Chapter 88

Linda's POV 

Peace was a thing I could only dream of. It felt like a distant dream. 

I had a hunch things were falling apart piece by piece, the constant calls Mark was on, and visits from the police only solidified my suspicions. 

I thought Mike's case was done with. It was a clear case of suicide.

 "Chase, please." I begged on call. "I don't see why I have to do all this pleading to know what's going on, under my own roof!" I exclaimed, I was so fucking stressed. 

 "Today's prom, Linda. I just wanna attend and be happy like every other normal young adult." He replied. His voice was hoarse, and heavy. 

 "You and I know you're going nowhere near that school, Chase." I said, discrediting his excuse. "Your ex just died, it's okay to take some time off." I added. 

 "Not when I have a relationship to fix." He said, obstinately. 

 "Emma's not going to prom, we both know that. She's been down, refuses to come out of her room. Besides, I think it's time you let go. We've both gotten what we needed out of it. You can call it quits. It's a very good time too." I said. I could not stand seeing my baby play further. 

 "You really think that's what it's been?" Chase asked. 

 "Have you slept?" I deflected. "You left here really sleep deprived, you should try resting your head, but not before you tell me everything you know." I added that very important bit of information. 

 "You're trying to deflect." He said. 

 "You're the one who doesn't want to understand. Chase, I see the end of this movie, and it doesn't look good. This life, or whatever we call it, let's please just skip to that part where you tell me what's up, really." I pleaded. 

 "You're just being paranoid." Chase replied. 

 "Don't make me sound crazy! You know I know what I'm talking about. Chase, the fact that we were questioned separately doesn't mean I don't know something is up. You said you were gonna handle it. The only thing the case had done was blow up worse than it was. It's becoming a national issue, Chase." I pleaded with him. 

I wondered how one could be so stubborn. 

 "You're really just overthinking." He said, after a moment's pause. 

 "I'm not!" I yelled over the phone. "What was that midnight convo with your dad about? I hate to be a busybody, but if you choose to make me one I promise to dance to the music. It's my husband we're talking about, Chase." I begged. "And my daughter." I added. 

 "Emma's safe." He reiterated. "I've made sure of that." 

 "You keep saying that. What about the rest of us? Safe from what too? The police?" I asked. 

I was in a pool, whose water felt foreign. I had spent the last six months pretending I was afloat, when really, I was sinking. 

 "Nothing's gonna change, Linda. You have to stop worrying so much." He said. Everytime he said it, it just hurt so much cause I didn't even know what to make of anything. "You should live more, go on vacations maybe." 

 "Oh, Chase! I'd so fucking love to do that, but guess what? Your dad has been invited over by the police." I broke the news to him. 

I heard him release his breath. 

 "If there's something I should know, please say. I can't watch my family crumble." I begged, still stalling, what I had next at the tip of my tongue wasn't my first choice. 

 "Linda, I think I'm gonna have to wish you a very nice rest of the day at this point. Play your cards right, and you'd be just fine. Please just wipe your eyes and stop this crying." He said. 

 "Chase, would you keep stuff to yourself if I was your mom?" I asked. 

The line went dead, just as I expected. Lately, he's been acting so rude. I don't know what someone told him, but I missed the old him. I was married, into all that father and son conflict bullshit. 

My shoulders slumped, and I had to rest my head in my hands for a bit. 

My forehead was so warm from overthinking. 

I had to see Emma. I needed something to distract myself from what was going on. 

I threw my phone on the bed and left for her room. 

I knew better than to knock and wait for a response. 

Emma and Lily had planned so hard for the prom, I had to turn away their make-up artist earlier in the morning, cancel the limo ride they had booked, and a host of other things. 

 "Hey baby." I said, entering her dingy room. 

It was poorly lit, and really, the aesthetic of the room was beginning to match Emma's mood. 

 "You should've knocked." She said, 

I couldn't recognise my daughter's voice well anymore. 

She turned to look at me. Her eyes were sunken, and white,, sharply contrasting to heavy dark rings around them. 

Her lips were bitten all over, and her pillow had dried tear marks. 

 "I didn't even cry this hard when your dad died, Emma." I said, shocked at how much damage she had done to herself. 

 "Maybe you never loved him much." She said, 

 "He broke me first, Emma." I defended myself. 

 "I don't care." She said, returning to her former position. 

 "Shit don't always go our way, Emma." I started. "Lily's dad is cancer free, as of now, why not let us be happy about that?" I asked. 

 "I'm not friends with her dad, Mom." She shot at me. "Or are you?" She asked,sharply. 

 "Why would you even think that?" I asked, infusing so much mirth. 

 "One other thing I'm thinking is why you're here." Her voice was gentle and cracked, but it still carried the amount of sarcasm enough for me to recoil. 

I really had never seen her so down. 

I was beginning to get scared, but still too ashamed to ask how the visit to the doctors went after leaving her there all by herself. 

 "Emma, you've got to do something, live. Lily would want that." I said. 

 "I'd want you out of my room." She replied immediately. 

It stung me deeper and deeper how much she had begun to loathe my presence. 

 "Emma, I want to be there for you." I said, breaking into tears. 

 "Get out!" She screamed so hard, she started coughing. 

I did the walk of shame out of my teenage daughter's room, feeling like a failed parent. 

I had no control over anything and anyone. 

Things were no more revolving around me and I seemed like the pointless extra in everyone's life. 

There, right in front of her door, I broke down in tears.. 

I missed what we used to be in Starry. I hated that it had been snatched away from us. 

But neither of us had any choice. We were snatched out of our little lives and plunged into the chaotic paradise of rich people. 

The sobs racked my body so hard, I felt I was gonna pass out. 

Mark's warm embrace enveloped me a few minutes after. 

I wasn't expecting him home anytime soon.. 

I had the worst imagination, seeing him escorted out of the house earlier in the morning. 

 "How did it go?" I asked, raising my eyes to meet him. 

 "Don't do that." He cautioned, hugging me from behind. "We're gonna talk about why my queen's like this first." 

 "Don't mind me." I said, brushing it off. I was determined not to lose another opportunity to know more about what was going on. "Tell me what happened." 

 "Let's go." He said, helping me up.

With my heavy heart, and flooded eyes, he pulled me closer to his side, and led me to his room. 

 "What's going on, Mark?" I asked. I was done being relegated. 

 "I can't tell you all, Linda. You're just gonna have to trust me." Mark pulled my chin up, and my face was only a hair's breadth away from his, where I was seated on his head, and he bent over me. 

 "And what happens when that fails?" I asked, tearing up after 

 "It won't." He hugged me. "I swear, it won't." He added. 

 "Is there something you wanna tell me, Mark?" I asked him. 

 "Nothing you do not already know." He said. "I love you, Linda." Mark kissed my head. 

I could get used to breathing in his mint tinged exhale all day.