The-Wrong-Bride-Ares--Raven’s-story-(Maura,-Catharina)_bibis

I frown at her, confused. Mom has never so much as given me any indication that she was aware
of the favoritism, the way she and Dad both ostracized me.
She cups my cheek and nods. “I knew,” she tells me. “Of course I knew how you felt. It’s just that
Dad and I felt so guilty toward your sister. She was so sick as a child that she spent years at home,
missing school and opportunities to make friends, to just be a kid. I’m sorry, Raven. Perhaps my
words mean nothing to you, but I wanted to say it nonetheless. Today, more so than usual, the distance
between us pains me. I wish you and I could have been like any mother and daughter the morning
before the wedding. I wish that, despite the circumstances, I could’ve been the one you turn to. My
eyes are open now, Raven. I see what I’ve done, what my actions have turned your sister into.”
My eyes fill with tears that I blink away rapidly, and I nod briefly, unsure of what to say. Out of
everything I expected my mother to say today, this wasn’t it.
Mom grabs my shoulders and smiles at me. “Come on,” she says. “Dad is waiting for you just
outside the door.”
I nod and follow her out, my heart uneasy. Once I walk down that aisle, there’s no going back. I
pray with all my heart that I don’t come to regret this.