

Anger, that was directed at every single person around her. Samantha hated her mother for adopting her and then leaving her, at that young age, with the responsibility of her siblings.

Samantha’s adoptive father, Tyler, had never been really there for them as he only had eyes for his fiancé, Aliya. Samantha may have appreciated the fact that she was adopted, and she may have liked her adoptive parents for giving her a home, but she was still angry at them for their selfish reasons.

’Why adopt if you were going to leave?!’ That had been the one thing bugging young Samatha. She could not understand it, no matter how she looked at it.

She was also angry at her new father, Ian, for taking them into his home but leaving them to their fates. Ian did not even have the decency of picking them up himself, not that it mattered. Samantha’s brief happiness of having someone to rely on after her parents’ demise was short-lived.

It had taken a few hours, and it was when she had heard some of the adults talking. The ridiculous but simple conclusion was that the thick, tall man who looked like he could touch the skies with his bare hand had succumbed to his emotions and locked himself, shutting the whole world out.

Samatha did not care if he did that, but why did he have to come for them and dump them in a lonely environment with strangers if he was even going to complete the task? At least, he should not have given them that hope!

Samantha had slowly given up hope as the days turned into weeks and then months. She stopped counting after the first year.

Samantha, despite being a child, had to mature prematurely due to unfortunate circumstances.

Their time in the new Thronston estate had been ’hard’ for young Samantha. It was true that she had been adopted, but that did not mean that Samantha did not long for affection. No one paid them much heed in the estate.

It was also true that they had more than they could ask for: food to eat, a roof over their head, and one whole room to themselves, but it was the emotional neglect and the subtle hostility that had grown openly that had put the girl down.

Over time, Samatha learned that their treatment was because of her deceased mother. But was it her fault that the eldest Thornston son was smitten with her mother, who already had a family? Samantha had no idea and tried to understand why she and her siblings were the targets of those harsh emotions.

Ian Thornston was a complex man whose actions and inactions could not be questioned. If it were possible, Samantha knew that she and her siblings would have long been given alternate living arrangements outside

It was gradual, but Samatha eventually came to understand how to survive in that glamourous empty estate. She had managed to live through the youngsters queries of:

’Samatha, where I mum? Where is dad?’ Samantha felt that she had been too young to shoulder that responsibility.

She understood the Thornstons... really... young Samatha did. Who in their right sense would be happy with these actions from their most promising son? But that did not make it any better... not at all. This also made her angry at the people in the Thornston estate.

For her new father, Samatha only had one thing that she had wished to ask him in the early days before she had given up: ’Do you think that we were not affected by Mum’s death? Do you think that you were more affected than we are? We are her children! Do you think that your love was any better and bigger than ours?’

However, no matter the argument and harsh words Samantha debated with herself, she could never bring herself to say those words .... Ever! That was what she had thought initially until the unexpected happened: He came out!

’He only came out of the damn room for a woman! Typical man, he is! Just following her bewitching beauty!’

It pained Samantha to the core that Ian Thornston had been moved by another woman... another woman who was not her mother.

Samatha was clearly confused, but one thing she knew for sure was that she was angry... beyond measure.

Maybe this was the reason why she was incensed at her new stepmother.

The woman was beautiful ... that was a fact, but that even irritated Samantha.

’How could a human being look that way? Was she a goddess or a fairy? Or maybe a witch?’

Samantha was inclined to believe the latter. She tried looking for avenues to hate Shelby, but the woman was as kind as could be! How could that be? It was not human nature to be like that. For a person with her looks, at least in Samantha’s mind, Shelby should have been proud with her nose stuck up in the air as the woman could have the whole world at her feet without her lifting a finger.

However, her new stepmother did nothing of those. This made Samantha upset and irritated and filled her with negative emotions. Their stepmother, Shelby, was not playing by the book. There should have been something for Samantha to hold against her, but the little girl could find nothing. Instead of this pacifying Samantha, it did the opposite.

Samantha became convinced that it was a façade, a shell, and a mask that Shelby would shed off with time, but that never happened.

All the pent-up anger grew, and Samantha needed an outlet but had nothing.

One thing was that Samantha had vowed to herself that she would not get close to anyone because they all eventually left, and that was the only way Samantha knew to protect her heart.

’It’ll just be me, Ingrid and Gabriel, then.’ This was Samantha’s vow, but she did not expect Shelby to win them over.

Gabriel was nothing to write home about. He had not even lasted a day before he had taken Shelby as his new mother. That was typical of him, but this hurt Samantha to her core. Notwithstanding this, Samantha’s surprise stemmed from Ingrid.

Ingrid was never one to get close to anyone. She had not even been that close to her biological mother. It had been evident that Ingrid longed for her mother’s warmth, but during Aliya’s lifetime, that had not been so. In Samatha’s eyes, Aliya was a good mother, just not an overly caring one as the world would have thought.

The children were hung up on her and loved her to bits, but Samantha was unsure whether her dead parents had eyes for anyone but themselves and the love that existed between them.

’Exactly what was love? Why did it make rational people behave like idiots?!’

Samantha wished she knew. At the time, she did not know that she was acting in a similar way to her supposed crush from school.

So, before Samantha knew it, Ingrid had also started to look forward to their Mama’s visit. As the oldest, she should have been happy that her two younger siblings were putting things behind them and getting on with their lives happily, but that only did the opposite. Her fury rose.

With no outlet for the bubbling emotions, Samantha could only turn to her colleagues at school. In her mind, her siblings were untrustworthy.

But things in school were complicated. She had always been a loner there, but things looked to be ’improving’.

The evening’s outing, which was supposed to help lift her mood, had dampened it even more, only for her to see the sight in front of her.

She balled her fists and took one shaky step forward, her breathing coming out very fast and unsteady.

The car ride and little walk back had cleared the alcohol pretty much, as she had not taken that much anyway. However, it was her eyes that gave her away. A closer look at her would tell anyone that she had difficulty focusing on things around her as her eyes looked glossy as they drifted around and landed on the sleeping figures.

Ingrid was still by Shelby’s side, and Gabriel had found a way to climb up on her so that he lay half on Shelby and half in the hallway on the bed. Shelby was basically sandwiched between the two kids. It was a beautiful sight, but not what Samatha wanted to see then.

It was unclear what Samatha wanted to do, but she took another step only for her to stop cold. She could feel eyes on her.

She turned swiftly only to see her father standing at one corner of the room. Samantha could have sworn that he was not there when she entered. Her heart raced further. She went from anger to startlement and then fear.

Ian had stood in the room’s shadows watching Samatha, and he basically ’heard’ all her inward ’arguments’. He smirked and then watched her intently. He asked,

"Do you think that what you have here is not enough?" Ian suddenly asked.

"I—" Samantha stammered. How could she say that? She wondered why the conversation was even coming up.

"You’re wondering why I ask you this?" She gasped, for it felt as if her father had read her mind.

"As the oldest of you three... you look to be the dumbest by thinking that you can bite the hand that feeds you. You should understand that my wife has no obligation to you. Are you angry at the world because nothing goes your way? Tell that to the beggar by the street or your other siblings in the orphanage who barely manage to get by..."

Samantha took a step back as her eyes widened. Ian never opened his mouth, so how could she hear his voice?

’Am I that drunk? Just from two glasses?’

Maybe Samatha was that drunk because she was clearly missing the point in her mangled, fear-stricken mind.

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