Page 142 of Mark

“Early this morning. Lily was up on deck with Rose so Jaxon could sleep in. She saw Freya and Maya leave with their cases.”

“Why didn’t she come and get me?”

“She knocked but no one answered.”

I pull at my short hair, growling. “Fuck!”

“You’ll get to speak to her when we are home,” he assures me.

“That’s less than a week away,” I growl. “Esther is a fucking bitch. She did this on purpose. Who would do this to their own sister? God, she must be so messed up in the head.”

“Where are you going?” Mum calls out when I walk off.

“To find her parents,” I growl.

*** *** ***

Three hours later, I finally locate where her parents are hiding. A little café not far from the beachfront.

I’m in no mood for pleasantries when I pull out a chair, spinning it around to sit on it.

“Having a good day?” I question.

“You’ve heard?” Maggie guesses, unsurprised by my attitude.

“Yes, but what I would love to know is why she wouldn’t talk to me. Did you at least explain what happened or are you still burying your head in the sand?”

Maggie shares a look with Mitch. “She wouldn’t speak with us. We didn’t know they were leaving and only found out because Esther came to us at breakfast breaking down that her honeymoon is falling apart.”

“Is she really surprised? Since she’s the reason it’s going to shit. It’s the chain of events she put into motion that has caused all of this.”

“Which is why we are here and not in her room consoling her,” Mitch remarks. “We didn’t think our daughter was capable of such cruelty.”

“But you let Esther make you believe Freya was all this time. I’ve known her a short time and even I could see she wasn’t capable of the things Esther was saying.”

Maggie holds her hand up. “You don’t need to remind us of what we have done. We already feel bad enough.”

“But you didn’t follow her?”

“Do you really think she would let us see her if we did?”

I know they’re right but still, the show of action will mean something to Freya. “Does she know what really happened?”

“We did tell Mum, but when we last spoke, she told us Freya didn’t want to hear it,” Maggie explains.

“And before you rip into us, I’ll remind you that you are still here and not chasing after her.”

I glare at Mitch. I’m not her fucking parent or family but I’ve still tried, despite my parents’ protests. “Believe me, I’ve tried. There are no flights until the day we leave now. But you would have had time. The customer service rep told me I missed the last seats by an hour.”

Maggie wipes under her eyes as she lowers her head. “Sorry, it’s just been too much for us. Until you have children, you won’t understand how difficult this is. We love them both.”

“It shouldn’t be difficult. Your daughter is acting like an adolescent. Put her in a time out and keep her away from Freya. It’s practically parenting one-o-one.”

Seriously… I don’t even have children but it seems pretty simple to me.

“Again, son, until you have children, you won’t know how difficult this is. We have one daughter hurting, and the other… the other has done something unspeakable and we are struggling…” Mitch pauses, glancing away when the words seem to choke him up.

Maggie places her hand over his. “We love them both so much. And they’re both hurting. I know you don’t want to hearit, but Esther is hurting too. It doesn’t make what she has done right, but for her to do something that cruel, we missed something. We missed something important because our Esther would never do such a thing.”

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