Tihana walked into her father's house and meet her stepmother and Emma sitting down, eating chicken and watching a movie while laughing endlessly that they didn't even notice Tihana walk in.
"Mother" she called slowly and they both turn to look at her.
"The princess is finally home." Emma laughs and her mother joined her.
Tihana swallowed and walk away, making her way towards Emma's room.
Actually, when her father is home, She and Emma sleeps together just to make her father believe things are going well whileas it isn't.
So Tihana already know where she's supposed to go. She's a little excited to meet her father.
But she's sad that she have to keep lying to her father about what's happening at home. Tihana sigh, maybe she should just tell her father that she have been suffering all these while.
If she doesn't have Diana by her side, where could she have been? Probably in the street where her stepmother have always wanted her to be.
"Hey Tihana, you better go do the dishes before Dad gets home. You'd be the one to suffer after he leaves" Emma told her leaning by the door.
Tihana eyed her but didn't say a word. This is her junior, talking to her like she is just nothing but a maid in her father's house.
"I'll go do that right away."
"That'd be amazing" Emma giggled and walked away.
Tihana changed her wears and stood up as she walked into the kitchen to wash the plate, but then she noticed something that stopped her from doing what she came in to do.
Her mother's pictures in the trash can!
These are some of her mother's picture that she have, Not even her father knows that such pictures exists because he don't care.
She have left it in the balcony where she always leaves her bag, but coming back to see them inside the trash can?
Those are the only pictures of her mother that she has, and she always put it in the middle of her diary.
She knows for sure that her stepmother did it. She couldn't even pay her respect to the dead?
Picking out the pictures, Tihana realizes they are all drained and wet and so she walks out of the kitchen furiously.
"Seriously! Why would you guys do such inhumane act to my mother's pictures!" She yells, trying to hold back the tears already crowding up in her eyes..
"What's wrong with you Tihana? Why are you yelling at me again! I told you I'm too tired to do the dishes, why don't you just help me out in anything? You leave me to do every single thing and all you do is just yell at me! " Emma told her In an almost calm voice that Tihana didn't even recognize.
"What are you saying?" Tihana asked, taken aback by her stepsister's sudden outburst, which was way out of line.
"Is this how you treat them Tihana!?" She looked up to meet her father, standing there and looking right at her!
That was when Tihana realizes, that everything was nothing but an act.
"Father" Tihana called out slowly.
She nervously looks at her stepmother and Emma who was already standing behind her father and making faces at her.
"You are just like your mother, unable to please. How can you allow your junior to do everything in the house and you still yells at her?"
"Father, I didn't do no such thing" she cries.
It breaks her heart that her father have no atom of trust in her and don't always fail to remind her that she's just like her mother when it comes to bad character.
"You don't have to lie about this ,dear. Why don't you just tell your father how you've been telling us, and that you wish we'd just end up in the street?" Her stepmother said, fondling her hand.
Tihana scoff in disbelief. "Why are you doing this?! How can you tell lies on me like that!"
"My mother is not lying, look here father.." Emma said, raising her shirt a little up to show her father a mark on her stomach.
"Tihana you gave me this mark yesterday because I refused to get you water , I told you I was tired but you don't want to hear it" Emma accused her.
Tihana couldn't control the tears already rolling down her cheeks as she look at her father, helplessly. Begging him with her eyes to believe her.
"I shouldn't have considered taking you in after finding out you are not even my daughter!" Her father suddenly said and the room went silent.
Tihana felt her world threatening to crumble as everything went silent for a while until she heard her stepmother's voice.
"She's not your daughter? What are you saying honey?"
"Yes you heard it. She's not my biological daughter, her mother cheated and get pregnant with her."
"That's a lie father. You are my father, how can you say such things about my mother, your wife!" Tihana cried helplessly.
She's starting to feel weak that she don't think her leg will be able to carry her longer.
"All these years, I have tried my best to believe you are actually my daughter. But you are just nothing like me and only a pain to me! Do you even know how much I disgust the sight of you?!"
Tihana take one step backward and held onto a chair for support as she tries to look directly into the eyes of the man she have always called father.
He's lying.
"Wow! So we ain't even blood related? We ain't even sisters? " Emma said and giggled and their father sighed.
