Chapter Six: Things are not always what they seem

The house of Stone.

You could say that they are quite popular and very wealthy and appear to be the perfect family but they are far from that.

There is always some reason why those 'too perfect or the too good to be true families or people always have a secret that they tend to hide from the world and this happens to be one of Angela Stone's secret.

There a whole lot of reasons why she despises her family although a lot of kids her age envy her because of them being rich but little did they know that she'd happily trade places with them.

Growing up has been quite a lot, for the things she had seen with her eyes shouldn't have been seen by someone so young.

It all started after her 7th birthday, the day she would never forget. She was all very happy and dolled up to celebrate the occasion. She was never close to her mother because she was a little harsh on her or so she thought, so she was more the daddy's girl.

She was told to stay in her room by her mother until she comes get her before the party would begin.

She didn't want to obey her mother but she didn't want to upset her today so she remained calm until her mother was out of sight then she sneaked out of her room towards her fathers room to show him one of the bracelets that she got as a gift from one of their families numerous friends. That was until she heard her mother's pained voice coming from her father's room, that was a first as her mother always had this calm composure and never raised her voice. She decided to go further to have a better look as the door was slightly ajar, so she could see the people inside.

She only recognized her mother and her father, who for some odd reason was half dressed and the strange woman who was hiding beside him had the bed sheet draped on her.

"Eugene, what is the meaning of this?" her mother asked with pain and anger evident in her voice.

"I told you countless times to knock before entering my room Helen, but you are just stupid enough to barge in on me during my leisure time" was all her father could say and this hurt her mother as tears streamed down her eyes.

"I know what you have been doing, Eugene. I know all about it. The affairs. Everything Eugene!!!" her mother yelled which caused Angela to flinch but her father remained unfazed.

"I remained quiet because of our daughter. I was ready to bear the shame and the pain you brought upon us and this family. But you still choose to bring this low-life cheap whore into our home" she said glaring at the other woman in the room.

"I am a man and it is in our nature to have affairs and multiple love interests and she is not a low-life cheap whore her name is Emma" her father defended the woman hiding behind him whose name turned out to be Emma.

" Oh, that's rich" her mother laughed

"I stopped caring about who or whatever you go around to sleep with a long time ago Eugene. But you couldn't even hold yourself and have some dignity and you had to bring her to our home. Being well aware that our daughter might come in since she is very fond of you and you couldn't even careless that today is her birthday" her mother said.

"Did you know she could have been the one to see the both of you in this room, soiling our matrimonial bed and dragging our family name to the mud? Because she was so excited to show her dear father one of the gifts she received today, not knowing that her father is a dog with no control over his sexual drive" after she finished speaking the last word, a thundering slap was landed on her mother's face by her beloved father.

"You stupid bitch. How dare you speak to me this way?!!!" her father said at the top of his voice.

But with her mother not reacting to the slap, it only meant that it was not the first time she had been hit by her father.

Her mother just smiled and touched the place that had just been slapped and felt marks on her face but she remained unfazed. This was the reason why her mother always had very weird bruises on her body and here she was thinking that her mother was just clumsy.

This also explains the long-sleeved dresses and clothes, they were all to hide the marks and bruises from beatings she received from her father.

Angela was heartbroken for her mother whom she had misunderstood all this while, she was just trying to protect her.

"I wonder how you would have felt if I did the same thing you do Eugene" her mother said trying to mask the pain that she is in.

"What the fuck do you mean Helen?" her father asked.

Her mother simply shrugged her shoulders and said.

"I don't know, perhaps I should start seeing other men don't you think?" which was more of a statement than a question directed towards her father.

"What's the matter? You do not like the idea?" she said smiling.

"Why you little bitch" he said with gritted teeth as he hit her again so hard that she fell to the floor. This caused Angela to gasp but she covered her mouth to avoid being heard.

Her mother laughed while still on the floor.

"If you do not want me to give you a taste of your own medicine, I suggest you have all your affairs out of this household and never bring any of your whores to this house. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes" was all he could say.

"I almost forgot; I do not want to see her here ever again" she said referring to Emma

Her mother nodded and picked up herself from the ground and was about to open the door. Angela ran back to her room to avoid being seen by the mother.

Her mother didn't come straight to her room but went to the powder room to apply make-up to cover up the marks and also applied eye drops to clear up her eyes, she arranged her dress and hair to perfection before heading to her Angela's room.

If Angela had not seen what she saw a couple minutes ago she would have thought that her mother just made her stay in her room for nothing.

"That's my little angel, don't worry daddy will be here soon he has somethings he had to take care of, okay?" she said while patting her head and her heart broke for her mother.

She could only nod then hugged her mother who was taken aback by the sudden action but she hugged her back too.

That was when she decided that no man would ever hurt her and closed her heart to love.