Bound By Her Bump novel Chapter 33

Evelyn Ivan-James sighed as she pulled up in her second daughter's driveway. She had come to see Lucia. She received a letter from Lucia's College. It was a mail of concern. She was told Lucia had not been attending classes for almost two months and she did not show up for her test and exam. The head of school was concerned because Lucia was known for her academic excellence. They tried to get in touch with Lucia but they did not succeed so they sent a letter to her parents wanting to know if everything was okay.

Evelyn was the first to see the mail. She read it then showed Austin. But Austin didn't seem affected by what he read. Clearly, he was still angry at Lucia.

Evelyn begged her husband to accompany her to go talk to Lucia in her apartment but he declined, saying he had things to do instead of going to talk to Lucia because he was certain she was never going to change.

Evelyn reached for her handbag and got down from her car. She made her way to the entrance of Lucia's apartment. It was a bungalow apartment, two bedrooms, one bathroom, Kitchen and a not so big living room.

Evelyn wanted to respect Lucia's privacy, even though she had the key to her apartment, she decided to ring the doorbell but after standing there for almost three minutes without Lucia opening up, She used her key to open the door. She had insisted on having a spare key when she and her husband got the apartment for Lucia.

Evelyn walked into the living room and found her daughter on the sofa with a blanket over her body. Her hair was in very bad shape and even her eyes were puffy and red from crying.

She sat up when she saw her mom approach her. To say she was surprised was an understatement. She never expected any of her family members to come to look for her. Not after what she had done. She was expecting the person knocking on her door to be one of her colleagues from school that was why she refused to open up.

"Morning Mom." She greeted and at the same time avoided looking into her mother's eyes.

The last time she spoke to her mother was when Evelyn called her, telling her how disappointed she was. Evelyn had even said some hurtful words to her. After breaking the news that Annie lost her baby, Eve told her she regretted giving birth to her and that all she had always done was to bring sorrow and shame to the family.

Since then, Lucia has stayed away from everyone. None of her family members got in touch with her. Eric was the last person to call her, he told her how cruel she was and declared that he no longer considers her as a sister so she should stay far away from him.

Austin, her Dad cut her off. He stopped sending her weekly allowances. He only paid her tuition fees and her rent. Even Eric stopped sending her allowance.

It was only her mom who sent money to her bank account once every two weeks.

Evelyn placed her handbag on a table and took a seat beside Lucia. Then she did what Lucia never expected. She pulled Lucia into a hug and then Lucia sobbed uncontrollably.

"I'm so sorry Mom. Please forgive me." She said repeatedly as she cried in her mother's chest.

It took a while for Evelyn to calm her down. She passed some tissue to Lucia to wipe her tears which she did.

"Why haven't you been attending classes? You didn't sit for your exams too."

"I don't feel at peace with myself. If I attend a class I wouldn't concentrate. Even though I ended up not going for classes, I tried studying to take the exam but I couldn't make any sense out of what I was reading. My life is just a mess." She cried.

Evelyn took her daughter's hand in hers and that was when she noticed a wound on her left hand which was bandaged. Lucia intentionally cut herself with a broken bottle.

"I feel you have something to tell me." Evelyn encouraged her to let it all out. And then she started.

"I thought if I worked harder in my academics and maybe became the best student, you and Dad would notice me but that didn't work either. Instead, you guys sent me off to a boarding school so you could spend more time with Eric, Elaina and Laura"

"You're wrong, my child. When you were in grade 5, you were so quiet, independent; you were your own person wanting to do things your way. You were never the type that loved mingling so your dad and I thought sending you to a boarding school would change your mindset and let you learn how to mix with your peers. Trust me, Lucia, letting you go to a boarding school at that young age was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made in my life."

"Instead you turned wild and that was what made us withdraw you from boarding school," Evelyn said hoping her daughter would understand things from her point of view.

It was true Lucia turned wild when she was enrolled in boarding school. Since her intelligence couldn't get her her parents love and attention, she decided to be the stubborn kid who never stayed away from trouble.

"Well, that was not how I felt. Eric and Elaina never went to a boarding school so I felt I was sent away so you and Dad could spend more time with them. That was how I chose my lifestyle but I didn't stop working hard whenever it came to my school work because I loved being top in class. Even though you, Dad, Eric and Elaina never celebrated me for that I was okay with the recognition I was given in school and representing my school for competitions gave me so much joy."

"Oh, Lucia," Evelyn Cried. "You could have talked to me about it, I never knew you were going through a lot, my love. Please forgive me; I'm your mother, I should have known. I'm so sorry my child."

"Then, Annie came into the picture. Y'all loved her so much that it drove me crazy. She became the family's favourite and I, on the other hand, was completely forgotten. I know how I treated her was wrong but it was out of desperation." She cried harder.

"You see, Your Dad and I did not plan on having any more kids after you. But it happened, I got pregnant with Laura and we decided to keep it. After Laura's birth I tried combining things; Taking care of a newborn, being a good mother to you and your siblings, a good wife to your father, taking care of the house and at the same time heading the fashion house. But it seemed I didn't do my best. I failed you and I'm sorry. I should have known from the way you never had a close or good relationship with your siblings. I should have known better, my love, Please forgive me." She cried and pulled Lucia in for a hug.

"I'm sorry Mama. Please forgive me too." Lucia cried in her mother's chest.