The gates of the mansion opened, and she came face to face with a woman, who had a smile on her face. She watched as the woman looked at her mother, then stared down at her before giving her a tiny smile. “Hello darling,” the woman said lightly. She seemed like a nice woman. Arabella blinked shyly at the woman and answered, “Good morning.”

The woman’s smile widened, and she looked at her mother. “You must be the new maid?” she asked.

“Yes,” her mother replied. “I was told to come here today. Mr Magnus hired me,” she explained.

“Ah, I see,” the lady replied with a nod. “Entra, entra. Sei il benvenuto.” She welcomed them. Arabella smiled as she held on to her mother’s hands, walking into the mansion.

‘This lady is nice’ she thought. ‘perhaps everyone else here, will be.’

As they got closer to the mansion, she began hearing faint yelling, and she clutched her mother’s hand in fear, wondering what was going on inside the mansion.

She turned her head, looking around with fascinated eyes. She had never seen a house as big as this. This one, was probably the size of ten houses, or more, in her neighborhood, without exaggeration. A mansion, her mother had described it last night, when she told her that they’d be moving here, because of work.

The house was big enough, and there was definitely enough places to play hide and seek. Arabella wondered if there’d be anyone to play with there.

“Wait here,” the woman stopped them. “I’ll go get Mr Magnus,” she told them, but something told Arabella that she wasn’t going to get the man, but rather, to settle whatever was going on inside if she could.

*

Julian remained rooted to where he had been standing for over an hour, his eyes darting from his father to his mother as he watched them yell at each other. Well, it was mostly his mother doing the yelling, and his father begging, and raising his voice when it required.

He blinked. Once. Twice. Swallowing the lump stuck in his throat. He felt like he could scream at any moment. He felt like he could explode. At the rate this was going, maybe he would.

This has been going on for weeks, if not months. He had lost count. The first time they had an argument, his mother had left for a week, then came back. The next time they had an argument as heated as this, she left for a month and a half, leaving him with a heartbroken father who spent majority of his time buried in work, and left him alone with a nanny.

And that was when he developed a selective hearing habit, hearing what he wanted, and leaving out the rest. Mainly because he hated hearing whatever his parents said to each other during arguments.

Like now, when he had completely stopped hearing what they were saying. A piercing, shattering sound brought him back to reality. And he started hearing again.

“I’m fed up with all this,” his mother said. “I’m getting a divorce,” she spat.

His eyes went to the shattered television, and vase, then went back to them, pressing his lips together. The words pierced his heart, like she was using the shattered TV and vase to stab him in the heart.

“You have got to be kidding me!” his father scoffed in disbelief. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“I’m not!” she yelled at him. “Do I look like I have the time to be giving jokes? I am tired of this marriage, Chris. I feel caged, whereas you are free, and chasing after women!”

“I swear it, Sophia, I am not chasing after any woman. I haven’t looked at any woman the same way I look at you ever since our marriage. Why wouldn’t you understand that?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe because you’re lying?” she snapped, then shook her head, eyeing him. “I’m leaving.”

She picked up her bag, and grabbed her son’s hand. “We are leaving,” she said.

Julian wanted to protest, and tell her that he didn’t want to leave his father, but for some weird reason, his mouth didn’t move.

“And you’ll hear from my lawyer very soon,” she told him plainly, and began storming out of the house.

“Sophia!” his father yelled, but remained rooted to where he was, tears running down his eyes. That was the first time he had seen his father cry. It was then Nan, as he fondly his Nanny, came in, her calm face turning into that of shock as she watched his mother storm out of the house with him.

“Mrs Magnus…”

“You’re relieved of your job, unless Chris wants to hire you for another child,” his mother spat, walking past Nan without waiting to hear what she had to say.

As they stepped out, he saw a woman, and a little girl, dressed in shabby, poor looking clothes, standing outside. The little girl’s wavy hair was tied into two pigtails, falling down over her shoulders. She had her hands intertwined in front of her as she stared back at him with an expression that seemed to be a mixture of happiness and shyness. She was pretty.

He wanted to say h-

“What audacity! So you are Chris’s Mistress?” his mother’s voice cut through his thoughts. The woman’s brow wrinkled in confusion.

“I don’t know –”

“Oh don’t you dare tell me that you don’t know what I’m saying!” his mother snapped. “So she’s you both's daughter? Chris told you not to come here huh?!”

Hearing that, the tiny admiration he had developed for the little girl slowly turned into hatred. So his father had a mistress, and a child, apart from his mother and him?

The girl blinked, and smiled at him politely, while he just stared back at her, hatred burning in his eyes.

“Let’s go, Julian,” his mother spat, grabbing his hand and dragging him to the cab which was already waiting in the driveway.

He looked back at the girl, hatred still burning in his eyes as he walked with his mother. The girl locked her gazes with him before he looked away.

That was the first time Arabella had seen hatred.