"A maid?" Marcelina butted in while maintaining a kind smile. "She is my daughter."
She arrived at Eliz's side and linked arms with her. Jenice's eyes widened when she realized what Marcelina had said.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" She immediately apologized. "I'm really, really sorry."
Marcelina was about to say something, but Eliz stopped her by tugging her arm.
Maximus also arrived at Jenice's side and said, "You don't need to apologize to her."
Marcelina frowned at what her son said. Eliz tried to catch Maximus' eyes, but he never looked at her.
Jenice faced Maximus with an apologetic face. "But babe, she's your sister, and I didn't mean to offend her–"
"She's not my sister," Maximus immediately cut her off.
"Maximus, what are you sa–"
Maximus didn't let his mother finish her sentence.
"She may be my mom's daughter," he said and then averted his gaze to Eliz, "but she's not my sister."
'Ouch.'
It felt as if a thousand needles pricked Eliz's cheeks. Her eyes were heavy, provoking tears, yet she held them back.
"Maximus!" Marcelina finally sounded like she was about to scold her son. "You're a grown man now, stop bad-mouthing your sister all the time!"
"Mom, please!" Maximus replied. "Let's not spoil our lovely reunion, okay? I'm tired. Jenice is tired. Can we please get inside now?"
It became crystal clear to Eliz.
Maximus still couldn't accept her existence in the family. To him, she would always be that girl from the orphanage.
Marcelina sighed in disbelief and squeezed Eliz's hand to comfort her.
The bold scent of his manly perfume left its trace and found its way toward Eliz's nostrils. His familiar scent brought an ache to Eliz's stomach. She yearned to sniff his fragrance.
Eliz pinched her thigh to stop her tears from flowing. Maximus hated it when she cried.
She repeatedly slapped herself inside her head for foolishly believing that a miracle would strike upon Maximus. That he would miraculously become nicer to her when he got home.
Eliz couldn't recall anything in particular she did that watered his unreasonable anger into a full-grown hatred. She watched as Maximus sweetly guided Jenice inside their mansion.
"Sweetheart, I'm so sorry. I already told him to be careful with his words but–" Marcelina began.
"Mom, it's okay," Eliz told her mother, though it wasn't. "I'm okay."
Marcelina's face showed disappointment. "You even took a half-day leave to prepare dinner for him, and this is how he behaves in return… Foolish of me to think he's gonna change."
Eliz smiled at her mother to assure her she was fine. "Mom, let's go. What's important is he's here."
"Right, and what do you think about his new girlfriend? Do you think she's the one?"
'Hopefully not,' Eliz whispered in her head.
"Who knows? Let's hope yes," Eliz said out loud to her mother.
"My, my, do you want him to marry that girl?" Marcelina asked. "Would she make a good sister-in-law?"
Eliz laughed. "Why sister-in-law? You should care more about her being your daughter-in-law."
Marcelina made a face.
"I'm just tired of him bringing different women all the time. He would get my hopes up by saying he was finally gonna get married, then crush them when I learn he broke up with his girlfriend again. I hope this time, it's for real. I want grandkids now! I'm getting younger by the day, you know."
Eliz smiled with a confused gaze.
"Oops, I meant I'm getting 'older' by the day."
"Mommmm!" Eliz shrieked at her mother's silly and unhumorous joke.
Marcelina cackled in return.
"Well, I could give you those grandkids you want." Eliz teased.
Marcelina slapped her arm playfully. "No! Not you."
"What? But why? That's unfair!"
Marcelina frowned. "I don't care! I can't share you yet."
Eliz chuckled.
Hand in hand, the two headed inside, giggling to themselves. Whenever the two were together, they were always having fun. Mostly because Marcelina was such a kid, and her adorableness wasn't something Eliz could handle.
Maximus placed his car keys down on the dining table and asked Jenice to get comfortable.
"I'll just go hop in the shower real quick," he said, as Jenice plants fragile kisses on his neck even in Marcelina's presence.
"And.. please help her around with anything she needs," Maximus said looking at his mother.
Eliz looked away when Jenice gave Maximus a goodbye kiss on his lips.
"Don't worry, hun, I'll take care of your girl," Marcelina assured Maximus.
Eliz suffered from a silent heartbreak. She kept on murmuring to herself how she would never know how it would feel to be called Maximus' girl.
When Maximus left, Jenice smiled. "So, what can I help you with?" she brightly asked.
"Come here, you two," Marcelina ordered the two girls.
Eliz was startled when Jenice suddenly wrapped her arms around her as they followed Marcelina to the kitchen.
"I'm really sorry about earlier. I seriously, honestly, had no idea about you. It was stupid of me to say that," Jenice explained.
Eliz smiled and shook her head. "It's okay. I don't mind."
'Well, at least she seems like a nice girl,' Eliz thought.
"I wonder why Maxy never mentioned having such a pretty sister like you," she said.
Eliz smiled uncomfortably.
"Eliz, can you get some wine? I chilled it in the refrigerator," Marcelina called.
"Let me do it!" Jenice presented.
"No, I'll do it," Eliz countered. "You're our guest."
Jenice's smile nearly wore off, but she immediately brightened her smile again.
"You know what, just let me do it, girl." She insisted with a heavy tone.
Eliz gave in and let Jenice do what she wanted.
In front of the refrigerator, Jenice paused when she saw something. She was looking at a picture of a young girl on a fridge magnet. Beside it was some other pictures of the Wright family, with Marcelina, Maximus, and Eliz on it.
"Is this you?" Jenice asked.
Eliz turned around to see what Jenice asked.
When she saw who Jenice was talking about, she felt a lump in her throat. "Ahh, that's Maxine. Maximus' real sister."
"Oh," Jenice said plainly, her eyes narrowing as if she was carefully decoding Eliz's answer.
"I'm adopted," Eliz explained.
"Where is she now?" Jenice inquired.
Eliz was uncomfortable answering that question. She always felt uneasy talking about Maxine. Maximus made her feel like she didn't deserve to recite Maxine's name with her lips.
"Uhmm…" Eliz only managed to say.
Suddenly, Jenice turned around wearing a gleeful smile.
"So that's why Maxy hates you," slyly, she said.
"Excuse me?" Eliz asked in surprise.
Jenice acted genuinely surprised. "Don't act oblivious. You know you're a thief."
Eliz stared at her in utter disbelief. Her mouth ran dry. After a few seconds of shared silence, she finally mustered herself to speak.
"Wh– what are you talking about?" Eliz asked with a puzzled yet concerned expression.
Jenice crossed her arms. "You stole his sister's place in his family."
Eliz's heart shattered into a million pieces.
Jenice smirked and continued, "And that's what makes you a thief, bitch."