Isabella's POV

After knocking for several minutes without a response, I conclude that Grandma isn't home.

She must have gone somewhere but I am baffled by her absence at home because it is still early in the morning.

Now that her legs are healed, I am sure she is going to go back to her former work or look for another. Grandma isn't the type to stay at home, she is hardworking and that added to her sorrow when she was still unable to use her legs.

She complains a lot about the pain but the complaints about not being able to leave the house on her own were more.

I wanted her to get her life back. The pain too was an addition. It was enough reason for me to look for a fast solution to it. I wanted to get rid of it. Get rid of anything that will hinder us from being happy.

We didn't have enough money before she lost her legs but we were living a happy life. When she lost her legs, Grandma became a shadow of herself and the happiness was short-lived. 

Sometimes, I used to think that she was always pretending to be happy for me. Just so I can be happy too. But I realize Grandma is a happy woman and she always tries to make herself happy no matter the situation.

If we are to look at what life has thrown our way, happiness will never be a thing to consider.

Now that we have money, we are still not happy. Money was the major reason why Grandma was sad sometimes because that was the only thing stopping her from getting her legs back.

The money is here now but the happiness is gone.

Why does it have to be this way? Isn't Jayden happy? What of other billionaires? Aren't these wealthy people happy too? Didn't they say money can do all things and solve all earthly problems?

It is apparent that Jayden, my day-old husband, is not a happy man and I am yet to figure out why.

He looks broken. This is something I have never noticed in him. When I was his secretary, I always thought he was harsh on purpose. Harsh and arrogant because he wanted things to be done his way as the Chief Executive Officer but now I know better.

Jayden isn't harsh on purpose.

He is not a happy man. He is nothing but a broken shell.

How can a man get married to a woman and insist on not having any strings attached if there is nothing more to it?

I didn't have any cause to worry about this but now that I think of it, I have a feeling that it is abnormal and beyond the ordinary.

This isn't about his work. 

I am not thinking of sex because I want to have sex with him, I am just curious to know what is happening and why this marriage happened.

I didn't ask him before I ventured into this because I want in dire need of the money but now I want to know and I hope if I ask him, he would be able to give me some answers.

The sad face, the guilt, the flash of regrets, the pain in the eyes say it all.

Jayden isn't pretending to be happy because he can not. He is finding it difficult to let go of something and finding it difficult to pretend to be happy when he is not.

I didn't pay much attention to this before the marriage but now that I think of it, I will make sure to find out all the WHYS popping up in my head and satisfy my curiosity.

I need to know what has happened and I will help him if I can. Jayden is a good man.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?!" Grandma's loud voice jerks me off of my reverie and I glance up from the porch I am sitting on, to see her standing with an angry expression. She looks like someone who has gone on a very important outing.

She isn't wearing any of the clothes we both bought for her, she is still wearing one of her old clothes and she is with a bag, the usual one she takes out.

The gown she is wearing is blue and is one of her favorite clothes. She wears it to important places.

I should have known that the anger and disappointment she is feeling will still be intact. I should have given her enough time to accept the truth and adjust herself to it.

Isn't this too soon? I question myself inwardly, as I bit my lips in regret.

I thought convincing her would be easy and we can go ahead with the plans to pack her belongings to the new house Jayden got for her. But apparently, it won't be possible.

She believed Juliet over me. She knows that I am lying and I can no longer hide the truth from her.

I really can not make her believe me now and tell her the truth later. She will be too hurt.

"Isabella, I said what the hell are you doing here?" She yells, taking slow threatening steps toward me.

I rise and try to touch her but she flinches, a look of distaste on her expression.

I sigh and look down. This is going to be harder than I expect.

"Leave!" She growls, pointing backward, her chest heaving up and down in fuming.

"Grandma, you need to listen to me", I take a hold of her hand and she flings my hand away in irritation.

"I said leave and never come back. You stopped being my daughter the moment you lied to me", a tear rolls down her eyes, and the guilt in me begins to set in again.

Silence falls and it lingers for a while before she tries to walk past me.

"Grandma, I didn't lie", I find myself saying as I turn to watch her walk to the door.

She does not say anything so I rush to her, stopping her from opening the door with her keys. I regret not having my key anymore. Grandma can go in and leave me hanging without giving me a listening ear.

If only I had my keys, I wouldn't bother myself too much. But I left it in the house.

"You need to listen to me, Mother", I grab her hands away from the doorknob.

"You have no right to call me that name", she retorts, twirling back abruptly.

"You can't stop being my Mother", I insist stubbornly. She is a stubborn woman and I can be stubborn too when I want to.

Isn't this reaction too much? She ought to give me a listening ear at least.

She raises her right hand in the air and slaps me across the face. The slap stings me and I have to blink to regain my balance, enduring the pain.

I am thinking I can endure it but when a tear rolls down my eyes, I know it is impossible and I let the subsequent tears flow freely.

"You lied to me and now you want to continue with the lie? Have you no shame? Do you think I don't know? You took me for a fool and you expect me to continue bearing the name Mother?"

I am silent. I don't know what to say to her. This isn't what I expect. 

I woke up this morning, feeling refreshed from last night and with an atom of hope that everything will be resolved today. 

Now the hope has been dashed. It has been shattered to the floor and smashed into pieces unable to be attached together anymore.

"Do you think I am a fool? I have been a mother for 40 years and I can detect when something about my child isn't right. You lied to me, Isabella. Is it forgivable?"

"You believed Juliet over me", I mention and she scoffs.

This is one of the reasons why I am pissed off with her. Juliet is no longer a friend but an enemy who doesn't want my progress. She wants to be where I am and she will surely do anything to tarnish my image.

"Is that your only concern?" She snarls. "Your only concern is about Juliet betraying you? You aren't bothered about the fact that you lied to me not only once but so many times just so you can cover up your first real lie?"

I am speechless. Should I just tell her the truth? Grandma won't forgive me easily. I have never thought of getting on her bad side because of how rough it can be.

Now it has happened and I need to rectify my mistakes. Besides the new home Jayden got for her can't go to waste.

"I'm sorry", I mutter, lowering my head, my tears dropping.

"Sorry, my foot. Get lost", she dismisses me and inserts the key so she can open the door, go in and leave me here till I am tired and I have no choice but to leave. But I can't leave without sorting this out. 

Grandma is my only surviving family. She is now my only friend.

"I'm sorry, Grandma", I apologize, sobbing loudly now as I grab her hand. She tries to yank her hand off mine but my hold is strong. We struggle for a while until I lose my footing and I stumble backward.

I fall to the floor, my buttocks hitting the edge of the porch and I wince in pain, more tears streaming down my eyes

"Get lost!" She grits her teeth, uncaring about how I fell. 

She turns to go in and I summon up the courage to shout at her. "Mother, I did this for you!"

She halts in her step but does not look back. She might probably be thinking that this is a trick to get her to hear me.

I didn't intend to tell her the truth but now I am left with no choice.

Crying loudly, not bothering to get up from my fall, I add with a loud voice. "I did this for you, Mother. I'm doing this for you!"

She goes stiff for a while and she must have figured out that this has to do with her leg surgery and the money Jayden gave me which she kept interrogating me about.

"I had to do this because of your leg. Because I wanted the pain to go away. This is the condition attached to getting the agile woman I knew as my mother for years back. Now tell me my fault!", I shout at her.

Silence creeps in except for my loud cries. She turns back, a frown on her face. 

Slowly, she walks up to my side, her hand strikes me across my face again before she strides back to the door and enters the house after slamming the door shut in my face.

****

Isn't Grandma taking this too far? If you were in her shoes, will you do the same or you will do more?

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