Breaking Point

Chapter twenty four

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"You can take your 'I'm Okay' hat off now. 
It's just me. 
Fall apart.
I'm not going anywhere." - Erin van Vuren

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♚ Álvaro ♚

Santiago is getting on my nerves. What's so hard about taking another seat at the table. And I didn't miss the edge in his voice when he turned to talk to Maya.

What the hell is wrong with him?

She's been with us for two weeks, she's finally getting out of her shell more and more and he is just making it very difficult to be nice to him. 

He may be my brother but when it comes to it, I choose any and every single one of my babies over the rest of this family. 

Halfway through dinner, I'm in conversation with Antonio about the business and some opportunities when I overhear Santiago talking to his wife, Manuela, who's sitting next to him.

"I just don't get why she's here, it's not like Álvaro knows how to take care of a girl." Right before I am ready to kick this bitch out of my home Manuela interrupts. 

"Santiago, stop being such a pain in the ass. She's here with her family, exactely where she is supposed to be. Where she was supposed to be the last 16 years. So quit your bickering before I take the car so you can walk your sorry ass home yourself." 

Damn, I knew things weren't going great in their marriage but this sounds like she is really ready to leave him. If she decides to, I would gladly give her a place to stay.

Santiago has always been a pain in my ass.  

If he says one bad word about mi pequeña amore, I will kick him out of this house so hard he won't be able to sit down for three weeks.

The rest of dinner I just talked to Antonio, Manuela, Sierra and Azura. Purposefully leaving Santiago out of the conversation.

When everyone is finished but still talking, I stand up and walk to the other side of the table where the children are sitting, straight to mi amore. 

When I get there I touch her shoulder softly, not wanting to scare her, but she still flinches a little. "Sorry, mi amore. You can go on your walk if you want. We will just stay here and talk a little more but you don't have to stay." 

She looks up at me and smiles a little, but it doesn't reach her eyes.
Something made mi pequeña amore sad and when I find out what, it won't exist for much longer. 

💫 Maya 💫

I think dad noticed me flinch last night during dinner, he wants to talk to me before I go to school. 

Today's the 20th, my birthday. I am officially 17 now and no one knows. After yesterday, I really don't feel like talking or communicating with people so I just keep my head down and keep quiet. 

Since there are a lot of people in the house, they don't really have time for me or even notice me so falling to the background is really easy. 

Entering dad's study he asks me to sit down infront of the desk again. "Mi amore, what's wrong? You seem off since yesterday." 

I just shrug, hoping he won't question it further. "Maya, can you use your words please?" I shake my head. "Can you write it down?" Shake my head again.