Chapter50: Holding Back

ALANA   “Ambassadress, Luna Minerva wants to talk with you,” the royal guard informed me after knocking on the door.   “Let her in,” I said without looking up from the stacks of papers on the table.   I am trying to find a way to minimize the expenses in the mansion so we could build more schools for the children.   Minerva entered the room with a big smile on her face.   “Alana, my sweet little child.” She hugged me and even kissed my head. “I missed you so much.”   I just sat there frozen in awkwardness. My heart is squirming in unease while she kisses me. “Take a seat. Why are you here?”   My stepmother took my hand and gave me another one of those creepy smiles she had. “Alana, why are you so cold to me? Did you already forget about how I loved you then? I am sorry if you mistook my discipline for cruelty. I know you are so young then to understand that your dad and I have just a different way of showing how we love you so much.”   Love? They love me? No matter how little my limite