The butler came into the living room to hand over the hot cocoa to both Erika and Monica when he saw the emotional scene that was taking place. Monica saw the butler, took the coco, and thanked him. He left to go prepare dinner for them.
After their emotional bonding and catching up on the little things they can as of the moment, Erika went to her bedroom.
It was light pink with a princess-sized bed in the center. A very big portrait of herself hung up on top of the bed. It was a picture from her birthday when she turned 22, the same year she got married to Adrian.
She was so young and gullible back then. She stared at the picture and sighed. Then she moved to her wardrobe, all her clothes were still intact with her shoes and bags. Her mother, Sophia always made sure that the servants cleaned the room every day.
After staring at everything in her room for a little while longer, she went to take a bath. By the time she was done getting ready, dinner was served. As she went downstairs, she heard her brother's voices and she quickly ran down to hug them.
Her eldest brother, Felix was sitting on the left side of their father. He seems to have just gotten back from work because he was still wearing his business suit. She hugged him tightly and called "Felix!!!!."
Felix felt like he was choked and tried to release her hands on him but couldn't. He wondered, "Where did she get this much strength from?"
He said, "You are choking me". Only then did she realize that she was hugging him a little too tightly.
"Oops, am sorry. I just got carried away. OMG, I missed you so much Felix" she said.
"cough cough, is it Felix you only seeing on this table young lady? I mean, hello? I'm also here, you know? The last time I checked, I was still visible."
The person who just spoke was her second brother, Daniel. After saying that, Erika quickly went to him and hugged him tightly as well and he felt the same thing, Felix felt, choked.
Erika said, "I missed you so much, Daniel."
Daniel replied, "I missed you too." Although he felt like he couldn't breathe, he endured it till Erika released him.
"Are you not forgetting someone?" The last person who spoke was her third brother, Michael.
She ran to him too and hugged him as tightly as possible as well, "How can I forget you, Michael?" Michael choked and looked at his other brothers and also wondered the same thing, "How is she this strong?".
She released him and went to sit down beside Monica who was watching the whole reunion between the brothers and sister. The dishes were already placed on the huge table and everyone started digging in.
They all chatted and teased each other. No one brought out the topic of what made Erika come back home since it was a sensitive one but her brothers made sure she could not be traced.
They were a completely happy family simply having dinner but I couldn't say the same thing for the Harts.
The dinner table was so glooming. It's like everyone's temper was caged and any single noise or sound would flare it up. Adam was not happy because he had lost investors who thought he was not worthy enough and was only arrogant.
Mary was angry because she had lost face in the social circle today. People made fun of her because she was jealous of her ex-daughter-in-law who has a black card and she doesn't.
Adrain was angry because of the last call with Erika. She sounded so arrogant but for an unknown reason, he still wanted to talk to her again.
He called her and texted her but nothing, he even asked people to check her whereabouts but nothing came out of it. It's like she disappeared after the previous day.
Grandma Elizabeth watched all of them and knew that thoughts were running in their minds. She said, "Who made this? It tastes so bland". And quickly a maid came over and said she was the one.
"Did you even bother to add salt to this? While Erika was still here, the food tasted so delicious. Have you forgotten your job since Erika moved in here with us huh?" Her words broke others out of their thoughts and stared at her.
The maid was afraid she would be fired from her job so she quickly apologized and went back to prepare another one.
Mary said, "Mother, the food tastes much better than the ones Erika prepares." She didn't know why this old woman was obsessed with Erika. Erika this, Erika that. It was starting to hurt her eardrums.
Grandma Elizabeth retorted, "Says the one who can't even boil a pot of water."
Mary felt insulted but didn't speak back. Grandma also didn't say anything to her and faced Adrain, "Have you heard anything from Erika yet, it's been two days and she hasn't called me".
Mary felt this was a chance to ruin Erika's image in the matriarch's heart. "Maybe she doesn't care about you and was just pretending to mother, and also she is a slut remember, she must have seen another rich man to catch and have forgotten about you and....."
She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence and Grandma Elizabeth interrupted her, "Did I ask you? Why do you keep thinking that everyone is like you? And that they used the method you used to get into this family. Don't think I have forgotten, I might be old but my memory is still intact. Keep your mouth shut if you didn't hear me bring up your name in any conversation." She said sternly.