Author's note:
Hey Everyone, I am back after my long hiatus. I really needed it cause of my loss of motivation for writing and busy academic schedule. It was so tiring for me. Hope you all are doing great and are good at health.
For my "Riddle's Black" lovers I will be posting content again. Will try to spend more time of my thoughts for you all. Updates might be slow but I will try to finish this story that I started for you all. Till then here you go, enjoy this chapter and share your thoughts with me.
I m so thankful for your guys patience and consistent appreciation for my content. Besides me updating you all late. My timetable has been busy a lot recently. Again love you all sweethearts. Enjoy the chapter ♡
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Happy reading ♡
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Isabella bid farewell to her friends and went towards her family. where she sees her mother pecking Zack's face and him getting embarrassed because of it as he whispers and yells, "Leave me, ahh please. Everyone's watching," but she continues to hug his son close. Wayne was also whining as he wanted the treats Zack had bought for him. Amy and her father were standing on the sidelines, observing the whole trio's drama.
There comes Isabella's turn—the thing she was most insecure about. She slowly approaches the group, fiddling with the backpack she is wearing. Her inner voice started to speak as she was moving towards them, "How will they call me? Like Zack? It's all lovey-dovey for him. kissing him all over the face. not letting him go. I guess she will probably ignore me. Yes, I know she will ignore me. But what if? I am her daughter too. Back after a whole year, also injured, will she hug me too? I want to..."
With that, she says, "Hi," eyeing her mother specifically. Her look of hope didn't go unnoticed by her father and Amy. Her father glances towards her mother to see her actions.
Her mother sharply inhales, glares at her for a while, then rolls her eyes, causing a shiver to pass down Isabella's spine. She momentarily looks at Zack and Wayne, who were passing scowls towards Isabella. She strokes Zack's upper arms before passing them as she moves towards Isabella. Isabella's breath is getting heavier with each step. She can feel tears brimming around her eyes, so she closes her eyes tight as she thinks, "Yes, mom is coming. She will hug me. properly, similar to the start of my first year. Yes, finally, it's happening. I will hug her tight. I will tell her—" Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt a light pat on her shoulder, bringing her back from her imagination.
"Welcome back home, Isabella," her mother's word hit her like a knife as she opened her eyes to examine her mother's face closely. But much to her dismay, she has already marched towards her son.
Her father gets astonished at her mother's behaviour and also pumps in anger at her ignorance of her own child. He couldn't bear the broken look on Isabella's face. He and Amy exchanged sad and angry glances towards the trio that was moving towards the exit of the station. before hurriedly rushing towards Isabella.
"Isabella, my love,"
"Slytherin sista"
Both her father and Amy run in her direction in order to cheer her up.
Isabella, whereas she stood there like a statue, as her sister and father hugged her close. "We missed you lots," says her father, still hugging her. "Yes, me too; I was so bored alone," Amy whines.
But all Isabella could do was chuckle sadly as the hot tears finally left her eyes. She sniffles before saying, in a sad yet amused tone, "Missed me?" and chuckling sadly.
Her father was the first one to break the hug as he cupped her cheeks, kissed all over her, and stated, staring deeply into her eyes, "Yes, my love, you know how much I miss my sweet Isabella."
"Yes, I missed you too, sista," says Amy, clinging to Isabella's arm.
Isabella sniffles, hearing their words, as she crashes on her father's chest, crying hysterically, but her cries were muffled by her father's chest and his intense hold on her. "I missed you too." I missed you two a lot. More then you could imagine" as she continues to cry, wetting her father's shirt, but he didn't care. All he cared about were the heavy breaths and tears running down her daughter's cheeks. But it was replaced with anger with each passing second as her wife and son's images were playing in his mind. "Amy, I missed you most. I was bored without you too," Isabella mumbles through her cries as she pulls Amy into the hug too. The three of them hugged each other close, silently letting it all out.
Isabella's father was the first one to break the hug as he wiped his daughter's tears, and so does his. He momentarily stares down at Isabella, who is still not letting him go. He glanced towards Amy, signalling for him to leave Isabella's arm, which she does. In the next moment, he carries Isabella in his arms as she yells, "Father! Please let me down."
"No! My princess has come home for the first time after school. Let me pamper her," her father remarks, giving his free hand to Amy as she grabs it giggling. Isabella just silently warps her legs around her father's torso like a koala and hides her face in his chest. Her father, getting the signal, pecked Isabella's forehead and marched towards the exit, holding his dear daughter close.
The trio went out, ignorant of the fact that a ravenette was standing there, watching the whole scene unfold in front of them. And the person was none other than "Tom Marvalo Riddle."
He watched everything. Isabella's anxious state when she was approaching her family, the look she was giving to her mother, the hope her father had for her mother's actions, how her mother crushed that hope, her brothers' hated glares, and the way her father as well as her sister tried to lighten up her mood, but she ended up crying bitterly due to her mother's actions. He saw all of that. And in that moment all he could feel was honest hatred for her mother, hatred for her brothers, and most probably the vulnerable state of Isabella. In this moment, all he wanted was to erase that horrid night memory from his mind. He wanted that incident and his hatred encounters with the innocent brunette. With an angry and heavy heart, he left the station.
Only if he could knew, Isabella knows it all.
On the other side, the ride back to "The Blacks'" mansion was rather normal, as usual. Zack, Wayne, and her mother were busy with useless gossip. Isabella had slept in her father's arms, and Amy was seated besides them, playing with Isabella's brown hair locks silently.
Reaching home, Zack scowls at sleeping Isabella as he sees his father still carrying her in his arms. "See, Wayne, the crying baby has now turned into a sleeping crying baby," he declares.
His father stops in his tracks as he passes a death glare to the trio and stares intensely at Zack before hissing at him, "Keep your damn mouth shut, you fucking bastard. Or I will not hesitate to do that for you."
His words cause Zack to gulp hard in fear, and Wayne was about to start when his father's face flushes red in anger. With his increasing grip around Isabella's sleeping figure, he angrily growls at Wayne. "Don't you dare start your bitchy show right now? I will not think twice before breaking your face."
Wayne scouts behind her mother; she was opening her mouth to say, "Theo..." but her father instantly silenced her by raising a finger. And sternly states, with gritted teeth, "Not! now!" by shaking hands. Then he grabs Amy's hands and takes his daughters to their room.
Entering the room, he softly puts Isabella in her bed and covers her in duvets. He observes her weak state as he slowly places a few strands of her hair behind her ears. Her teary-stained cheeks came into his view as his free hand formed a fist in anger. Amy was standing there, observing her father's mad state. She slowly called him "Dada" while handing him a glass of water.
He glances at her and gulps it down before pulling her into a hug. He softly caressed her hair as he spoke, "I am not angry at you, love. not at you two. Calm down"
He breaks the hug, still keeping Amy close to him and caressing Isabella's cheeks with the thumb of his other hand. "How in the world can I get angry at you two? You two are my eyes. "One is Isabella, and the other is you."
Amy pats her father's cheeks softly as she nods her head while saying, "I know, Dada, I know. You don't have to tell me."
He holds Amy's hand resting on his cheeks as he says irritatedly, "But why can't they see? Can't they understand I am blind without you two? They do and did my Isabella so dirty."
"Dada, I know. But..." Amy goes.
But her father stood up instantly, causing her to back away a little as he stated, "No buts, today I am going to make this loud and clear. No one dares to make my Isabella cry anymore."
With that, he took heavy steps as he marched towards the door, closing it behind him before saying, "You go and get fresh and take some rest."
The door closed with a bewildered Amy staring at it.