My Enemy’s Daughter

AMELIA LEAL

I blink over and over, trying to digest what Mom just said. Her eyes stare at me warily and I need to take a few steps away to deal with the full load of the revelations she’s just made.

“How long have you been together?” Her eyes fill with tears and her head starts to shake from side to side in denial.

“Please don’t look at me like that. I don’t deserve that judgmental look, Amelia. His words are tainted by tears, almost making them inaudible.

I lower my head, unable to look into his eyes for more than three seconds.

I didn’t want to judge. I love her with all my strength, mom is my heroine and my mirror, but I can’t deny that I’m stunned, full of prejudices.Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

“Just answer me, please.” She sobs, no longer holding back the tears and my body shudders with guilt.

“It was at a conference a few months ago, you know how engaged I am in the social services that your father’s party provides, but I do it out of love, because I feel like a better person helping others, I guarantee I have no ulterior motives. However, your father’s marketing uses my image to promote Augusto’s reelection and this has saturated me, the media has been speculating about the veracity of my actions and this has made me sad, but your father doesn’t care.” It says. I lift my head and meet her red eyes, showing her words are true.

But, she’s stalling and I need to know.

I take a deep breath, sitting on my bed and feeling my stomach turn. I draw air into my lungs, struggling to maintain direct contact with her.

“Please, Mom. Go straight to the point.” My voice comes out cold, very different from what I’d like to go through and she performs. I can see the disappointment on your face.

“I need to tell you how it all happened, you need to see the whole context to understand and forgive me.

I nod, wishing deep inside I didn’t hear anything else.

“Well, I decided to ignore everything and everyone and drown myself in these humanitarian actions with body and soul.”

“Is that why you’ve been spending so much time away from home?” I ask, feeling my eyes sting as I realize that she’s included me in her statistic, I’m part of everything and everyone.

She looks away and rubs her hands on her dark dress pants, letting out a breath as she turns back to face me.

“Yea.” I feel my mouth go dry as I try to swallow some saliva, doing my best not to leave the room. Run away from what she still has to talk about. She hasn’t cared about me all this time either.

“I know it’s not easy for you to hear that, despite everything, Augusto is your father and no son wants to hear that his mother committed treason.” His words become sharp knives and cause pain throughout my body.

“Please mother.” I beg, unable to stay still in one place.

“The conference was about the lack of investment in public health, your father was supposed to be there, but he sent me. I didn’t know that Ezequiel had become a doctor and I never imagined meeting him after so many years.” I frown at the way she talks about her lover.

“Did you already know each other?” I ask.

She hesitates for a moment, but nods when she realizes it’s time to tell me everything.

“We were engaged when I went to work at your father’s company, he wasn’t studying medicine at the time, but he had a huge heart and plenty of intelligence to conquer a prosperous future, but he didn’t have ambition, unlike mine.” Her voice drops at the end of the sentence, like she’s embarrassed.

Groom?

I knew my mother came from humble beginnings and I met Dad through his work as a secretary and I know that her heart belonged to someone else at the time. However, I didn’t know she was engaged when she met my father. Then a thought pops into my head and I can’t help the desire that fills me.

“Were you engaged to him when you started dating Dad?”

She wipes a tear that runs down her face and corrects her posture.

“Your father was a handsome and powerful man, I was blown away. He was always surrounding me with gifts and dinner invitations, my reality was completely different and gradually gave in. I figured there would be nothing wrong with going to dinner with my boss or accepting a pair of earrings, after all I should look presentable to work alongside a powerful man. However, Ezekiel didn’t see it that way when he found out about the expensive gifts and broke up, leaving me devastated. Your father noticed my fragility and invested heavily, I ended up giving in with time. I know I was no saint and I accept my guilt, I was greedy and wanted the best of both worlds.” She confesses, having her eyes fill with tears again.

I grimace, remembering every joke Aurora has made throughout my life about Mom.

“She was right.” I mumble, feeling the tears run down my face. And suddenly I feel extremely suffocated.

“Who?” Mom asks, trying to get closer.

I reach out, informing him that I need space.

“All this time.” Aurora was right. You slept with Augusto while her mother was sick on a bed. The words burn in my mouth.

Mom shakes her head, looking at me in disbelief. But I’m numb and I can’t feel anything, neither repudiation nor empathy.

“No. I didn’t go to bed with your father until a month after Magdalena died. I would never do that.”

Snort, laughing bitterly. Unable to believe your words.

“Amelia, I demand respect! He snarls, using a tone three”eighths higher than the previous one.” Shaping his posture to something rigid, his eyes looking at me serious, filled with regret.

However, I can’t stop laughing or crying. I dedicated my life to making her happy, I fought so many times for her and nothing was real, all this time…

All those people were right.

“They were right, you’re a bitch. The words come out as a single thought, reverberating throughout the room until it has its effect. The shock of his hand on my face comes seconds later, not causing as much as his revelations.