Chapter 1: The things we hide

Loud voices of arguments and violent banter is heard from a beautiful duplex, with modern exterior designs, a well protected fence, with a dark gate. Screams and loud voices are heard from within, accompanied with the sound of glass shattering. Inside this house, a man and woman is seen in the living room yelling ."Do you even know what you are doing" a masculine voice yells, "you are the cause of all this" a feminine voice respondes furiously, followed by more glass shattering, "where's the money" she said furiously and grabs his shirt, causing them to struggle "let go this woman" the man said furiously "you won't like the other side of me" he added with rage beaming in his eyes "over my dead body will you leave this house without telling me what you did with the money" the woman replied angryly as she grip him tighter. The violent argument continues and the yelling and sounds of objects breaking grew louder . Emily walks slowly from her room and peeps down on her parents from the balcony, with deep red swallon eyes , it appears she had been crying. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she sees her parents fighting , without hesitation "can you guys please stop" she yells and bursts into tears, but her parents seem to not be paying attention to her as they continued struggling with each other. Emily rushes quickly to her room on the sight of her dad hitting her mom furiously,she shuts her door and slides down the wall, where she held her self tightly in a corner in her room.loud sounds of her dad's belt against her mom's skin, which was accompanied by Loud screams from her mom, and like torture to her flesh, every pressing stroke and scream felt like a stabbing pain into her heart. She just sat there helplessly weeping like a woman who had lost her husband.

Hours later, the violent screams and yelling seems to have stopped and the atmosphere was calmer . Emily wipes her bloodred eyes which has shrunked from excessive crying. She slowly gets up for the floor with support from the little bedside drawer next to her. She then picks up her android phone. Emily looks at the screen to check the time it was 10:25pm "This is a new record" she said to herself as she falls into her bed, before giving off a sigh. Moments later, Emily hears the sound of a car engine running, she gets up quickly and runs to the upstairs balcony where she finds her dad exiting the compound. She holds a sad expression on her face as she walks back inside. She makes her way downstairs. Getting to the living room, she is welcomed with broken glass on the floor and a broken TV. She gives off a sigh, then takes a deep breath before she began tidying the place. She moves the broken TV to the side and sweeps the broken glass on the floor.The atmosphere felt cold as ever.

Minutes later, she was done clearing the mess, she then proceeds to search for her mom round the house and eventually found her in the guest room. She walks slowly to her mom, who sat at the edge of the bed staring into space as teardrops rolled down her cheeks. She was so lost in thought that she failed to notice Emily's presence Emily notices the scars on her mom's skin, which causes a cloud of tears to blur her vision. She wipes them quickly before speaking "mom" Emily said in a soft tone "oh Lily" her mother turns her attention to her, while picking up a jacket to cover the scars o her skin and wiping her teary eyes so Emily doesn't notice them "why are you up this late" she said softly while stretching out her arms in a position for embrace . Emily walks close into her mom's embrace before speaking "I was studying" she said "my little Einstein" her mom responded with a slight smile on her face while hugging her a bit tighter few seconds into the hug, Emily's mom cuts the embrace and proceeds to hold her face gently "you should go to bed now darling you have school" her mother said and kissed her forehead. Emily stares at her mothers face for a moment, thinking of words to say but her expression was rather discouraging, it seemed her mother didn't want to speak about it, Emily gave a sad sigh before standing up to exit the room. On reaching the door, she halts then turns to her mom "I love you mom" she said with a smile of reassurance on her face. "I love you more, you are my life" Emily's mom replied to her with a soft smile on her face "now go get some sleep" her mom added. Emily nods and rushes upstairs to her room. She grabs her phone to check the time, it was already 12:00am . She then sets an alarm on her phone for 6:00am "I have approximately 6 hours to sleep" she said to herself, then puts her phone by her bedside drawer before laying down to sleep. She shuts her eyes and within seconds she was fast asleep.