The car merged smoothly into the main road.
Demi didn't initiate a conversation, instead pulling out an Indorian textbook to read.
Michelle reached forward and raised the privacy partition. Then, she forced a smile after clearing her throat. "Demi, Ana already apologized to you, didn't she? She told us she recognizes her past mistakes and wants to get along better from now on."
"Should I say thank you then?" Demi glanced up briefly from her book.
Michelle was stunned before she replied earnestly, "Demi, let bygones be bygones. Why don't we focus on being a real family moving forward? Your brothers will treat you with the same affection they show Ana. Your father and I will cherish you equally too. After all, we're family."
Demi's response remained unchanged. "Should I say thank you?"
Upon seeing Michelle's lack of response, Demi smirked and glanced at her. "Or perhaps you'd prefer if I said I'm overwhelmed by this honor?"
"What exactly do you want from us?" Michelle's composure finally cracked, her voice fraying with exasperation.
Demi replied with a piercing gaze, "I don't want anything. I just want to live my current life undisturbed. The real question is, what do you want from me? When I needed your acceptance, you treated me harshly and ignored me.
"Now that I don't need you anymore, you come crawling with fake apologies and empty promises of being 'family?' Does the universe revolve around the Pitts? Should I just obediently reconcile because you suddenly decided it's convenient? After you treated me like garbage?"
Michelle's face twisted with aggrieved helplessness. "In the past we—"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: A Second Life, A New Power