Slap.
"You should have looked after her." Marlene glared at her younger daughter angrily.
"Mom." Amaia's eyes blurred with tears as she grabbed her burning cheek with her hand. It was not the first time her mother raised her hands on her for something she didn't do.
"Look what happened now. How are we going to show our face to the Levinsons?" Marlene clenched her fists while yelling at her angrily.
"I didn't know she would do that, mom. I thought she was in her room." Amaia let out a helpless sob. Her cheek was still stinging because of the slap.
"You dare to argue with me, Amaia." Marlene looked livid.
"I'm sorry, mom." Amaia apologised, looking down on the floor in fear. Last night, her elder sister Allyssa ran away from home just two days before the wedding. Since then, her parents have gone nuts, looking for her everywhere.
"It's all your fault, Amaia. She wouldn't have run away if you didn't fight with her like that. Do you know how we are going to suffer because of your foolishness?" Marlene wasn't down with her. She felt her anger surface at the sight of Amaia.
"Oh God! What is going to happen now, Edward? What are we going to do?" Marlene cried out as soon as Edward Sinclair, her husband, stepped into the living room with Anthony, her brother-in-law.
"What else? We have to find her, no matter what. I can't lose my face in front of the Levinsons." Edward gritted out, his eyes glancing over at Amaia, who was visibly shaking while trying to hold her sobs.
"How could she run away just two days before her wedding?" Emaline Simons, Marlene's older sister, was questioned in disbelief.
"I don't know. She left the house with a letter, and since then there's been no sign of her." Marlene cried pitifully while covering her face with her palms.
"Did you check the security footage, Edward?" Anthony Simon, Emaline's husband, inquired.
"Yes. She left alone at 1 a.m. when we were all asleep." Edward sighed
"Why would she suddenly do that? She looked so happy that she was finally marrying Adriann. They have been together for so long," Emaline stated, not finding a valid reason for Allyssa's sudden action.
"How would I know? My Allyssa isn't like that. She would never do something like that to disgrace her family. Something must have forced her." Marlene cried, not forgetting to defend her precious daughter.
"Exactly. Our Allyssa isn't someone to do this." Emaline agreed, her eyes shifting on Amaia.
"Where the hell were you, Amaia? Why didn't you take care of your sister?" She glared at Amaia.
"It's all because of her. She purposely fought with Allyssa to make her upset. Tell her to leave my sight, or else I'm going to lose my mind at the mere sight of her." Marlene looked at Amaia hatefully, as if everything was her fault. Amaia's heart squeezed painfully because of her mother's harsh behaviour. She didn't know why her own mother hated her so much.
It's true she had a small argument with Allyssa when she accused Amaia of being jealous of her and trying to snatch Adriann from her. Amaia did not do such a thing. She might have loved Adrianne Levinson secretly for years from the first day they met, but she never expressed her feelings. She buried her love and kept her distance from him since the day he got engaged to her sister.
"Calm down, Marlene. It's not her fault. I'm sure none of us expected something like this to happen. Right now, our main concern is to find Allyssa before the wedding." Anthony advised with a sigh.
"How can I not get upset? My previous daughter is gone because of her. Why couldn't she just go instead of her?" Marlene's expression became cruel as she gazed at Amaia.
"Mom please. I really didn't know." Amaia sobbed, her eyes begging her mother to believe her. She really was innocent.
Her sister, Allyssa Sinclair, has been engaged to Adriann Levinson for the past six years. They were supposed to get married in two days and merge the two families's billion-dollar businesses. Everything was perfect until Allyssa decided to run away, leaving a simple letter as an apology.
"Do you really not know where she went?" Emaline narrowed her eyes at Amaia suspiciously.
"I swear, I don't know anything." Amaia shook her head helplessly, glancing at her father.
"Stop blaming her. Your precious daughter decided to humiliate us on her own. The letter clearly proves it." Edward yelled at Marlene, getting tired of her drama.
"How could you say that, Edward? You know our Allyssa. She's not stupid to do something like this if she wasn't forced." Marlene argued back, taking her daughter's side.
Amaia didn't understand why her mother hated her, but she loved Allyssa so much. She had been experiencing this injustice since her childhood. Everyone, including her family and relatives, hated her and kept blaming her for everything.
Allyssa used every single chance she got to bring her down and blame her for the things she didn't do. She always failed to defend herself. People call her the troublemaker when she's just a victim of her sister's schemes.
"It's because of your ignorance. If you had paid attention to her more closely, it wouldn't have happened. Look at the mess she left behind. How do you think I'm going to show my face and answer the Levinsons? How could she disgrace us like that?" Edward growled, looking completely pissed at Marlene.
"My daughter is missing Edward; please have some mercy on her." She cried, burying her face in her sister's shoulder.
"Edward, listen. We will figure everything out. But first, we have to inform Adriann and the rest of the Levinsons about this. We can't hide this from them. They will eventually find out." Anthony''s voice carried a sense of urgency.
No one would ever want to be on the bad side of the powerful Levinson family. They basically ruled the entire country and had influence at the international level.
Hearing his words, Edward's frustration surfaced as he clenched his fists. "What do you think will happen after that? I will lose my face in front of them." He wasn't ready to lose his face or his pride.
"There's nothing we could do now, Edward. We have to tell them and pray that we find Alyssa before the wedding." Emaline sighed, trying to put some sense into him.
"She's right, Edward; we have to inform them. The Levinsons are going to be more upset if we don't tell them now." Anthony reminded him, causing him to heave a sigh.
He looked in a big dilemma as he debated within himself what to do next. After a moment of debate, he finally came to a conclusion.
"Call Adriann."