Dropping The Crown

Chapter 51: Acceptance

Adani's POV

The world felt still as my mind tried to piece things and everything together.

"Please excuse me," I said and got up from the table. I made my way to the outdoor patio by the pool.

"Adani, are you alright?" Ricardo asked following after me.

"This is all too much. I thought I knew all there is to know about my mom. Turns out she has a whole other child she never once spoke about. That information didn't even slip from her mouth, not once, until now!" I voiced.

"I know it's.."

"No. No, you don't know. How cold-hearted can a mother be to just bury that knowledge, wasn't it playing on her conscience?"

"I'm not proud of what I did, Adani," came my mother's voice. She stepped up to the patio.

"What did you do?" I questioned.

"I gave her up for adoption," mom answered, "I made certain she was given to a great family and they were able to provide for her in the ways I couldn't."

"You kept me and gave up my sister."

"I wasn't in a position to take care of you both. I wasn't financially and mentally stable for take care of two babies at the same time. I had nothing and no one."

"But you kept me."

"Because you.."

"What?"

"Adani, you were sick. You had countless seizures as a baby. Each one worse than the one before. It was best for you to remain in my care so I kept you. As you grew, the seizures subsided but you would have panic attacks, similar like earlier in the dinning room."

"You kept me out of pity, was your plan to give me up for adoption too?"

"No. I wanted to keep one of you, and I kept you."

I scoffed.

"Adani, if it's my place, I think your mom did what was best for her and you and your sister. Instead of providing an inadequate lifestyle for her children, she made one of the toughest decisions a parent, a mom, has to do," Ricardo consoled.

"Why you never told me?" I asked her next.

"I didn't know how to tell you. Not a day goes by and I don't think about her and what she's doing."

"Did you keep in touch with her so-called parents, at least?"

"Don't do that, Adani, but yes, I did. Until she became eighteen, went off to college and didn't return back to the family."

"And that didn't spark an urge to try to find her? They probably treated her like shit and she couldn't wait to get away from them!"

"We'll find her, Adani," mom said. She took me in for an embrace and I allowed it.

~
After returning indoors, everyone else were waiting at the entrance.

"Ricardo, thank you for dinner," Derick said.

"I thought we were going to celebrate something," Mrs. Parriston said, "But I can understand why the mood was wreck," she finished with her eyes in my direction.

"Actually, I can still make my announcement," Ricardo answered and he turned towards me. He kissed my forehead then got down on one knee.

OMG! OMG! IS HE DOING WHAT I THINK HE'S DOING?

He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small jewelry box. He popped it open.

"Adani Prime," he started, "The moment you stepped into my office, you ignited a flame in me. Just daydreaming about your smile makes me happy. I never thought something so simple was all I needed. That's when it dawned on me that I love you. I'm in love with you and I don't want another day to go by having to refer to you as 'my girlfriend'. I want you to be my fianceé, then my wife. Will you marry me?"