Page 92 of Teach Me How To Fly

Why did she call him Mister Brown?

There were so many questions going through my mind and I needed answers. I fucking needed answers and if he wasn’t going to give them to me, I was going to find out by myself. I didn’t understand why he would keep her hidden. She seemed scared.

He knew about everything I went through, and he still kept a little girl locked in her room?

What if Maksen was an abuser too?

No.

I was mad that what I went through made me, for even a second, think that Maksen would’ve done to a child what Sylvian did to me.

But why was I mad with him that he kept this a secret while I lied to him all this time about his parents?

I didn’t tell him Olivia was his real mother and I didn’t know when I was going to tell him. It felt as if no moment was right. So why was I angry about him lying to me when I was also hiding the truth?

“Annalise?”

The yell came from behind the door, accompanied by the sounds of the knocks.

I ran my hands over my face, trying to wipe off all the feelings that must have left their mark on me. I stepped inside the room and sat on the bed’s edge, then I put my hair up in a ponytail and tried to let a smile curve my lips.

“You can come in.”

The door opened and Lukyan entered the room. It was a surprise to see him coming to visit me. His face was the same unscrupulous one I knew, but I noticed he was trying to display a mask with me. It didn’t work anymore because I didn’t feel a thing seeing him now.

“Don’t you want to come downstairs and see your sister?”

“I do,” I replied and stood up. “But I wanted to be alone.”

His face changed and the tight-lipped smile made me realize he tried to control the anger he felt. He took a step toward me, rubbing his hands together.

“It’s just a matter of time until you’ll be back home, Annalise.”

“This is my home now,” I gritted my teeth, glaring at him.

He laughed at me and let his glance fall on the floor. Each word he spoke made me even angrier at him.

“Enjoy it while you can.”

Before I could give him a reply, he left the room and the only thing I heard was Maksen calling him. The sound of the slammed door made an echo in the entire house, but also in my heart.

He left me here, angry yet emptier than I’ve ever been. I tried so hard to understand his point of view, to truly see him as my real father, but he kept doing things that proved to me I shouldn’t have.

I took in a deep breath and left the room with tiny steps. Before heading to the stairs, I looked at the door Maksen always kept locked, remembering the awkward moment I met the little girl.

Was it not enough that everyone trampled on my trust?

I had to cast doubt upon the trust I had in Maksen too, and I couldn’t wait for the moment I would ask him for answers.

Their voices started to be louder as I got closer to the living room, and the moment I stepped on the soft carpet, they stopped talking. Katya raised her glance at me and her eyes filled with tears. A smile stretched across her face as she walked towards me and I couldn’t help myself but put my hands around her tiny weakened body.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to her ear.

She hugged me tightly and as I rested my head on her shoulder, I raised my eyes to Maksen. He looked at me and a smile crept onto his face as he tried to comfort me just by looking at me.

But it didn’t work this time as my mind kept wondering who that little girl was.

“You have no reason to apologize,” she said and took a step back to look me in the eyes.

---