Chapter 11

Tears welled up in Mom's eyes. "About what happened back then... I was wrong too. I'm staying with the Hastings family to make up for my mistakes." I didn't know how to respond. "Mom," I said, raising my voice. "Why bother? Does anyone in the Hastings family even appreciate you?" "Robert is actually quite good to me, and so is Clara." Nicole's tears finally fell. "Serena, are you and... Alex still... the same?" I swallowed hard, slowly opening my eyes. I couldn't bring myself to criticize Mom. I had always known she hadn't been living the life of a wealthy housewife in the Hastings family, but I still couldn't fully understand her. "Alex and I were never meant to be family," I said as I stood up. "Mom, take care of yourself." I turned to leave. "Serena," Mom called out. "If you have time, come back and visit," she added, her eyes red. "After all... we're family." I wanted to say something, but in the end, I stayed silent and walked out of the room. After going downstairs, I