He pulls out a chair to sit down as he have been standing since he came back. His wife pulls out another chair to sit next to him.
Trying to find favour in the hands of her husband, she asked in a fake tone of worry.
"Honey, you're probably stressed out from work and saying things. C'mon, there's no way Tihana is not your daughter. " She turned to Tihana who was just staring blinky at them.
"Tihana, your father is just joking. Don't take his words to heart" she said, gritting her teeth.
"Stop it Rebecca!" Emma's father shouts, throwing a file at the table.
"I finally took up the courage to do a DNA test and it proves that I'm not your freaking father! Your mother had an affair with her manager which leads to her getting pregnant with you. I have wanted to believe you were my daughter and didn't have any courage to do this until last week"
Emma slowly walk forward and pick up the file, she torn it open and bring out a paper. Her stepmother stood up to look into the paper with her.
"Wow, it's true Tihana. Look! My father is not your father, we are not family" Emma said with a tune of mockery giving the paper to Tihana who collected it.
Ofcourse she looked into the paper and this time, her world crumbles right before her.
Rebecca approaches her stepdaughter and hugs her , faking a sob.
She whispers into her ear so her husband won't hear what she says. "That's right, now you can leave and won't have any more reason to come back here"
Emma's father didn't say another word as he just leans on the chair. He have taken up so much courage to do what she did today.
Ofcourse he also cheated. But that was out of being petty. He still loves Tihana's mother so much, when he finds out that she cheated and the time he finds out, Tihana is just a year old.
Broken, the old man have gotten his self drunk which leads to him having an affair with Rebecca too, which turns to her getting pregnant with Emma.
When Tihana's mother died in that ghostly car accident, He couldn't think of himself staying without a wife while he have a baby Mama outside.
So he just went ahead to marry Rebecca, because she have his baby too.
All these years, he have been scared of finding out that the affair of her late wife would cost him not having Tihana as his first daughter.
And a week back, his fears have been confirmed. And to see Tihana treating his real family that way made him hates her at once.
He transferred all the hate he have for whoever her father turns out to be, to her.
"I want you to leave my house Tihana. I don't want to ever see you again."
This time, Tihana looks up at her father in tears. "You are really my father, I know you as one. Don't do this! My mother didn't cheat on you"
"Are you saying the DNA result is a lie?" Rebecca asked her smiling.
"This is what you wanted, isn't it? To see me get out of your sight forever! Why don't you tell him how you treat me ? Why don't you tell him that everything you guys said is the complete opposite!" Tihana yells in tears.
Rebecca coughed nervously as her husband looked at her. "What is she saying?"
"Honey don't mind her! Here she goes again, trying to lie against me and my daughter." Rebecca said pulling Emma closer to herself.
"This" Tihana cried, showing her the wet pictures of her mother.
"You guys did this right? You soaked my mother's picture in the water and left it in the dust bin! Do you guys really hate me this much?"
"I saw you do this earlier Tihana. Please stop lying" Emma told her and Tihana laughs sadly.
"I did this? Why would I soak my own mother's picture just to blame you?!" This time, Tihana was yelling and her voice was loud that Emma's father have to stand up from his chair.
"Enough of this act young lady! Just get out of here this minute" he yells and sigh.
Looking at her one more time, he walks away, walking pass her. Tihana hold his trouser as he stops and look at her.
"Father." Tihana called slowly.
"Geezzz, let go of him. He just told you he's not your father" Rebecca said and slap Tihana's hand off.
Tihana watched this man who have become a total stranger to her now,as he walks away.
Emma and her mother chuckles. "I feel glad to hear this news" Rebecca confess.
Not saying a word, Tihana holding onto her mother's picture and the DNA result, she walks out of the house.
"Don't come back!" Emma yells after her.
It was raining outside but Tihana didn't even care, or maybe she didn't even notice.
She walks like a zombie, into the rain... In tears.
How can she ever imagined her life to crumble like that in front of her? Everything she was made to believe had been a lie.
"Mother, you never told me about any of these" She mutters in tears.
Tihana stopped walking and look back at her family house, which is now a strange house to her. Without another thought, She starts walking down the street to board a car to Diana's apartment.
She doesn't care if she catches cold because of the rain or something, she just need someone to confide on. Same time she wanted to be alone.
