This time I did glance at her, plastering a small smile on my face. “Yeah, why do you ask?”

Her turquoise eyes observed me. “You’re looking… tired. Didn’t get any sleep last night?”

I knew what she was indicating. The dark circles, the puffy eyes.

Nothing goes missing from Mother’s eyes, does it?

A squeeze in my chest made me take a deep breath. I wish I could tell her.

“Nothing like that, Mom. I did sleep last night. Just having a headache since the morning. It’ll get better, don’t worry.”

“So that’s why you didn’t go to the office today?” Concern etched on her features. “Why didn’t you tell me? Did you take medicine?”

I nodded. “Yes, I did. I’ve also informed Caleb about it. I took a leave today.”

“Good. Take some rest. You’re taking too much work stress nowadays.”

Work wasn’t the issue. They barely gave me any actual work to do to be stressed.

Smiling at her, I looked back at the newspaper. The newspaper I’d been sitting with for the last half an hour. Not reading, just staring.

The clicking of heels against the tiled floor reached my ears. My fists clenched.

“Tess?” Mom exclaimed. “What’re you doing here? I thought you had an appointment for cake tasting today. Are you done with it already?”

“I cancelled it, Mom. I had to go to a conference with Caleb this morning.” Placing her designer bag on the countertop, she sat beside me. “Hi, Em.”

I gritted my teeth, not reciprocating. My eyes glued to the big bold headlines.

Mom’s silence indicated that she noticed the tension lurking around us. “I made some tea for Em. You need some?”

“Sure,” Tess said, staring at me.

After giving her a cup of steamy tea, Mom excused herself to talk to Dad regarding something and left us alone. Not wanting to sit with her alone in the kitchen, I got up from my seat. That’s when her voice stopped me.

“Why aren’t you answering Achilles’s phone or messages? You didn’t even go to the office today. He’s a mess right now, Em. That guy was outside of our house the entire night, and you didn’t even let him explain anything!”

My head snapped to her, staring at her in disbelief. She was accusing me being the cause of his misery when she was the one who should be apologizing to me?

She knew! She freaking knew everything and joined hands with him in his absurd plan to display me some ridiculous show! To hurt me. To push me away from him. She was aware of everything but didn’t even try to tell me once in these years. And here she dared to question me?