Page 133 of About Love and Revenge

“Thank you, Zoe.”

I've found a lot of things to do while I wait. I redid my homework several times, read a full page of a book, which was the highlight of my day, and now I'm sitting anxiously waiting for Zoe to call.

But when the phone rings, it's not her—it's my mother's photo on the screen.

It's the first time she's called me since she and my father left the island.

I dry my suddenly damp hands before finally answering. “Mother?”

“Elina . . . your sister said you wanted to talk to me.”

“Yeah.”

Suddenly, I'm mute.

I’ve spent months looking forward to hearing her voice and finding out if everything is okay, but now that it's finally happened, all I get from her is coldness.

“What do you want, Elina? To apologize for the mess you've gotten us into?”

“How did I get you guys in trouble?"

“Your father told me everything: that Lykaios went after him because he had bestowed your hand on Naim and not on Aristeu’s nephew. You started a war between Odin and your father because of your stubbornness, when it would have been so much easier to just give in and marry the sheik.”

What she says is so absurd that at first I just listen.

Is it possible that she truly believes Odin's problem with Leandros is just because of me?

Rather than directly confronting her, I choose to explain as calmly as I can manage. “Your husband did not grant the sheik my hand, Mama. He sold me.”

“Don't be ridiculous. He wouldn't do that.”

“No? So where did the money he used to escape come from? You yourself heard what Odin said at the party. Leandros was bankrupt back then.”

“Don't call him that. Show your father some respect.”

“Just like you guys respected me when you left me in that man's hands? If Odin hadn't come to our house the day you ran away, I would have been raped, Mom.”

“Stop making drama."

“Look, maybe you're not ready for this conversation yet, and I don't feel like pushing any further. When you want to hear the truth, just call me.”

“You became arrogant after you got involved with that man.”

“That manyou speak of saved me in more ways than you—who are supposed to be my family—could ever imagine. Aside from preventing a terrible fate beside that monster I was sold to, Odin has become the best thing that has ever happened in my life.”

“He hates your father.”

“Honestly, Mother, that is not a very difficult task, because not even his own children can admire him. When my ladylike mother called me, I thought there was some chance we could get along, but now I realize I was wrong. Have a good day.”

Before she can say anything else, I hang up.

I worked so hard not to cry that my head felt like it was going to explode.

It's quite likely that if she had said all that to me a few months ago, it would have hit me much harder, but for the first time I know what it is like to be around people who like me. I feel stronger.

I've just come to the conclusion that if my family isn't ready to face the reality of who Leandros is, I don't want them, at least for the moment, in my life.

If I'm really pregnant, I'll have my own family to worry about.

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